We might have snow on the ground, but spring is in the air. With that season, we have a couple of exciting changes coming your way. Check out below the information on new weapons classes, ways to order gear through our app, news about martial maintenance day, and upcoming fundraising opportunities.
With so many upcoming events, we put together a quick survey to gather your interests!
Spring Weapons
The winter weapon block is coming to an end. That means in April, we start our NEW weapons classes. These classes run during the months of April and May. We’re experimenting to find the best way to teach so many weapons and get you the classes you want. These classes are designed to get you weapons basics, offer partner drills, and help you start a weapon for tournament.
Bokken
On Mondays at 4:15 pm, we’re heading to Japan to explore Bokken, the wooden katana. Join Master Nick Perk and Miss Amanda to learn the art of drawing and cutting. Bring your sparring helmets because after we learn the basics, we’ll spar with padded weapons.
Nunchaku
On Tuesdays at 4:15 pm, travel all the way to the sewers of New York City to explore Nunchucks. Because this class has been small, we will split the dojang and make space for black belts to work on forms.
Kung Fu Staff/Kung Fu Spear
Then on Wednesdays at 6:15 pm, we’re going to explore the Chinese art of Kung Fu Staff and Spear. Our TaiChi instructor, Nick Zwirlein is going to explore the similarities differences between bo staff of Japan and China’s long staff and spear with new techniques, partner drills, and a form you can bring to tournament!
As a reminder, everyone needs to create their own form for their black belt class. To help you, we require two weapons classes prior to your black belt test. Start on your weapons forms early. Try more than one weapon. Often, we get our hearts set on a weapon only to find out that those movements don’t “click” with us.
While we have a few weapons for people to try, we recommend buying your own after a week or two of class. If you’re interested in joining us for weapons, do not hesitate to reach out!
Need to Order gear? We have an app for that!
Speaking of buying weapons, we offer basic weapons directly through the school, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. With our app, you can order directly from Century Martial Arts and have those items delivered straight to your door. If you want a fancier set of nunchaku or a graphite staff, we’ve loaded in weapons we recommend that’ll work best with our program.
Nick Delpopolo Judo Clinic
Miss Amanda is in talks with former team USA Olympian and Pan-American Champion Judoka, Nick Delpopolo to visit our school on the weekend of July 26th. With any luck, we will have a final date and more information for you soon.
Now, some of you kids might be too young to remember the 2012 olympics. After aging out of the Junior olympics, Nick Delpopolo trained with Jimmy Pedro and Jason Morris, when took the Judo world by storm. In a single year, he moved up a 83 spots, rising to #16 in the world. He took Gold at the US Open, Venezuela World Cup, and El Salvador World Cup, Silver at the Samoa World Cup and USA Judo Senior National Championships, and a Bronze at the USA World Cup and Abu Dhabi GrandPrix. He really knows his stuff! This looks to be a full weekend event with options for full day, half day, and full weekend.
We will learn from a world-class athlete and work with students from other schools both within NAKA and USA Judo. If you refer a friend and they join one of our programs, you will receive a $25 credit towards your next monthly dues.
Nutman Fundraiser
Speaking of raising funds, Elkhorn Flying Dragons is partnering with Nutman to raise money you can use for seminar and judo style uniforms. This organization sells candy, chocolate covered espresso beans, cherries, nuts, and just about every classic sweet you can think of. We have a sample sheet hanging outside the office if you are interested. For each item you sell, you’ll get $1 towards either the seminar or a judogi! These uniforms are thick and cost a bit more than your standard uniform so we want to help make these more affordable.
Martial Maintenance Day
Finally, Miss Amanda and Master Nick are a bit unusual in that they clean the dojo themselves. Most dojos require students to sweep after each class, help with the bathrooms, and clean the mirrors.
We aren’t going that crazy; however, each season we are going to put together a Martial Maintenance Saturday where we cancel classes and get to the cleaning that’s too much for just two people. This April, we’re going to take our time to pressure wash the mats and paint the back room.
This is something you can put on your black belt resume to show you do more for your community than just show up to class and collect a belt every few months.
Thank you everyone for your patience and participation as we have transitioned to the new software.
Amanda and Master Nick Perk
Elkhorn Flying Dragons
