Welcome Back!
As we rush towards the start of a new semester, we cannot forget our cherished martial arts club, Rising Phoenix Taekwondo Fellowship. I wanted to send out this email to encourage all students (new, old, and prospective) to resume or begin their training with the club. Now is always the time. Later has a tendency to turn into forever. As we rise once again, remember only through hard training can we attain tangible rewards. Make that commitment at the onset and stay the path with conviction. I know each one of you has it in you. Mr. Taddey has told me good things about last semester, and I am enthusiastic to see further growth and development. I will be returning, for a short time, before heading to Vermont for the summer camp, and I am eager see you all and witness your progress over the year.
The Newsletter
You may have noticed that this email looks super awesome. That's because I am using a new resource at our disposal, MailChimp. How exactly we use this method of communication will depend upon its manageability, but presently I would like to use it to release a series of newsletters, published at the start of each month, that covers the events of that month and two weeks into the next. Officers will need to plan these events at least two months in advance, with an ideal timeline being before the semester even begins. The newsletter will also recap events that occurred the previous month in a short synopsis. It will be organized by topic headings, making it easily navigable. You will also benefit from a short summery at the very beginning of the email (the text in gray, if you are reading this in HTML) to help you determine the relevancy. My hope is that through stronger communication, we can facilitate more stability with the schedule and more interest from the students. Quick announcements, such as class cancelations, weekly class additions, and impromptu social gatherings, will still go through the normal avenue, though they may eventually integrate with MailChimp as well. Regardless of origin, all information should be available on the website via the Herald.
Possibilities for the Camp
I have been in correspondence with Grandmaster Kwon, and I am looking to do a seminar on the way out to Vermont. In addition, if people are willing to shave off a day of training, we may spend the night in Ohio. If that were the case, we could also have a dinner with Grandmaster, and other notable martial artists in the area. For those of you who attended the camp last semester, my plan for the seminar is a bit different this time around. My hope is to join a sparring meet that Grandmaster will host for other competitors in the area. This would make for a very rich experience, and I think would add a lot to our trip out there. There might need to be some additional fee for this side trip, but it will depend upon the affordability of lodging, which I am looking into now. Either way, it should be a very reasonable addition.
My Future Plans
While I am reluctant to reveal too many details at this juncture, I want to be true with everyone lest there is some disillusionment later. In light events that have unraveled in my travels abroad, my life has sped up faster than I had imagined, and I may not be returning to Milwaukee in full. I still, of course, will come for seminars and testings, but if I am going to seize my dream, I cannot delay. Know that Rising Phoenix and the Fellowship are very much apart of that dream, and I intent to play a part in all of your lives and development in the years to come; however, I worry that if you holdout hope for my return, you may delay full involvement within the club. And that would be a great mistake.
When I selected Mr. Taddey to fill my shoes, I did not do so without great deliberation. He has the potential to be every bit the leader I ever was to you. I want you to know that when I first began the programs that eventually culminated in Rising Phoenix, I was no older than he is now. He has the experience and the skill to take you all the way. And you must now see him as the heart of this organization at UWM. Please support him in our mission to build the best collegiate martial arts club. Great things are possible because we believe and take action, but only in that manner.
In moving forward, I have advised Mr. Taddey to look to our longtime members and cherished instructors, Sensei Kopish and Mr. Nusslock, who were the yin and yang in my own leadership, and I believe have much to impart in the ways of wisdom and skill to the next generation. And it would amiss not to acknowledge everyone who has so charitably contributed to our success. You know who you are.
I realize this must come as a hard blow to some of you. Many of you have thought of me as your teacher since first arriving at college. That will never change. I will always be your master, just as students arriving now will forever see Mr. Taddey in that same way. But if you believe in me, you must let me go, and move forward into shadows I aim to conquer, and if you respect me, you must help me build a better dojang for our family.
Much of what I have to say about this new progression is of a sensitive nature, and I cannot go into now. But know that I began drafting a very long and thorough email soon after arriving here, and I will reveal it upon returning home.