Paragon Today

Masters Bass and Horn are currently in Little Rock preparing for their induction to mastership by Grand Master Soon Ho Lee on Friday night.

• Master Bass and Master Horn at DIA ready to fly to Little Rock

Today was spent primarily at the H.U.Lee Gate and Garden with the ATA’s seniors fulfilling the first steps in the ceremony. They were video taped and will appear on the big screen on Friday night.

Today is also their fourth day of fasting. I talked to Master Bass at around 5:30 Arkansas time and he answered the phone, “I’m hungry!” Tonight he and Master Horn will join up with some of their fellow candidates to go bowling at a local bowling alley.

• Master Bass, Grand Master Soon Ho Lee and Master Horn

The weather was perfect for a a day in the sun wearing a few layers of thick silk (their traditional Korean master’s uniform). The official high for Little Rock today was 102 degrees.

• Master Bass and Master Horn in front of the statue of Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee

The afternoon was filled with Chief Master M.K. Lee talking about the finer points and expectations of the new masters. Master Bass and Master Horn have worked extensively with Master M.K. over the years.

• Master Horn and Master Bass at ATA World HQ.

Tomorrow is a full day of training. Starting at 6:00 a.m. with Chief Master In Ho Lee. They will start the day with weapons training, move into traditional forms and sparring and end the day with Warrior X-Fit workout followed by more training seminars. When Grand Master and his staff are training with master candidates, they fast along with them.

If you wish to send Master Horn and Master Bass a message, click the ‘submit’ button on the right or send to paragonma@tumblr.com. I will post 5 or ten of them on the blog on Thursday night for them to read before they head off to opening ceremonies of Friday. This is open to all his students, parents, family and fellow instructors in Colorado.

Five days left until Master Bass’ and Master Horn’s induction as Masters.

As they enter into 4 intense days of training, they committed to updating our ParagonToday.com blog so we can all share the experience. They will officially become Master Instructors at Opening Ceremonies of World Championships on Friday night.

Today is their third of nine days of fasting. Today is also a travel day as they head down to Little Rock, Arkansas.

Tomorrow is an early day. The entire group will be meeting at the H.U. Lee Gate and Garden for filming, training, workouts, practices and, well, more fasting. Don’t worry, I sent some bottles of water with them for lunch … and dinner … ‘oh,  and breakfast.

I know that they will be up late in their room studying tonight, as Chief Master M.K. Lee sent out a late notice of an exam for tomorrow. This will be an intense exam, and “no Master Horn, the Korean word for Cheeseburger will not be a test question.” Although, I bet a cheeseburger sounds good right now, eh?

Here are a few fun facts that make this an historic event. Their journey to mastership also marks a few firsts for Colorado — and the ATA.

• It’s the first time that two masters from the same school and instructor have achieved the title at the same time. (with the exception of spouses)
• It is the first time a Colorado “native” will earn the title
• Master Horn will be the ATA’s youngest master instructor
• They will be the first masters who trained under a Colorado instructor to achieve the title
• They will be Master Hauptman’s first and second masters
• They will be Chief Master Jager’s ninth and tenth masters
• They are the fourth and fifth masters in Colorado

I will update the blog every night this week with the latest news on their progress. Check back nightly. Master William Hauptman

• 2007 Taekwondo World Magazine

• High Rank Testing from 7 Paragon Martial Arts schools and clubs in Colorado

Over 60 Paragon Black Belts from 7 Colorado Paragon schools and clubs gathered at the Denver West Marriott for the organization’s 58th Black Belt Testing. 26 Paragon students earned the rank of Paragon Black Belt during the testing. Paragon martial Arts is Colorado’s largest ATA school network. Members of the American Taekwondo Association, the group has quickly grown to 9 current and future locations in the Denver front range.

• NEW PARAGON BLACK BELTS: Cathy Clark, Jeff Radcliff, Christy Williamsen, Jack Winters, Seth Endsely, Kai Rebollo, Paige Radcliff, Maddy Chong, Helena Kragel, Matthew Kragel, Andrea Schuetter, Anne Shrum, Kyle Butler, Cooper Brooks, Riley Costello, Wyatt Gomes, Jesse Boyne, Rachel Elander, Preston Troxel, Isaac Martin, Maggie Boyne, Sean Mueller, Jeremiah Martin, Hannah Martin, Anthony Cooper, Bryan Muir

 

New 2nd Degree Decided Black Belts
Davis Stockholm & Connor Mattivi

New 2nd Degree Recommended Black Belts
Eli Born, Wesley Boyne, Laura Gill, Tiffany Haag, Micah Martin, Kimo Rebollo, Tavin Reinhardt

New 3rd Degree Black Belt

Nathan Deneau

DEMONTRATIONS!

The Paragon Testers were honored by two visiting schools and teams who performed. Both were exceptional demonstrations of XMA skills. Extreme Martial Arts (XMA) is a fast growing sport that combines the power the martial arts and flash of acrobatics.

• Action Family Martial Arts, Team X-Out

• Daniel Perez, Team Captain, Aeroforme
• View Video

PARAGON LEADERSHIP TEAM WORKOUT

Te success of any organization is it’s leadership. Over 40 Paragon leaders got together before the testing to discuss the organization’s teaching methods and future. Taught by Master William Hauptman, Master Joel Bass, Master Jody Horn and Ms. Lura Roberts, the workout was a high level instructional seminar.

• Ms. Roberts leading a part of the group through some cutting edge instructional material

• Master Joel Bass and the Fort Collins Paragon leadership team accept the H.U. Lee Standard of Excellence Award. Paragon’s highest honor for the school or club that has the most growth since the last leadership workout. With 28 new students in the last few months, Fort Collins Paragon continues to grow quickly in the Fort Collins market. They are opening a new Paragon Martial Arts location in Loveland in July of 2010.
  
  

ACTION

Mostly the evening was filled with action! A Paragon parent and professional architectural photographer, Mr. Mark Mattivi caught these images throughout the evening. You can view Mark’s professional work at www.MarkMattiviPhoto.com

PARAGON MARTIAL ARTS
303-674-5900 Evegreen
303-838-8533 Conifer
303-838-8533 Bailey
303-928-0043 Stapleton
970-744-8862 Fort Collins
303-986-5500 Lakewood
303-968-5500 Green Mountain Rec. Center
www.ParagonKarate.com

Grand Ballroom Denver West Marriott
Friday, June 4, 2010

Schedule of Events:
3:15 Paragon Core Leadership Workout
4:00 All Paragon Leadership Workout
6:00 High Rank Testing

• Over 50 Paragon Leadership Members To Train
• 26 New Paragon Black Belts to be promoted
• Over 20 Paragon 2nd, 3rd & 4th Degrees Testing for Higher Rank
• Breathtaking XMA Demo by X-Out, Action Martial Arts Demo Team
  and Jeff Peterson

After months of discussions, workouts, interviews and training, Paragon Martial Arts is proud to welcome 4th Degree Black Belt, Mr. David Polites to the Paragon family. Mr. Polites is a well seasoned instructor with ATA teaching experience in California and Colorado.  After careful considersation on who was best qualified to guide him to both school ownership and rank advancement, Mr. Polites choose Paragon Martial Arts as his school and Master Bass as his instructor.

“I started Tae Kwon Do when I was 6 years old.  I’ve been with it my entire life.  At about year 17 of my career, I decided my evangelist mentality towards Tae Kwon Do had grown enough to eventually open a school of my own.  As my intentions were solid in that direction I took the ATA’s Basic Business Seminar shortly after attaining my black collar.” says Mr. Polites of his ATA career.

He continued when asked of his goals in Paragon, “My goals for school ownership are to spread the physical and mental training of Paragon Martial Arts.  I’m not after a massive school.  I’m after running and teaching a moderate sized school creating exceptional individuals.  My plan is to set the bar to a challenging level and have people push themselves to areas they have never thought possible.”

In closing, David added, “I have NEVER been truly WOWed over a TKD program. Paragon stands alone!”

Master William Hauptman commented on the addition of Mr. Polites, “As a rule we have a very strict policy to never accept transfer students unless they are highly motivated, free to transfer and stand above the crowd. Mr. Polites is one of a very few that has earned this honor. I believe he has the quality, drive and character required to wear the Paragon Patch. He will work closely with Master Bass, Master Horn, Ms. Robert and me to continue the high standards for Paragon. I believe he’s Colorado’s next instructor to watch!”

• Master Joel Bass awarding Mr. Polites his Paragon Patch after months of training.

Ms. Lura Roberts, owner of Conifer Paragon Martial Arts is visiting South America for the month of May. Her fist visit was to Machu Picchu in Peru. Ms. Roberts says of the experience atop the Lost City of the Incas, “I’ve been to 14 countries and seen amazing things like Saint Petersburg, the Swiss Alps and the Great Wall of China. But I have to say I think Machu Picchu is the most magnificent thing I’ve even seen.”  The journey to the top of Machu Picchu was a full day’s hike, very dangerous and adventurous. Recent storms had washed away some roads and closed some of the avenues to the top, “but a small group of us made the journey.”

Ms. Roberts added this about the experience, “I encountered a lot of treacherous animals including all sorts of rain forest monkeys … but after many years of training with Mr. Horn and Mr. Bass, I felt strangely well prepared and rather at home with them.”

• (Posted by Master William Hauptman. Who also fabricated the second quote to see if any of Mr. Horn and Mr. Bass’ students read the blog.)

Machu Picchu (Machu Pikchu – “Old Mountain”, pronounced  is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

Paragon Martial Arts had six members, Joel Bass, Jody Horn, Lura Roberts, Emma Adams, Allison Clark, & Andrew Wolf, attend the National Black Belt Camp in Iowa.  The black belt camp only, which had over 190 black belts attending, was hosted by eight degree black belts Chief Master Jager and Chief Master Hoover.  Of the 190 black belts attending camp, twenty plus where 5^th degrees with nine 6th degrees and two 8th degrees.  As most of you know, Chief Master Jager is our most senior instructor and everyone in Paragon Martial Arts can trace their instructor line back to Master Jager.

The camp started on Friday evening and ended on Saturday night with a banquet dinner and awards ceremony.  As staff members, Mr. Bass, Mr. Horn, & Ms. Roberts work alongside other Masters teaching classes from sparring to practical self-defense.  However, Emma Adams, Allison Clark & Andrew Wolf, worked the hardest by participating in every class offered at the camp.  Of course these three leaders in Paragon shined in every class and represented Paragon Martial Arts extremely well.

The Colorado crew would like to express our thanks and gratitude towards Master Jager and Master Hoover for having us at camp.  We all came home with many new ideas for our own schools and are looking forward to sharing our experiences at the camp.  The best thing about our martial arts community is that we are all family and the National camp in Iowa is no exception.  I know we are all looking forward to the next time we can get together with our extended family to train, learn and have another great time.

Submitted by Joel Bass

Paragon Martial Arts – Fort Collins, CO