Suzy Cochnar brought her daughter Alyssa to speak to us about some exciting changes with their business Gold Star Martial Arts.  Suzy and her husband have owned their Taekwondo facility in Crete (formerly Crete ATA) for 12 years since 1996.  They teach many classes—Taekwondo, women’s and kid’s self-defense, bullying workshops, weapons classes, and their show/demonstration team called Team Velocity.  Alyssa is a 4-time world champion and teaches some of the classes, as well as being a member of Team Velocity.  Suzy and Alyssa both agree that being involved in martial arts provides many important benefits including confident, discipline/structure, and self-defense.  Additionally, there is no age limit!  Our own Geoff Easton just obtained his third degree black belt!  Congratulations, Geoff!

 One of the big changes recently is expanding into Seward this past week!  They started with 10 students, and now they are up to 35!  Suzy says since martial arts isn’t taught widely in this area, about half the students in both Crete and Seward travel from surrounding towns.  Alyssa teaches the Tiny Tigers (ages 4-5) on Monday and Wednesday in Crete, and Tuesday and Thursday in Seward. 

 Alyssa gave us a weapons demonstration at the very end she choreographed.  If you’re interested in seeing more about the demonstrations Team Velocity puts on, you can check with Suzy to see where they will be next!  Thank you to both Suzy and Alyssa for sharing these exciting changes and the positive influence martial arts has on the community. 

This Week- We will hold a regular meeting on Wednesday at 5:30 @ TBH. Our program will be Joy Stevenson, Crete Librarian. And we will continue to plan and organize for what looks to be a busy February and March for the club. We'll see you there!