We are really excited for next years After School Program here at MIMA.  Please check out some information about the program, and some changes that we have made to it.  

Pick up:  One of our amazing, certified instructors will pick up your child from their elementary school (currently available for Lakeridge, West Mercer, Island Park, and Northwood elementary schools) in our vans. This way your child will start their day with us in a positive and structured environment.

During the short ride to

KoreanTerminologyPDF.pdf here is the pdf which will be easier to read:)

Our kids are working so hard in our camps.  Not only do they do 3-4 formal martial arts classes per day, but they are also making daily trips to one of our amazing parks on Mercer Island.  They are playing active games, sports, and moving around most of the day.  This kind of activity burns a ton of calories-- plus kids grow so much during the summer, it's sometimes hard to keep up with their caloric needs.  As, parents you want to keep your kids healthy, so I found this link via Cooking Light f

We recently had the opportunity to have a woman by the name of Amy Scarfone come and film one of our family classes in a 360 degree video format.  If you have never seen this technology it is a really great way to experience a class.  When viewing it you will need to open it in Google Chrome or another web browser that supports 360 degree video formats.  I was also able to watch it on my iPhone. As you press the button to look around you can see all of the different particptants in the class.  T

We have recently had some questions about the sparring rules so I thought that I would quickly go over them. 

Here’s the basic rules:

 You can kick with any part of your foot below your ankle
 Only punching with a clenched fist and kicking are allowed in sparring.  No other techniques are allowed.  That means no sweeps, no mixed martial arts etc.
You can kick to two places.  Your opponent’s chest protector (hogu) or head
You can punch your opponent's chest protector only.  No punches allowed to

Please Join us this Friday, February 14 from 6-10pm for our Valentine's Day Party.   Here's what the kids have to say about it

undefined  click the blue word to view.

click on the link to check out my gratitude video

jessgratitude.mp4

I have what can be a very exhausting job. I spend much of my time as a palliative medicine physician helping the sickest patients cope with their illnesses, support their families through their illness, and balance the delicate line between hope and reality. I see a lot of patients transition though the last days of their lives. I see reconciliations, lives well lived, peace; I also see mourning of lost time, regrets of things not done, and fear of the unknown. All of these things give me perspe

Check out MIMA News put on by the kids at Mercer Island Martial Arts

My definition of being a black belt has evolved over the years. When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a ninja and/or a Power Ranger, that’s what being a black belt meant to me back then. Now, it means being Batman, fighting crime and taking names… Kidding! When I started doing martial arts, I thought being a black belt would be to become proficient at self defense techniques and sparring. As I progressed through Mercer Island Martial Arts, I found that being a black belt was so much more.

When

Please feel free to upload your photos and videos as well!   We can add them to the record of a memorable testing.  If you don't know how please ask, we would love to see your pics/videos.  I haven't processed my photos yet (technical difficulty), so more to come for sure.   Congratulations to you all!  And don't miss CGNs Nelson and Sams as they do a make up due to the weather in February.

announcement and photo in the mercer island reporter

Also, check out this weeks MI reporte

By REPORTER STAFF
Mercer Island Reporter Staff
December 6, 2011 · 11:32 AM

Locally owned and operated Mercer Island Martial Arts collected and donated 1,000 pounds of food for Mercer Island Youth and Family Services, exceeding last year's 600 pounds.

This is the 10th year that MIMA has held the food drive with its "Homework Challenge." Kids who complete 21 days in a row of homework (or reading for the day if they don't have homework) are homework winners. The kids are then qualified to break

Dear Master Strongheart, My community service went well and I liked this job of sorting clothing with my sister and my mom and I am doing it at Mercer Island Thrift Shop right near the train park. It made me feel like I was spending my time wisely and I feel good about what I did to help the community.

From, Cameron

"Yes, a black belt should be able to execute precise, effective, beautiful, and technically proficient martial arts techniques, whatever the style. But just as importantly, a black belt should be able to execute precise and beautiful ideas, equal to or better than their physical techniques. A black belt should have an attitude equal in it's brilliance to his or her physical skills."

A great quotation from an admired martial artist, Tom Callos.

We recently received an email from one of the parents regarding their child's training and thought it might be nice to share some of the answers:

In regard to "forms"every 2 months the children work on a new form.  We call them poomse in Korean.   Right now we are working on "nooktipoomse"   here is a link to a video of the form  http://mercerislandmartialarts.ning.com/video/adult-formnook-te

The children who are yellow belt and above and are in one of our advanced teams work on the first 6 mo