Newsletter Publisher - J. Slinn Volume No.1 Issue No. 10 Date: January 2017 V1.10 1 January 2017 Happy New Year! Welcome back to TaeKwonDo and Kickboxing! I hope everyone had a very happy holiday and that you’re ready to resume your hard work. This year we’ll be changing the curriculum a little to put more emphasis on Focus – meaning getting you to Think and use common sense! I’m looking forward to an exciting year – you’ll notice that we did a little sprucing up over the holidays … fresh paint. We’ve expanded our Township Program to include Robbinsville, Monroe, Cranbury and Lawrenceville this year, so we’re expecting to increase our student population rapidly. Which might mean we will need to expand the dojang. We kick off the new year with our 25 th Battle of Champions Tournament in February. Belt testing will be the week after the Tournament. Master Master Master Master Steven Steven Steven Steven Black Belt Club In January, the Black Belt Club will continue work with double Nunchakus. Gerald Sagbay and Brett Bock joined the Black Belt Club in December. New Students In December, the East Windsor TaeKwonDo & Kickboxing Academy welcomed the following new students: Little Dragon - Dylan Delmedo TaeKwonDo - Hamza Lodhi - Victor Onochie - Parker Gruntzel - Kevin Aeillo - Vihaan Chhabra - Cameron Sargent January Birthdays Jacob Naulaguari 3 rd Siddharth Gorty 6 th Jacinda Munson 12 th Jocelyn Herrera 19 th Rushab Shah 20 th Prahas Palwai 28 th Ashley Herrera 30 th The Uniform - Dobak The TaeKwonDo uniform is called a "dobak" and, like everything else in TaeKwonDo, it is steeped in tradition and history. The dobak consists of a jacket, trousers, and belt. It is derived from traditional Korean clothing called "hanbok." The dobak is not only for wear during TaeKwonDo training, it is the required uniform for competition in regional and national tournaments and in the Olympics (the V-neck style is required in Olympic competition). Three Shapes The traditional hanbok was based on three shapes that signify the foundation of the universe ("samilshingo") - the circle ("won") symbolizing heaven, the square ("bang") symbolizing earth, and the triangle ("kak") symbolizing man. The circle is associated with the number "one," the square to the number "two," and the triangle to the number "three" and the combination (unity) of the three shapes is called "han." These three shapes are symbolized in the hanbok: the waist is the circle, the legs and sleeves are the square, and the hip or torso area is the triangle. In comparison to the principle of Eum-Yang, the trousers are Eum or earth, the jacket is Yang or heaven, and the belt is man, who ties everything together. Colors Traditional dobaks are all white to symbolize oneness with the universe ("han”). White also represents purity, beginning, or novice, and is an outward sign of the humility students are supposed to show as they seek (never- obtainable) perfection through training in the martial arts. Plus, colored fabric would not stand up to the dirty training and frequent harsh washings. Traditional dobaks have an open jacket that overlaps in the front from left to right. The proper uniform for Olympic TaeKwonDo competition is a V-neck, pull-over style jacket. Black Belts and 1 st Dans wear a black uniform. A blue uniform indicates that the wearer is a 2 nd Dan (or 2 nd Degree Black Belt), and a red uniform is worn by 3 rd Dans. Competition Uniforms Black Belt students often wear heavier uniforms - made of heavy cotton or canvas. These uniforms last longer and make a louder "snapping" sound when punching and kicking. Some tournament competitors, especially in forms competition, know the impressive effect of executing kicks and punches with a loud "snap," so they starch the sleeves and the pants to make their uniform make a louder snap. Tournament competitors also like longer jackets and belts to impress the judges. The idea is that when they are performing low stances, the longer belt and jacket make it look like they’re lower to the ground. Students should keep their dobaks clean, ironed, and in good repair. They should understand its historical significance and wear it with pride and proper respect and etiquette.