Training Philosophy

First and foremost, we are a Taekwondo school, but not like most.  The meaning of Taekwondo is the art or way of kicking and punching and that is exactly what we do!  Taekwondo is a striking style and we do a lot of it.  In addition, we cover grappling and ground fighting and weapons training.

The use of the word “traditional” in relation to martial arts is often misleading.  Most “traditional martial arts” schools today teach outdated techniques and drills under the guise of mystique and mystery, covered in foolish rituals.  The real traditional martial arts, from long ago, were practiced for one thing…combat.  The real kind, the kind that defended lives and families and nations.  This is what Champions Combat Arts means when we use the word “traditional.”  We practice and use what works and we leave the rest behind.

Yes we practice patterns (forms, tuls) but they are not the primary focus of what we do.  Patterns are combinations of root movements and an artistic expressions of fighting/combat, and are simply one tool among many to guage a students progress.  In addition, and what most people don’t realize, the movements in forms have actual combat applications, but most schools/instructors have forgotten how to demonstrate the correlation.  Plus they are fun and often relaxing.  They can help improve concentration and precision, and they are a great form of meditation.

Foundation

We practice traditional (please see above..again), non-sport Taekwondo, adapted to modern times self-defense needs. This is the foundation from which we build, and to which we add an arsenal of skills.  Unlike many contemporary TKD schools, we explore the practical combat applications of the techniques we use.  Through traditional Taekwondo training, we build a solid base of strength, balance, power and skill. To this base, we add essential elements of joint manipulations, ground fighting and weapons defense.

Focus

While we have nothing against tournaments and tournament style sparring, this is not the focus at Champions Combat Arts.  Here, you will not see walls and windows lined with trophies because scoring points and winning trophies will not save your life in a real life self-defense situation.  We practice real self-defense and combat, pure and simple.

We do plenty of free-sparring at Champions Combat Arts, and a lot of our sparring sessions more resemble real world self defense drills than anything you would see at a tournament, where the focus is points.  Our focus is ending the encounter, whatever the encounter, as quickly as possible.  We introduce students to the stesses and surprises of an aggressive, resistant opponent gradually, but the ultimate goal is for the student to be capable, focused, and confident in the most aggressive and realistic scenarios we can create.

We also stress the importance of physical conditioning.  Most training sessions include conditioning, with intensity scaled to each student’s fitness level so that each student can improve no matter where they are starting from without overtraining.  It does not matter how good at techniques you may be if you are out of shape.  In a life-and-death self-defense situation, poor physical conditioning is one of the most likely things to get you killed.  (If you would like more information on our conditioning program, please visit our other site: CrossFit Champions)

Safety and Training Environment

Champions Combat Arts focuses on providing positive motivation for our students. We maintain a safe and controlled environment when we spar and drill. Flat out brawling is not allowed. We all work together to train and learn effective self-defense safely.

Spirit

While we have fun, we train hard and we push the physical limits. We stress physical conditioning and we strive for perfection of technique. We practice self-control and discipline and we don’t give up, we don’t quit. We respect each other and each others efforts, accomplishments and challenges.

Integrity

We are not a corporate black belt factory or diploma mill. We do not promote based on how many weeks or months you have been paying dues and/or because you’ve attended a set number of classes.

We promote by skill level and maturity level. While we do have a minimum number of classes (or “time in grade”) required before promotion to the next grade; minimum number of classes does NOT automatically entitle the student to test for the next grade. If the student is not ready, they don’t test. If they are ready, they do. Simple.

We do not fee our students to death. We don’t force contracts and we don’t try to dazzle students with fancy packages.
We have a reasonable monthly rate.
We have reasonable testing fees.
We have reasonable prices for all the martial arts gear we sell (we price below retail!).
Nothing is hidden, there are not tricks.

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The Student Oath:

I will observe the Tenets of Taekwondo in my daily life and become a champion of freedom and justice.
I will respect and obey my parents, instructors and seniors.
I will never misuse Taekwondo.
I will practice humility at all times. Everyone is a beginner at one time. We are all students for life.
I will use the Tenets of Taekwondo to achieve my goals in life.