Welcome
(To a new and improved)
TKD Home!
SAME SCHOOL, SAME HEART, FRESH VISION
Remembering Our Roots
Our Taekwondo school was Master George Untalan's dream since being inspired during his own training back in the early '90s in Yorktown, Virginia.
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His school was called 'Untalan's Taekwondo Academy' and was opened in Graham, Washington in October 2001.
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In 20+ years of history we have underwent MANY changes and faced many challenges; various staff members, hundreds of students trained young and old, leadership and social changes in the global Taekwondo community, the recession of the late 2000s, multiple locations and satellite off-shoots (including Spanaway, Auburn, and DuPont), and a global pandemic!
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We are a Family business. And we seek to continue and strengthen what was set into motion many years ago, long before most of our current students were even born!
Why A Name Change?
This is a change we've been strategizing for quite some time now. Seeking a fresh start with updated branding, business tactics, energy for our students, and an easier-to-pronounce name :)
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Although we have loved our time under the name 'WARRIORS BLACK BELT ACADEMY', we came to the place of feeling the name was a bit too long and generic.
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We needed something that stood out more!
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The name 'VIRTUE' is short, simple, easy to say, and certainly encompasses what we have always made our mission all about:
LIFE SKILLS AND CHARACTER-BUILDING!!
What Else Is Changing?
1. WE ARE AMENDING OUR BELT RANKING SYSTEM:
(TWO LESS BELTS)
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A change long overdue is an update to our belt ranking system, which was designed by our forefather Grandmaster Pyong Tuk Ko in Yorktown, VA back in the 80s. We have stayed faithful to this system since the beginning; however, there have been some key differences between his and the standard systems held by most other Taekwondo schools internationally.
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In an effort to more accurately align our color system with the global standard, we have decided to remove our BROWN BELT and HIGH BROWN BELT ranks.
This change, we anticipate will be very positive for our system by consolidating the value achieved over the Black Belt journey to slightly fewer ranks, and through decelerating the rate at which many students pass from one rank to the next.
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2. STUDENTS WILL NOW RECEIVE FIVE STRIPES:
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To compensate for TWO fewer ranks, students will instead need to amp up their learning within their current belt by following an updated progress system:
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First Stripe: Kicking Technique
Second Stripe: Hand Technique
Third Stripe: Form
Fourth Stripe: General Display of Focus and Good Behavior
* FIFTH STRIPE: DISPLAY ONE OF THE RESPECTIVE 7 VIRTUES OR CORE VALUES
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3. OUR CURRICULUM WILL CIRCULATE
OUR LIST OF 7 KEY VIRTUES
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In order to build up our students' character and personal life skills, we believe our set list of 7 Key Virtues will be pivotal in their development in and through the Art of Taekwondo.
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The '5 Tenets' will still be in place, but our school will move our emphasis to the '7 Virtues'.
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