Year in Review
As another year at SDY comes to a close, let's take a moment to reflect on all we've accomplished as a martial arts family in 2013.
During the course of the year, SDY students earned 85 Gup level promotions. Considering the size of our class, this is quite a big number and speaks to the level of dedication of our students. Great job on all of your hard work! We also saw two Dan level promotions: congratulations to Mr. Oleg Gunko and Mr. Gregory Arndt. Finally, Mr. Mike Calwus was awarded the only honorary black belt in SDY's history for his extraordinary contributions to our class, both as a student and a volunteer for many years.
In January we launched the official SDY website. This has been a tremendous resource for students and families alike. Keep an eye out for a major update with additional content!
We added Sunday morning classes beginning this past spring. This class is available for black belts and for students who are training for their black belt test (2nd and 1st Gups). This class allows our instructors and upper ranks to focus on advanced techniques without having to step away from regular classes.
In April our black belts took on the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin' Challenge as a fundraising event. Not only were there no fatalities, but everyone completed the challenge. With everyone's generous support, we were able to put the money we raised into a new set of mats for the class, doubling our mat space.
In May, SDY was awarded School of the Year at the USKF Black Belt Hall of Fame and Excellence Awards in Omaha, NE. At the same event, Mr. Frymire was inducted into the USKF Black Belt Hall of Fame in the category of Instructor of the Year. What great bragging rights for our school!
In August, we held our second annual SDY picnic complete with games, food, and laughter for the whole family! We also spent a night enjoying a Schaumburg Boomers baseball game.
We held the second annual SDY Open Martial Arts Championships, as well as our second Fall Fun Invitational Tournament, and students both near and far enjoyed safe and fair competition at both events. Our travel-ready tournament team competed in Illinois, Nebraska, Indiana, and Ohio in 2013, and look forward to more travel in the new year!
We held two demonstrations this year; the first at the Hoffman Estates Party in the Park in early August, and the second at the Hoffman Estates Scarecrow Fest in late September.
In October we held our first women's self-defense seminar, available to the general public. We received very positive feedback, and hopefully made the local community just a little bit safer. We are already planning the next class, so be sure to keep an eye out for it!
SDY hosted a family friendly Halloween party again this year, with siblings and friends of our students joining in on the games, puzzles, and costume contests. We also had a winter holiday party again this year with a raffle, games, food, and good company.
This has certainly been a busy year for SDY, but our martial arts family is steadily growing and improving. We have a lot to be proud of, and we can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for our group!