Paiks Traditional Martial Arts - Madison, WI - Taekwondo, Karate, Martial Arts, Summer Camps

The term NEW YEAR brings with it a new set of challenges, aspirations… resolutions. As we resolve to do better than we did in the previous years and move forward onto 2009, we must acknowledge our accomplishments and our shortcomings from the last year.

As the representative figure of this school, following is where I believe we can resolve to do better.

Humility-Many of us are still riding on the laurels of our glorious past and the success we found recently. In order for us to move forward, we must find ways to be humble and approach life this way. I was told numerous times, “…A rice stalk which holds its head highest is the first to get it chopped off…”

Self Awareness-We must all understand the capabilities that reside in each one of us and let it come out to accomplish all the things that we can.

Self worth-We must take responsibility for all that we do. When we can account for our actions, we can truly understand our worth, self worth. When one rejects the accountability and responsibility, we become self important.

Focus-We set the standard very high last year. We go into this year with a big target on the back of our uniforms. It was said that the difficulty isn’t in getting to the top but staying there. There will be many who will be gunning for us.

Attitude-Is largely determined by the character of the individual. “Attitude is Character taking action”. As good as some of us are in our skills in martial arts, we struggle to keep our attitude in check. This leads to placidity, procrastination and a lazier approach. None are conducive to building of a true martial artist.

We pride ourselves on being the top Taekwondo school in the US but is not a school a sum of its parts? Does it not consist of students, teachers, and supporters? As the chief of this institute, I resolve to be more focused, disciplined and humble.

Best things in life occur when people work together. Each and everyone of us as martial artists must become focused, aware, disciplined, with a positive attitude that fits, and humble.

With huge expectations, we lead off the year with our awards banquet. There, our Blackbelts, Instructors, and the students alike always demonstrate the skills and techniques that our curriculum has been noted for along with the considerable talent that lies within each of them.

What makes a martial artist successful is not the rank earned, medals won, or the ability to kick high. Indeed, it is the intrinsic rewards, self confidence, esteem, better attitude and the self control which determine the character of the individual.

King Solomon once said that the best gift that a parent can give to a child is that of self control. The self control is gained through discipline. The discipline that is gained through sacrifice, hard work, and dedication, The very factors that our ancestors instilled into their children, we try to instill into ours. The same goes for the martial arts that we train in. These concepts are not unlike the concepts of Solomon.

The sacrifice, the dedication and the hard work that resulted in the overwhelming success of our competition team, from the 7 year old to the 60 year old was exemplary of the effort and the discipline it took to accomplish such and is on display from their participation in the banquet, all the way to taking our journey to the World championships, to our blackbelt club cruise.

I have learned much in the last year and I am excited to get on with this year to teach, guide, and lead us on th journey that is altogether wondrous, wonderful, and exciting. The journey of 2009 Paik’s Traditional Martial Arts.

Interested in QUALITY After-School programming for your child that includes comprehensive martial arts training, homework time, and active and creative play that stimulates both the body and mind? If so, then we are the program for you.

We offer after-school pick-up from several west-side Madison and Middleton elementary schools every day of the week. Once all of the children have arrived and had a healthy snack, we start our program with a 45 minute Taekwondo class taught by a black belt instructor trained to work with children and teach them art, science, and history of the martial arts. The classes are energetic, fun, informative, and meet the standards necessary for your child to move through the belt levels necessary to progress toward higher ranks, even eventually toward black belt, if that is the path you should choose. We make a 100% guarantee that your child WILL NOT BE BORED.

After class, each child will be provided opportunities to work on homework (with a trained tutor on-site to assist if needed), engage in active games, do crafts, or continue to practice Taekwondo if he/she so chooses. Three will be PLENTY OF FUN activities and occasional field trips worked in with the Taekwondo activities.

OUR PROGRAM IS ALREADY BEGINNING TO FILL UP QUICKLY. If you are interested, please fill out the attached form with basic information and your intention to participate and we will get back to you in early August with all of the details. We currently have openings for kids ages 7 and older only.

We will be offering both full week (4/5 days) or partial week (3 day) options. Priority will be given to families needing full week care.

The cost for full-week care will be $75.00 ($70.00 for current students) and $60.00 for partial week care ($55.00 for current students).

Shannon G. Featured in Mount Horeb Newspaper
Read the Mount Horeb News Article
Mount Horeb's local paper featured Shannon Grunewald in their sports section as she prepared for AAU Nationals in July. Way to go Shannon!

Dedication Pays Off at AAU Nationals
Read the Capital Times News Article
What does it feel like to see half a summer of intense training pay off at a national championship in your own home town? Ask the teammates at Paik's Traditional Martial Arts in Madison. Forty-two youth, teen, and adult athletes dedicated the past three months of their lives preparing for the AAU National Taekwondo Championships held over the 4th of July week at the Alliant Energy Center.

In total, 2200 competitors from Taekwondo schools representing all 50 states plus Puerto Rico competed in the event. Team Paik dominated the floor, bringing home 19 gold, 16 silver and 19 bronze medals. In addition, three defending 2007 champions Trent Bartolf, Jacob Swe, and April Swe were able to successfully retain their titles for a second straight year. Way to go Team Paik! Download Press Release

Paik's Martial Arts Featured on Channel 27 News
Channel 27 News ran a feature story on Joe's Journey where sportcaster Joe LeBarbara came out to talk with the students about preparing for the upcoming AAU National Championships in Madison.

It was a really neat segment that highlighted the long history of the sport, the dedication of our current students and the benefits young people receive from Taekowndo. See it here.

The vast majority of those who compete do so with the hope and dream of winning, of being the champion, of standing on the middle podium that has the big #1 painted right on it. In the mindset of most Americans, losing (taking anything other than first place) is reserved only for the other people. It is that zeal for winning and the thirst for victory that makes groups of people together to root for their favorite sports teams and to cheer as if they were the ones who were either going to win or lose. As a society, we have such a passion for winning that we almost cannot tolerate losing.

In the last four years we, as a martial arts school, have produced many high caliber champions who have given parents, fellow students, and instructors much to be proud of and to congratulate. As a master instructor, I have had the opportunity to be at every level of Taekwondo and Karate competition and I have experienced both the joy of winning and the heartbreak of defeat. While I much prefer the winning, it is through the losing that I have learned the most about the sport, the spirit of competition, and my true character as a competitor.

The true character of the person comes out when they lose. I have attended more tournaments than I even care to remember or count. I have attended as a competitor, a coach, a parent, and a master/dignitary. I have seen tournaments from all sides and angles and have had the opportunity to gain enormous insight into the nature of the competitor.

Just about anyone can define a winner but who can accurately define a “loser”? Is there even such a thing as a “loser”? If a child wins tournament after tournament and then loses one… is that child a “loser” now? How about a competitor who has competed in countless tournaments with not a single win to show for any of them and then suddenly snags that first victory, is he/she now a “winner”? Most importantly, does it matter?

As the question unfolds in each one of us, the definition of “winning” and “losing” begins to become more and more blurred.

I once participated in a bicycle race in Belleville, WI where a woman simply finished the race and was delighted when I took 3rd place overall and was dejected that I did not win the race. As it turned out, she had competed in this race in 2 previous years and had failed to finish either race. She finished this one and in that she found the joy, confidence and pride of a winner. The fact that she rolled in 4th from last meant nothing to her. She had finished. I was left to wonder why I found my placing 3rd in the race to be so distasteful? I went into that race wanting to win so badly because I had trained very hard and, knowing my abilities and the caliber of competition that I would be up against, in my mind, nothing but first would be acceptable to me. After the race I felt like the “loser” even though I was a top 3 finisher.

After the race I truly wished that I could be like her. I was honestly jealous of the how she embodied the true spirit of competition.

The worst thing part of this whole story is that I acted like a loser. I was quick to start blaming anyone and anything I could think to blame. I blamed the racer in front of me who I was convinced cut me off. I blamed the race officials who didn’t see the what I believed to be an obvious infraction. I then went on to blame the course, the pace car, and even the little girl on the homestretch who was innocently holding a Taco Bell drink cup. I then started making excuses.

In retrospect, I should have been proud that I did as well as I did. There were 67 others competitors who finished behind me. Furthermore, this bike racing thing was supposed to be for fun anyway. I certainly would have enjoyed the whole experience a whole lot more and come away with a much happier outlook on life if I had just allowed myself to enjoy the experience and to be grateful for how well I ended up doing. I have learned a lot since those days and I hope that I can use this and other experiences to teach my students as we begin to our next phase of training.

As many of you may already know, the AAU National Taekwondo Championships are coming to Madison in July. It feels like so much is at stake when we take on competitors from all over the United States and Puerto Rico here at the Alliant Energy Center.
What is at stake is NOT so much the individual and team titles that we may bring home but more so our individual growth and development as competitors (whether we take home a medal or just wonderful memories from the experience), team members, and individuals of strong moral fiber and character. For those of us that qualified and plan to make the commitment to train and participate in this event, it very well could be a life changing experience that we will remember for many years to come.

For some of us, it will be a way to add to our already growing collection of medals and for many others it will be a chance to perhaps snag one of those coveted medals but, more than anything, it will hopefully be one of the biggest and most amazing experiences of all of our competitors lives, regardless of how many medals we have or have not amassed over the years. It is imperative that we remember that the experience and how we handle ourselves under this kind of pressure is what matters that most. Let’s not forget to step back and realize how fortunate we are to have this national event right here, in our hometown, and enjoy every minute of something so wonderful that will be over so quickly. While many of us will take home a medal and many of us won’t, let’s not make that our focus. We are a team and, regardless, we will ALL come home winners.

How we carry ourselves and walk away from this experience will make a huge difference in how our lives as Taekwondo students and instructors will be shaped for years to come. Most of us who participate in this event will be training very hard for the next month in order to be as prepared as we possibly can. The training will not only help to get our bodies in shape but will also shape our determination, discipline, confidence and self- control.

Deep within each and every competitor, there lies the heart of a champion. The Nationals will test that heart. The end result should be the same for everyone. Each individual will gain valuable experience and knowledge that will make him/her both a better martial artist as well as a better person all around.

It will ultimately be up to each person to determine if they are a “winner” or “loser.” We each will know if we did our best and used the skills and techniques that we were taught and practiced during team training. The rest of the equation will be up to the officials and the judges. Medals are simply for memory’s sake and for the sake of family and friends. A medal should never be the gauge of an individual’s progress. Progress is what comes from within and can never be measured externally by whether or not an individual ended up standing on the podium with cameras flashing. Let’s make sure we never forget this important point.

So, back to the original question, “Who is the real winner?” It is my strong belief that the winner exists in all of us. Unfortunately, so does the loser. It is the character of the individual that will ultimately bring out the winner or the loser in each of us and that is what makes training important.

Paik’s Traditional Martial Arts Grand Opening Celebration

What a Party!
See Event Photos

The Grand Opening party at the new University Avenue dojang was none other than awe-inspiring. Well over 150 people dropped by to check out our new facility, find out more about our school, and enjoy an afternoon of entertainment, games, demonstrations, door prizes, and all-around fun. It proved to be a nice mix of our current students and families as well as potential students and their families.

The party was a HUGE success as the Taekwondo games and demonstrations kept the kids and the audience engaged and the interactive participation made the demonstrations fun. It is safe to say that boredom never crossed anyone’s mind for the entire two hours.

The children and their parents enjoyed painting pictures that will adorn our parent’s waiting area for years to come. Everyone loved posing for their very own official Taekwondo portraits that they got to take home with them as a reminder of the occasion. The door prizes kept all of the kids smiling from ear to ear as they eagerly waited for the next set of winning numbers to be called.

There seemed to be something for everybody.

Everyone seemed to be highly impressed with our new facility. I truly believe it will serve as a model for many new schools in the near future. It will enhance our new school's commitment to maintain the traditional, high-quality, scientifically-based martial arts training as it is carefully combined with progressive and creative ideas to make the training more fun and engaging.

Current members interested in attending both schools are encouraged to do so but must make arrangements with me first. Call me at the Junction Road office to make these arrangements.

A BIGGG thanks goes to the Swe family who worked day and night to make this happen. Their efforts are commendable and must be appreciated by all.

-- Master Paik

Paik’s Traditional Martial Arts present the
5th Annual Capitol City Classic Open Martial Arts Tournament
Sunday April 20, 2008

Karate
Registration Opens at 9:30 AM
Black Belt Meeting 10:00 AM
Start of tournament 10:00 AM (Be on time)

Taekwondo
Registration Opens at 12:00 PM
Black Belt Meeting 1:00 PM
Start of tournament 1:00 PM (Be on time)


Pre-Registration Must be post marked by April 17, 2008 Competitors $45 (1-2 events) $15-each additional Team forms $15/each competitor, separate from regular competition Spectators $7.00	At the Door Competitors $50 (1-2 events) $15-each additional Spectators $7.00

Paik’s Traditional Martial Arts Grand Opening Celebration

Sunday, April 13, 1:30pm – 3:30pm
5003 University Avenue (Behind Taco Bell at Whitney Way) Map

A Fun and Interactive Experience for Children and Adults

FREE – Games, prizes, activities, art projects, interactive demos, classes, and hands on fun!

Help us celebrate the opening of our second location at University Avenue and Whitney Way. Learn about the martial arts in a fun environment with activities, games, and prizes for people of all ages. Take part in our community art project that will be displayed in our new, state-of-the-art parent’s viewing area and waiting room.