Celebration of Caleb's Life

Today the May Martial Arts family is mourning the loss of one of our students and friends. Caleb Kinnersley has lost his battle with cancer. He has gone home to be with the Lord. He will be greatly missed! We are continuing to pray for his family as they mourn the loss of their son.
Please join us in praying for this family!

Here are some pictures from the time Caleb was with us. I wanted to share so we can all remember his wonderful, loving spirit!

We love you Caleb! We will miss you very much. We will see you again one day when we all meet Jesus face to face.

Christmas Parade 2011

WOW! It was GREAT!

The Christmas parade was a great success!

We had wonderful weather, wonderful help, wonderful kids and wonderful Christmas Spirit!

I want to first of all thank everyone who made our entry in the Christmas parade possible.

• All families who brought their children to participate.
• Leslie Thorp-Purdy for helping me with the decorating of the trailer.
• The Ray family for donating the Christmas tree, small chairs and Christmas lights to be used on the float. 
• Dr. Walt Stewart, Caleb Kinnersley's grandfather, for use of his trailer for the 2nd year.
• David Bonner for providing the large cardboard tubes for the frames to hold the lights.
• ETI and Ricky Ray for Providing the generator to power our lights.
• All of the students for bringing cardboard tubes for the paint brushes, painting the sign for the trailer and making ornaments to decorate the float.
• Last, but not least, Mr. May for working so hard to make everything safe and enjoyable.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

 

This comes from our saying we teach the Little Dragons: 

" To get stronger and better in our quest to be our best!"

WILL

FAMILY

COUSINS

FRIENDS

"THE BOYS"

"SUCH SWEET GIRLS!"

 

The float was all lit up and ready to go!

It looked fabulous once we had it all together. 

We even got a tree on top of the Xterra this year! I have to admit this was Mr. May's idea. I didn't think it would work but , of course, he made it work just as he always does. Yeah!

Can we top this next year?! I don't know, let's wait and see.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Test Results

CONGRATULATIONS!

We want to wish all those who tested congratulations. We had 20 students testing this month. We are so proud of each and every one of them.

Beginning with our youngest students, we are so proud to announce the following students advanced to their next belt:

Anna Beth- Purple

Rylie - Purple

Colby - Yellow

Our Little Dragons receive a white striped/color belt because they are beginning the journey with age appropriate beginning martial arts learning.

Next we have our older Dragons. These students are between the ages of 6-7 years old. They too receive white/striped colored belts. They are learning beginning skills as well building their strength, balance and coordination.

Congratulations to the following students:

Luke - yellow

Mackenzie- yellow

Ryan - Yellow

Sencere - Yellow

Myles - Blue

 Great job both classes of Little Dragons!

They demonstrated self-defense - How to get away from a grab

 Myles showed how to get away from a "bear hug" from an unwanted stranger.

The students must also retell memorized Code of Ethics. They are life skills for the students to use as they grow and learn.

Next came our Juniors as they showed the techniques they have practiced.

Congratulations to all of the Juniors!

Back Row L to R : Matthew, Nylah, Bryan, Willis, Madeline, JT

Front Row L to R: Theisman, Jared, Brandon & Caleb 

Last , but not least, THE ADULTS!

Samantha and Jay both did a great job!

Once again, everyone did very well. We are so proud of the obvious dedication that has been demonstrated through the performance of all students.

We look forward to seeing everyone else test in late January! Have a wonderful Christmas Season!

 

Belt Testing

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are so proud of everyone who tested this Saturday to advance to their next belt. Thank you to Mr. Welton Sanders for driving from Austell to join us and sit on the testing board.

I will post pictures from testing soon.

Testing

Stripe Testing NEXT WEEK!

Gup Belt Test - November 19th

Deadline for Testing Applications, Intent to Promote form and Testing fee are due November 11-12th. If applications received after this date we will not have a belt. A belt will have to be ordered.

More information will be posted next week.

Promotion for Head Instructor

Mr. May is a member of the Universal Fighting Arts Fellowship International (UFAFI). This is a federation led by Soke (Founder) Eric Breuer and Senior Grandmaster Ventura Silva. This fellowship is an organization of proficient martial artist from around the world from many diverse styles of Martial Arts who have a passion for high quality martial arts instruction. If you would like to know more please go to their web page at www.ufafi.com

On Saturday, October 22,2011, Mr. May was promoted to 3rd Dan in the UFAFI organization.

New Videos

Please refer to the tabs at the top of the blog area. We have two tabs for videos of some of our forms. I am glad to say I have updated these recently. Please use these as a means of practice not for primary instruction. There are techniques and skills that can only be gleamed by being in class. So use these a way of reinforcing the instruction you receive in class. Any questions please let us know.

Our Deepest Sympathy

We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the Camp Family. Mrs. Shannon Camp passed away this past weekend after a battle with Cystic Fibrosis. Please join us by remembering this family as we grieve the loss of this wonderful lady.

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!!!

Belt Testing

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are so proud of all of the students who tested today. You did a very good job. I will post pictures a little later. Have a Great Weekend!!!

Placement of Patches

 Front view

 Right Arm

Left Arm

Please refer to the following pictures when 

placing your patches on your uniform top.

September Special

***DON'T MISS IT***

SEPTEMBER SPECIAL

2 WEEKS FREE & A FREE UNIFORM

when you enroll in our program.

This is the last month for this special please come visit us at the Davis Road Plaza across from Hertz Rental in LaGrange, Georgia

Nunchaku Class

August 26, 2011
Nunchaku Class
The Juniors and Adults had one of their first instruction classes using the foam nunchakus. The Juniors have not had much experience with this learning tool but they did a great job. The chucks are great for building hand/eye coordination.

More special classes will be coming soon. If you are interested in buying your own foam nunchakus please see Mrs. May. Our new order will be in on Friday, September 16th.

Best Wishes Caleb!

Our dear Little Dragon, Caleb Kinnersley, is traveling to Houston, Texas seeking treatment for his cancer. Please join us in praying for safe travels and discernment for his parents and the doctors.

All the Little Dragons wish you well!!!!

Gup Belt Test

UPCOMING TEST DATE

Our next belt tests will be 

Saturday, September 17th.

Please refer to the following schedule to see when your child will test.

Juniors 9:00

Little Dragons (4-5 yr olds) 10:00

Little Dragons (6-7 yr olds) 10:30

Adults 11:00

These are the set start times. Please be present 5-10 minutes prior to your/your child's testing time.  Mr. May will do his best to stay on this schedule.

Remember to turn in all forms as soon as possible if you are testing to insure we will have a belt and diploma ready for you/your child when you pass your test.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Schedule change

Please be sure to read the newly posted times on our schedule. 

Our classes are growing. To better serve our smallest Martial Artists better we are splitting the Little Dragon class into two classes. The 4-5 yr olds will meet together twice a week. The 6-7 yr olds will meet together twice a week, as well, at different times. Any questions please send me an email.

Need Help

Anyone know how to post a PDF file on blogspot?

Gup Belt Test

UPCOMING BELT TEST

September 17, 2011

Please take note of the times. There are changes for Little Dragons.

Juniors 9:00

Dragons (4-5) 10:00

Dragons (6-7) 10:30

 Testing Applications must be turned in by September 10th. 

If received after September 10th a belt may not be available on the day of testing when the student passes their test.

All students under 18 must have parent permission, testing application and a Letter of Intent from both parent and teacher in order to test. These forms can be picked up by seeing Mrs. May.

The testing fee is $20 for all students and this must be paid before September 17th.

 

September Calendar

***Updates***

New Calendars are available on the display case at the studio. I am going to attempt to put one on this blog. We'll see if I can figure out how to do it. 


Just some points of interest...
*Monday night extra classes in September are TBA
*Monday, September 26th - Team Caleb Spirit Night at Chick-fil-a on Lafayette Parkway
*Stripe testing - Friday, September 2nd and Saturday, September 10th
*Nunchaku Class - Saturday, September 3rd for Adults and Juniors. (If you have your own bring them.)
*Testing - Saturday September 17th - more info to come in a separate post.


***Tuition is due this weekend for everyone***

Kicking Cancer T-shirts

KICKING CANCER

A member of our church is organizing a fundraiser for the Kinnersley family selling t-shirts.


The t-shirts will be royal blue and have a slogan about Kicking Cancer on the front left chest and a verse on the back from Jeremiah. All proceeds will go to the Kinnersley family to help pay for his treatments.

The cost is $15 for youth, $20 for Adult up to XL, 2x-$22, 3x- $24 
All checks should be made out to May Martial Arts. The t-shirts will be available in 3-4 weeks. The organizer is having them printed. I am a "go between" on this one.

We will have order forms beginning on Friday, August 26th. We must have all money and orders by September 6th.

We had a great response to our Caps and Coins for Caleb last weekend. I thank you for the Kinnersley family. 

Friend Week

Tonight was the first night of ...

"Bring a Friend to Class Week"

We had a great group of kids. I know a few of our students were not able to be there tonight for very good reasons. 

If you missed tonight be sure to bring your friends another night this week.

Check out these pictures from Monday night.

The two videos are from a game Mr. May and the children enjoy. It is always a hit when friends, brothers, or relatives are in class together. We call it "Tug a bag". We are teaching them quick reaction skills, keeping a strong base to avoid being pulled over and perseverance to keep trying even when you are having difficulty. This game gives the kids an outlet to be aggressive in a controlled environment. The first video is Juliette helping in the juniors class to even out the class number. Her daddy is helping her against one of the strong juniors. We are so proud of all of the students who attended classes tonight.

More student/friend classes Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

If you missed tonight we look forward to seeing you later this week!

Don't miss the fun!!

Parent/Student Class

It was a great success!!

We are so proud of all of the parents who attended this class. I regret that I lost a few pictures in the downloading process. I did want to share the ones I was able to retrieve. We are looking forward to the next parent class. If you missed this one be sure to be there for the next one. It will probably be in October.

Chick-fil-a Spirit Night

 

***Special Event***

Mark your calendars.....Team Caleb will have a Chick-fil-A Spirit night on Monday Sept. 26th on the Parkway! I know this is early, but hopefully we can get it well advertised.

Let's all go together and make a showing of support for Caleb! No classes will be held that night so we can meet at Chick-fil-a on Lafayette Parkway.

Plan to come join us!!!

How To Pray For Someone With A Chronic Illness

How To Pray For Someone With A Chronic Illness

I want to share this with everyone. We, as a martial arts, family and community are dealing with issues of Chronic illness. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to do. A minister at our church recently posted this information on his website. It helped me and I wanted to share it with you. I hope in some way it gives all of us direction as we pray for those around us that are struggling with such difficult circumstances.

Update on Caleb

I wanted to update everyone on Caleb's condition. 

Caleb has been diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer called astrocytoma. It is in operable. He will begin radiation treatments soon. He and his parents are still in Birmingham at UAB. Please remember them in your prayers. There is a prayer group on facebook that is forming right now. Please make your way to facebook.com and then look for the Prayer team for Caleb.

Picture taken July 31, 2011 in Sunday School

PLEASE PRAY!!!

                                                         Please read!!!
I want to share with you about two big prayer concerns within our martial arts family. Don and I are firm believers in the Power of Prayer. We know both of these families will appreciate your prayers. First, a parent, Shannon is an adult with Cystic Fibrosis she has been in the hospital for a few weeks now waiting on a lung transplant. This is the latest update from her husband:
         "Shannon just took another step towards getting off the vent they turned it down from 20 support to 15 support which is the amount of help the vent is giving her when she takes a breath.She has been breathing on her own for 2 days with just the small amount of help support from the vent.when she gets down to 10 support they will remove the vent and put on a trach collar( I'm not sure what all that is yet but it is off the vent) in the day time and back on the vent only at night just to rest and if all goes well then they will work taking the trach out. thank you all for your prayers and support we know with out a doubt that people are praying and God is answering those prayers and we know this cause we can see him working on her every day. Thank you all"

    Secondly, one of our youngest students, Caleb has been taken to Children's hospital in Birmingham today. He had lost motor skills on one side of his body and the doctors here in LaGrange think he has a viral infection in his brain. The doctors in Birmingham are going to run test on him to confirm this and then go from there. Please pray for his parents, the doctors, and his family. They are very close.

    Both of these families have a very strong faith and know the power prayer can have. Please remember these families and pray for them.

    On another note, It was GREAT to see all of the parents participating in class tonight. You all looked fantastic.

Parent/Student Class

PARENT/STUDENT CLASS

MONDAY, AUGUST 8TH

I am so excited it is time for another parent involvement class. This is a FANTASTIC opportunity for parents to "get their feet wet", pick up tips for home practice and just have a FABULOUS time. Don't be afraid to participate. I promise it is one of the best classes we offer. Be sure to come Monday and be ready to step out on the mat with your child and build a wonderful memory.

Just as a reminder to those of you who have been with us for other classes. Here are a few pictures from past parent involvement classes.

Learn basic self-defense

                                                         Use targets to practice techniques

Learn how to kick like the kids and how it feels to be out on the mat.

This is a wonderful way to build memories with your child doing something they love to do.

Don't miss it! Be there and 

have a blast with your child!!!