I have some very sad news to share.  Mr. Chris Samples passed away on August 31st after a several month battle with brain cancer.  Mr. Samples will be missed by us all but especially the students in our kids class that he started on Saturday mornings.




I have known Mr. Samples most of my life as we grew up in roughly in the same area.  I trained and managed Mr. Samples in kickboxing after he had attained his Black Belt from my friend, Mr. Bill Miller at the Professional Karate Studios.  He won several Kickboxing titles and held the USA Welterweight Title for many years.  He went on to fight for the World title before retiring.  Mr. Samples was always around for sparring classes and trained for many years with Mr. Brian Byrne early Saturday mornings in our gym.  Recently, he started a kids fighting class which met every Saturday morning.  His goal was to take our kids to the local Karate Tournaments which he did and on many occasions won.




I have lost a true friend.  I will miss him dearly.

On Friday April 1st we will be once again hosting the Minneapolis Police Academy.  The training will begin at 12:00 Noon and will go to 4:00 PM.  Training will consist of boxing skills and use of force training using Hapkido.  All Black Belts and Red Belts are welcome to join as usual.

On Saturday February 27th we will be having our Annual Holiday Party starting at 4:00 pm.  As usual, it is a Pot Luck food and beverage event.  All students and their families are invited.  Earlier Mr. Samples and Mr. Peyton will be conducting a youth inter-school Tournament beginning at 2:00 pm.  Trophies will be awarded to the 1st-3rd place winners.  Hope to see you all there!

Well 2015 is almost gone and there are a few things I wanted to comment on.  First, I would like to thank all the Black and Red Belts who helped with our last Minneapolis Police Academy training last month.  It was a very good group of cadets and we have a very good time with them.  We look forward to the next class to be scheduled in April of 2016.




I wanted to give a special thank you to Mr. Chris Samples.  Mr. Samples as many of you know, has been working with several kids on point fighting in an effort to get some of the kids to the local Karate Tournaments.  Well, Mr. Samples took 4 kids to Master Bill Miller's recent tournament back in November and two of the kids placed and won trophies.  One or maybe both were 1st place!  If any of you have an interest please join Mr. Samples every Saturday for class before the regular scheduled class that day.




We are planning on our annual Holiday party sometime in mid to late January or early February.  We will let everyone know when the date is set.




HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On Monday September 28th from 12:00 Noon to 5:00 pm we will once again be hosting law enforcement training for the Minneapolis Police Academy.  As usual, we will begin in the ring with fighting skills and then proceed to the mat for Hapkido techniques for "use of force" training.  All Black Belts are welcome to attend and join in as well as other advanced students.  As always, we look forward to our association with these future law enforcement officers of the Minneapolis Police Department.

Effective 8/5/15 we are making some changes to the class schedule.  In the past, Tuesday classes were for advanced belts only.  Now Tuesdays are open to all students.  Also, Mr. Chung will be taking most Tuesday classes.  I will be attending classes on different nights on different weeks of the month as my schedule allows and help the primary Instructors with classes and work with the advanced belts.  A new class schedule is now posted at the school.




 Mr. Samples will be adding a kids sparring class on Saturdays at 10:00 am.  Please see him for details.  These classes will be in the ring while open sparring is being held on the main floor.  All ages are welcome.

On Tuesday March 3rd we will be hosting the current class of Minneapolis Police Cadets for their second day of Boxing, Martial Arts and Use of Force instruction.  As always, any and all Black Belts are more than welcome to attend and help.  This current class of Cadets will be graduating as Police Officers on Wednesday March 4th.

Happy New Year!  I wanted to start the new year with an update from the Black Belt Test last month.  Congradulations to Mariah Tamanaha for passing her Black Belt Test and being our newest Black Belt!  I am sure you all are happy for her and let her know the next time you see her.  Ms. Tamanaha will be helping from time to time as an assistant Instructor.

On January 14th we will be hosting the Minneapolis Police Academy between 12:00 Noon and 4:00 PM.  As usual, we will be starting in the ring and then moving to the mat.  Anyone wishing to help out please feel welcome to join us.  Lately I have seen several of our past Police Cadet students on the local news.  It would seem many of them are doing very well as Minneapolis Police Officers.

We have set Friday February 6th as the date for our annual New Years/Holiday Party.  We are looking at starting around 5:00 in the afternoon.  As in the past, it is a "Pot Luck" event and we appreciate everyone bringing something especially your "specialties" to share with everyone.  We will set up around 4:00 PM and be ready to go no later than 5:00 PM.  I hope to see you all there even if you can only stop by for a little while.  It is always good to see allot of you we never see otherwise.  Friends and family are all welcome.

In closing, I am looking forward to a great year ahead of us.  I appreciate everything you have done in the past and look forward to working with you all in the future.

Tim Mullin

On Saturday December 13th at 12:00 Noon we will be conducting a Black Belt and Advanced Belt Promotion Examination.  Any Black Belt is invited to sit on the board and join the testing activities.  The test is open for observation and to take photos or film by anyone.  Please consider joining us and to support our advanced students who are testing.

There will be a school meeting on Friday September 19th at 7:00 PM.  Any student may attend.