As we've done in the past, here's a bit of a round up of what's happened in 2022...
Festive Break
The Instructor Team wish you all a happy holidays. The final classes of 2022 are on Tuesday 20th December. We look forward to seeing you all again when we restart normal classes on Tuesday 3rd January.
We will be holding a class during the Festive period at the Prestwich Centre - 6.00pm on Wednesday 28th December. Let’s get those mince pies worked off before January!
There may also be some classes being run by other Centres during the festive period, which will be exercise based and a good chance to get off the sofa to work off some of the Christmas excesses - these are open to people from any Centre. Keep an eye on the various Facebook sites & Wix for notification of when they will take place.
Set Yourself a 2023 Target
New Year is a great time to set yourself a new target - a particular Form/Hyung or move? A date for your Black Belt test? Let us know what you’re aiming for & we’ll do our best to help.
Don’t forget that many of your friends will make New Year’s resolutions to get fit, lose weight, gain a new skill, etc. If you refer someone to us & they join, you get a free Graduation for each person that joins (and there is no limit on the number of referrals you can make). So, help your friends & help yourself – get referring!
Middleton Centre
The Middleton Centre became part of the North Manchester family this year, with Mr Ogden (Tuesdays) & Mr Nelson Jnr (Fridays) taking over the running of classes. We immediately lengthened the classes (back to an hour for Leadership Students), expanded the number of days (adding Friday classes) & started to put on Tiger classes (ages 3 to 6 years old). We also brought operations & standards into line with our other two centres - hopefully students can see the benefits of these changes in their training.
We will continue to explore options for opening on additional days, but the first step on that road to a full time Middleton Centre is to increase student numbers on the current Tuesdays & Fridays - so, if you know someone who you think would like to give it a go, invite them down, give them your Instructor’s number or point them to the ‘book online’ function of the website. Let’s build the club.
And don’t forget, for every referral you make (at any of our Centres), you can claim a FREE Graduation or money off in the Club Shop
Black Belts
The Dan Shim Sa (Black Belt Test) takes place in May & November of every year. It’s the culmination of many years hard work by students. Students promoted this year, from across our three Centres, were:
1st Dans (Cho Dan)
Mr Lewis Boylan (Middleton Centre)
Miss Charlotte Wood (Oldham Centre)
Mrs Marta Kelly (Oldham Centre)
Mr Joshua Holland (Oldham Centre)
Mr Andrew Avanessian (Prestwich Centre)
Mr Andy Jowett (Prestwich Centre)
Mr Andy Stamford (Prestwich Centre)
Mrs Daranee Kelly (Prestwich Centre)
Ms Emma Rosenthal (Prestwich Centre)
Miss Kayla Kelly (Prestwich Centre)
Miss Maisie Kelly (Prestwich Centre)
Mr Max Barker (Prestwich Centre)
Miss Mia Cohen (Prestwich Centre)
Miss Nadia Plummer (Prestwich Centre)
Mrs Sarah Tonge (Prestwich Centre)
2nd Dans (Ee Dan)
Miss Beverley Ngo (Prestwich Centre)
Mrs Carol Plummer (Prestwich Centre)
Mr Noah Ruddick (Prestwich Centre)
We hold a series of free Seminars for our students to prepare them for the Assessment & Test, so if you are a 1st Gup (Red Belt with 2 Blue Tabs) you should be looking to attend these. Look out for the dates being posted or speak to your Instructor for more details.
Changes to Times/New Classes
Oldham
The Oldham Centre started opening on a Monday from February. There are two classes currently - Tigers at 5.15pm & a Beginners Class at 6.00pm. Once this becomes busier, there are plans to add an Advanced Class, with potential for a Black Belt class too. Keep filling the class by making these referrals.
Middleton
Middleton became part of the North Manchester family in August. We now have Tiger classes & have opened on a second day (Fridays). Current class times are:
Tigers - 5.15pm on Tuesdays & Fridays
Beginners - 6.00pm on Tuesdays & Fridays
Green & Red Belts - 7.00pm on Tuesdays
Prestwich
The Prestwich Centre started opening on a Sunday from October. These have been well-received. They’re slightly quieter than some of the other classes, so they are a great chance to get some more personalised teaching. Times are:
Tigers - 9.15am
Beginners - 10.00am
Green & Red Belts - 11.15am
You can check the timetable for all the Centres at any time here
Online Presence
Don’t forget to use the online videos - these are hosted on the FMAC TV YouTube Channel and on our website.
The website contains a host of useful information: there is the timetable if you forget class times; there is the Club Shop to pick up sparring gear or any t-shirts/hoodies; we have a series of useful videos to help students remember what they are learning in class; you (or your friends) can book in for trial classes and seminars; plus you can submit your Graduation Forms online. Have a mooch and see what there is - there will be more than you think! Best place to look is the ‘Student Zone’
Our main Facebook page is www.facebook.com/FMACNorthManchester - this is where all things pertaining to the Leadership Programme (Beginners, Green, Red & Black Belts) is posted. We also have specific facebook pages for the Tigers classes at each Centre:
https://www.facebook.com/FMACMiddletonTigers
https://www.facebook.com/FMACOldhamTigers
https://www.facebook.com/FMACPrestwichTigers
Since the Middleton Centre joined the North Manchester family, we have not used their facebook page, but we have left it as a legacy page to redirect students to the main NMFMAC one.
Make sure you like/follow the appropriate page(s) so you get all of the appropriate updates.
Not everyone uses Facebook & so we also put out major announcements via the Wix app, so make sure you have this downloaded to your phone if you have decided to steer clear of Mr Zuckerberg. If you don’t have it, check the text we sent you when you signed up. Alternatively, you can click here to download it
Whilst Mr Nelson Snr doesn’t understand it, we do also have an Instagram account - apparently you just follow us here and the world is a better place!
Giving Back
We undertook some ‘Introduction to Martial Arts’ sessions for a Rainbows & Brownies group in Oldham, something which we do regularly with groups & schools. Get in touch if you would like us to do something similar with any of the groups you lead/work with? We’ll be doing an open day in Oldham in January if anyone fancies coming down to support us?
We also held a collection for Ukrainian refugees at the start of the ongoing crisis. Many thanks to everyone who donated goods & food.
There was also a few dodgy moustaches knocking around in the Do Jangs, as some of the men got behind Movember to raise money for and awareness of men’s health issues. Thanks again if you donated.
Awards Dinner
Our Annual Rewards Dinner took place at Davyhulme Park Golf Club. The event raised over £1,800 for a motor neurone disease charity (in memory of Mr Ian Longden).
Everyone looked great in their finery & the following students were presented with awards.
Middleton:
Miss Mya Sykes - Most Improved Student (Child)
Miss Natalie O’Reilly - Most Improved Student (Adult)
Miss Savannah Houghton - Black Belt Attitude (Child)
Miss Kim Clarke - Black Belt Attitude (Adult)
Mr Joshua Truman - Contribution to the Club (Child)
Mr Kieran Rodgers - Contribution to the Club (Adult)
Oldham:
Mr Haroon Gillani - Most Improved Student (Child)
Miss April Wilson - Most Improved Student (Adult)
Mr Tashfin Hassan - Black Belt Attitude (Child)
Mr Matt Redmond - Black Belt Attitude (Adult)
Mr Jack Kelly - Contribution to the Club (Child)
Mrs Lyndsey Sykes - Contribution to the Club (Adult)
Prestwich:
Mr Connor James - Most Improved Student (Child)
Mrs Kerry McAtkin - Most Improved Student (Adult)
Mr Junres Gianan - Black Belt Attitude (Child)
Miss Lucy Jackson - Black Belt Attitude (Adult)
Mrs Samantha Evans - Contribution to the Club (Adult)
Mr Oscar Si - Contribution to the Club (Child)
There were also some awards for the Instructor Team - Mr Ogden picked up Assistant Instructor of the Year, Mr Nelson Jnr won the Instructor of the Year Award & the Prestwich Do Jang won Full-Time Centre of the Year. We bask in the reflected glory of our students as none of it would be possible without our amazing club members.
Lions Classes
Unfortunately, we had to close our Lions Classes (classes for students with Down Syndrome or a learning disability) due to low numbers. However, there was good news to come out of it - several of the students are continuing on in the mainstream classes and making excellent progress.
Dates for your diary
We try to give as much notice as possible for all the different things that are planned throughout the year. Whilst there’s always a possibility that life will get in the way, you can find all the important dates for the ear in a recent blog post. Get them own your fridge, in your paper diary, onto you PDA/phone and let’s see as many people there for as may of them as possible - check it out here
Fancy helping out?
The Family Martial Arts Group offers three levels of training for those students who are interested in making the first steps towards becoming an Instructor or who would like to be more involved in helping out in class:
Junior Instructor Training (children)
A 1 year training programme designed to deepen the understanding of our martial art & teach the basics of how to support the Instructor and junior students
Assistant Instructor Training / Success Coach Programme (age 13+)
1 year course teaching you the skills to become an Assistant Instructor – A great first step on the road to teaching your own students
Certified Instructor Training
Learn to become a Family Martial Arts Instructor, including both the martial arts side & how to run a successful business
If you would like more information on the programme, speak to one of the Instructors. Mr Ogden also wrote a blog explaining it all.
Congratulations to those students that joined the programme this year:
Adam Walsh (JIT)
Mia Cohen (JIT)
Congratulations too to those students who completed the Programme:
Mr Fouad Khan (AIT)
Miss Aryana Khan (JIT)
Miss Dania Khan (JIT)
Mr Zaviyar Khan (JIT)
5 Minute Rule
Can we please take this opportunity to remind you of our ‘5 minute rule’. Whilst all students are expected to be in class, prepared & ready to commence training BEFORE the advertised class start time, we recognise there can be occasional issues with traffic. However, if a student arrives more than 5 minutes late for the advertised start time of the class, we will not allow them to join in as it is disruptive to the other students (who all managed to make it on time) and can be dangerous if the warm up is missed. Thank you to the 99% - the 1% have been warned!
What to do with yourself…?
As we approach the festive break, we thought it worthwhile just listing out some of the resources to help you stay trim & fit, keep progressing & learn new skills over this period - take a look here.
2022 National Tang Soo Do Competition
Congratulations to all those that attended the Competition this year. These events are only held every 3 or 4 years, so those that won medals will be the holders of their titles for a couple of years. There are too many to list individually, but here’s a sample of photos of the winners:
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