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:)

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

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

One beautiful afternoon last summer, the little ninja and I (or more correctly, the little Messi at that particular moment), stopped by the Park on the Lid to work on our soccer skills before heading down the hill for TKD.   We were going through our usual drills a little pass & run, some fancy footwork and shooting.   There was a goal set up and we were taking advantage of it.  Call me optimistic but I am reasonably certain that even casual observer would have been able to tell we were taking p

Welcome back for another insightfully riveting brain dump from the Tae Kwon Dad.  I want to give a big shout out to all the new Black Belts, and everybody else who moved a notch closer to their Black Belts and a thank you for providing me with the perfect segue to this week’s topic.

Confidence Earned Through Accomplishment

This is a true result from a recent survey conducted by Intel – 85% of U.S. high school students surveyed rated themselves as highly confident in their mathematical abilities (t

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

People are often surprised we chose to start our daughter training in martial arts at such a young age and they often ask why.  Given the myriad of benefits we’ve seen in our daughter, it made me realize that this is not a question that can be answered in a quick 2-sentence sound bite.   Over the next few weeks I will be writing a series of posts on the positive benefits of martial training (in no particular order) from a parent’s perspective.

Improved Coordination

I have terrible coordination.  R

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

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

COURTESY

Taekwondo students should practice courtesy at all times in order to promote the spirit of mutual understanding, promote politeness to one another, avoid feeling superior, and encourage a sense of justice.

Courtesy may take many forms:

Politeness: when we say please, thank you, open or hold doors for others, allow another person to do something first, or ask instead of command.  

Distinction of Roles: the ways we speak or act with respect towards our seniors, elders, or teachers and with