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Blog
Welcome to my weblog (which most people call a "blog"). The opinions expressed herein are my own personal thoughts and opinions. Check back often for my musings and updates. Feel free to e-mail me your comments on my entries or use our contact form. Thanks for visiting! |
| Wednesday, February 17, 2010 |
 NERF Wars!!! | |
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NERFwars - Parent Date Night 4/24/10 (7:00 PM - 11:00 PM) 04/24/10. Come learn the art of war---NERF war! Ages 6 & up welcome. Learn to work lone-wolf or in a team, search and destroy tactics, and bodyguard skills. $40 per person, and bring your own NERF Gun. We'll supply all the darts. Camo Battle Dress is completely appropriate, and be ready to have some fun! | |
| posted at 01:21PM | comments |
| Wednesday, February 17, 2010 |
| Star Wars Inspired Light Sabre training event | |
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4/17/10 (2:00 PM - 6:30 PM) Join us for our Star Wars Inspired Saber Training Day where you will have a fun-filled time of martial arts all inspired by Star Wars. Cost: $75.00 per person Training will include activities such as: • Stunt training and fight sets • Martial arts training • Weapons training • Class certificate **participants will do a demonstration of their skills immediately following the event during the TNT graduation!** You must bring your own expandable light saber. It also must be in good repair with no broken pieces. register online via the fun events link! | |
| posted at 01:16PM | comments |
| Wednesday, February 17, 2010 |
| Smart Shield Parent Workshop 4/10/10 (10:00 AM - 11:00 AM) | |
 Join us with your little one! What is a SmartShield? It is the letters/numbers targets you see us using in class...and they are PERFECT for helping your little firecracker or dynamite strive for excellence at home! The Smartshield was developed by martial arts instructor to add fun, fitness and intelligence to pre-school and elementary school aged martial artist. It will help teach children their ABC's, numbers, adding, subtracting, multiplication, colors and increase their memory. This in turn will help a child not only learn the physical aspects kicking and punching of the martial arts but their mental and intellectual abilities. It will also help develop a child's short term memory which will have a direct impact in their academic life. Cost for the workshop is $30 and includes a set of SmartShields.
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| posted at 01:14PM | comments |
| Wednesday, February 17, 2010 |
| TNT Annual Banquet 2/27/10 (6:00 PM - 9:00 PM) | |
| You are invited to the TNT Martial Arts Annual Banquet! Our annual banquet will be held this year on Saturday February 27,2010 from 6pm-9pm at Out of this World Pizza and Play www.OutofthisWorld.net Dress casual and be ready to have some fun! We will have a slide show, door prizes and awards, just to name a few of the exciting things you don't want to miss. Rather than pizza, this year we have the option of lasagna or pasta alfredo with broccoli. You will have the opportunity to make your selection during registration. Cost is $11 per person. Please click on the link below to register and prepay so OOTW can plan for our arrival! | |
| posted at 01:13PM | comments |
| Wednesday, February 17, 2010 |
| Kids Bully Buster / Adult Personal Safety & Awareness 2/25/10 | |
| During regular classes Feb.25th & 26th there will be age appropriate training on Bully Buster and Personal Safety Awareness. There is no cost for this training. You may bring a friend to these classes, but if they are under 18 must be signed in by their parent. If you are NOT a TNT member, please call us at 503-640-8400 to let us know you are coming and to get appropriate class time! | |
| posted at 01:09PM | comments |
| Thursday, July 2, 2009 |
| SUMMER CAMPS ARE OPEN FOR REGISTRATION! | |
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SUMMER CAMPS ARE OPEN FOR REGISTRATION! This August TNT will host 3 very different summer camps for kids. The first is our TNT Intensive Training Immersion Camp that features 18 hours of focus on our curriculum. This is a great way to start your child in our programs, and includes an incredible amount of character-building topics! The second camp is the NERFWARS day camp where you'll learn to do battle with the worlds most formidable weapons - NERF guns! The last and most unique is our Star Wars-inspired training camp. Kids get a real custom-made robe, and tons of training in the types of skills they have seen in the Star Wars movies and on TV! Click on our 'FUN EVENTS' link to the left to register right away for our 2009 summer camps! | |
| posted at 03:12PM | comments |
| Tuesday, June 2, 2009 |
| Star Wars inspired Jedi/Sith Training Camp in Hillsboro Oregon | |
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8/17/09 (9:00 AM - 3:00 PM) August 17-19. $200 per participant. You’re invited to a fun-filled, action-packed, Star Wars-inspired Summer Training Camp. With 3 days of challenging activities, you’ll be transformed by our expert Jedi Masters into a true Jedi Knight! This is one camp you don’t want to miss! Star Wars Training Camp will include: * Custom Jedi/Sith Robe • Obstacle course training • Stunt training and fight sets • Martial arts training • Weapons training • Class certificate Lunch will be provided on 3rd day. You must bring your own light saber or staff...or both! Hurry, the demand for this extraordinary camp is high, and enrollment is limited! TNT members: Get $50 off for every friend you bring to this camp. 4 friends = free! | |
| posted at 07:36PM | comments |
| Tuesday, June 2, 2009 |
| martial arts summer camp in Hillsboro Oregon | |
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TNT Immersion Camp 8/3/09 (9:00 AM - 3:00 PM) August 3-5. $150 per person, ages 7 & up.(STORM members $50) 18 hours of TNT immersion training. Most students are able to easily increase their rank by one level by the end of this camp! Camp will cover all requirements for your current rank, and get you going on your next belt level. Graduation ceremony and student demonstration will occur during last day - family & friends are encouraged to attend. You will need your uniform, belt, and a strong desire to move your black belt date closer! | |
| posted at 07:34PM | comments |
| Thursday, September 4, 2008 |
| TNT is a Community Safe School | |
 OUR MISSION as a Community Safe School is to teach martial arts students how to take an active role in reducing personal safety issues in their schools and in their neighborhoods. A Community Safe School educates their martial arts students to cope with personal safety issues such as bullies, strangers and abusers. It helps martial arts students recognize that youth can and must be a part of creating a safer community. A Community Safe School maintains an ongoing effort to promote and teach programs that educate students about personal safety and wellness issues. Educating our students and the community about these issues is an essential requirement of maintaining a strong “community safe” program. A Community Safe School cooperates with parent organizations, teachers and administrators to insure that students succeed to the full potential of their talents and energies; unhindered by the destructive influence of bullies, strangers and abusers. We develop unique and effective programs to share with the community. A Community Safe School builds relationships and strong bonds of trust with the community and establishes a Personal Safety Network (PSN) which is an anonymous, safe and non-threatening system for students to report incidences of bullying, child abuse and crime. | |
| posted at 04:20PM | comments |
| Tuesday, July 29, 2008 |
| FREE Mass Transit / Light Rail Rider Safety Course | |
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On Saturday September 13th, 2008 TNT Martial Arts in Hillsboro is hosting a free safety course for riders of Light Rail and Mass Transit. The one hour class will be from 11am to noon, and is free to anyone who shows a recent or current Tri-Met, Chariot, or C-Tran pass. This FREE rider safety course will be a regular event and is the perfect solution to ease fears and provide the skills, strategies and confidence to make secure decisions while riding mass transit. The course will cover threat recognition, personal security, safety planning, and easy physical defense techniques that can be done in the confined space of a bus or train. You must call or email to reserve your spot as class size is limited. | |
| posted at 12:34PM | comments |
| Wednesday, March 26, 2008 |
| Sex Abuse in Martial Arts | |
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Former Tigard karate teacher gets prison for sexually abusing students-The Oregonian - Portland,OR,USA "Thirteen years after a teenage girl reported that a karate teacher was sexually abusing her in his Tigard studio, ..." I just hate to read articles like this and find it infuriating. What this does is re-affirm my way of operating our martial arts school. Some of you know this, but I want to share with you all how we handle your child’s safety. 1. At TNT Martial Arts we have a 2-deep leadership rule. This means that whenever there is a kid present, that there are at least 2 adults present. If there are not 2 adults, a pile of kids and an adult are fine. I also encourage photos and videos. That keeps everyone honest. 2. Some of you have noticed that we don’t have dressing rooms at TNT. Darn right. Dressing rooms actually provide the opportunity for folks of different age groups to be alone in a state of undress---which is so not acceptable. That’s why I like you to dress before you come to class, or dress ALONE in the bathroom. Family members of course are exempt from the bathroom rule. 3. Every STORM member is required to go through an online child physical and sexual abuse recognition course every year. If the STORM member is a kid, they do the course with their parents. All go through it again with me during STORM a meeting and must pass with an ‘A’. All of you are welcome to come to the annual course review. The more educated folks we have, the safer we are. The course covers everything from mandated reporting to appropriate touch...some pretty mature stuff, but all the STORM members handled it extremely well. 4. I just completed a child physical & sexual abuse certification course named “Called to Protect”. It was taught by a local school principal. I have also received tons of training through my years in law enforcement. I truly believe in the appropriate respectful contact protocols we observe here at TNT. 5. I have no office, but even if I did, nobody would be allowed in there with me, unless we had 2-deep leadership present, or several trained leaders. When I need to speak privately with a child student, I take them to a visible but removed corner of the room so we can talk without everyone listening. Many of you have seen me do this. You will never find me taking anyone into a room out of sight---unless it is one of my own kids! We also have other safety protocols in place that we don’t advertise out. 6. After you graduate the beginner program, you become eligible to attend scenario training, and yes, we put kids into creepy and uncomfortable situations. During the last scenario sessions, I did a scenario with a young female student. It was an attempted rape scenario, and although it freaks me out to be the ‘threat’ during that type of scenario, the stress and fear management exhibited by the student was so vitally important. The girl’s mother watched as her daughter fought the ‘threat’ rapist with amazing ferocity...and succeeded. Scenarios give all of us the opportunity to not just talk about what to do, but to actually take action and not be victimized. Our legal use of force training also opens parent/kid dialogue on some touchy issues. 7. I have been through extremely thorough criminal and background checks by different agencies over the last 20 years; INS, State, ATF/FBI, law enforcement (several times), and most recently by a local school system. Not many martial arts instructors can claim that level of background. You’d be surprised at how many instructors out there have criminal histories... 8. When all of you enrolled, you read through our lengthy membership agreement. The nature of the martial arts we do here involves some very close body contact. The reason for that long document is to make everyone aware of what we do here at TNT Martial Arts, and what is and is NOT appropriate contact. In any given class there are a handful of trained and aware members who know what is and is not acceptable. Our guest area is not removed from the training area and no hidden areas exist. I work hard at keeping you all up to date on important safety awareness subjects, and our rules are in place so that you can feel safe while training here. Have a discussion right now with your kids about sex or sex abuse. Don’t leave it up to the school teacher to tell your kid something you should have stepped up and done. If you need some tips on talking with your kids, call me---I can help point you in the right direction. Mark Gajdostik TNT Martial Arts 503-640-8400 www.martialartshillsboro.com | |
| posted at 03:24PM | comments |
| Wednesday, January 30, 2008 |
| Winter Driving Safety | |
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Greetings All, Here is a good page from ODOT to help keep you safe during your snowy travels. http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/COMM/winterdriving.shtml Mark Gajdostik TNT Martial Arts-Hillsboro 503-640-8400 www.martialartshillsboro.com | |
| posted at 03:16PM | comments |
