Guest Book for Mr. Jeffrey M. Thompson

The Denver post will be removing Mr. T’s obituary on June 10, 2010. I wanted to create a space for him here.  Please add your thoughts, memories, and reflections about Mr. T.

Happy Birthday Foothills Taekwon-Do!!!

Foothills is 40 this year! Several hundred students have drained gallons of sweat, blood and tears. Through broken bones and bloody noses, working from blister to blister until those calluses finally formed. From 10th gup white belts struggling though Saju Jarugi to black belts huffing and puffing through Juche. Foothills has came, moved, moved some more, and continues to pump out the best martial artists, students and adults in the world.

Originally held in the dungeon of the Carmody/Foothills Recreation Center on Old Kipling Rd, just east of Kipling Pkwy in Lakewood, the club saw little light, while classes continued every Tueaday and Thursday. Eventually the class sizes became so large that they separated into a junior class (white through green) and a senior class (blue through black). Several of the students branched off to teach peewee classes, and other times, eventually spawning a short-lived Sunday class (I say short lived loosely because it comes and goes like winter in Colorado).

In the early ’90′s Mr. Steven Ramirez and his brother Michael introduced their Shiloh home for boys to the Foothills dungeon. While this program was beneficial in helping the boys progress into mature young adults, there were many complications, and the program was terminated before it could fully mature. It was recently reintroduced in 2006 at two of the 3 Shiloh sites, and has evolved to encompass the entire Shiloh program from Longmont to Littleton.

In 2000, Foothills Recreation district merged into the Lakewood recreation district and the center was closed down. Several students did not make it through the exodus to the Gymnastica Building on 44th and Kipling. The spring-loaded floor was no match for the cold, dog-hair-covered concrete floor surrounded by thick, concrete walls. Breakfalls were practiced every other minute instead of whenver we could unroll the giant judo/wrestling mat; calluses were a thing of the past. Other students returned after being away for several years. During that time, Master Burkhart continued to teach, preparing several of his students for competition in Rimini, Italy.

At that time, Master Ackard was also working with Master Burkhart, and took over as head instructor when Master Burkhart retired from teaching at the end of 2003. Unfortunately, there were some issues and Foothills again moved, hoping to return to the Carmody building. Alas, the negotiations lasted sevaral years, even after we had been established at the Point Athletic Club on 6th Ave and Simms/Union. Master Swan led the divided group through some difficult times, small classes, and space conflicts.

The club is still at the Point, and has a consistent group of students. Three of their students just tested for I Dan black belt (two of which had been 1st gups for far too many years!). The club is helmed by Master Dennis Swan, VII. Mr. David Christopher, V Dan is the senior student and the head instructor at the Adams Campus for Shiloh, teaching students from the Adams home as well as the Longmont home. Ms. Lin teaches two peewee classes as well. Class times are still Tueaday and Thursday from 7pm until 8:whenever. There is an unofficial Sunday class that meets as well.

Feel free to comment on this posting with your stories, thoughts, ideas and whatever. Master Burkhart would like to see the good, the bad, and the ugly on this site, so be direct, and be honest, but please don’t attack anyone with inappropriate language, slander or threats.

Taekwon!

(and if anyone can tell me who created the froggy logo… one of my seniors was drilling me about old facts and knowledge and I’m stumped)

Hello world!

Welcome to Foothills Taekwon-Do’s official Blog site!!!

Foothills Taekwon-Do has been teaching the traditional form of the Korean martial art called Taekwon-Do for 40 years. There have been a slew of instructors through the years. The longest running instructor was Master Dale Burkhart who was just recently promoted to VIII Dan Master Instructor. The current head instructor is Master Dennis Swan, VII Dan Master Instructor. He started at Foothills as a white belt, and has been spreading the frogs across the country, including schools in the Pacific Northwest area. For more information on Foothills Taekwon-Do and it’s instructors, please visit our home site at http://www.foothillstaekwon-do.com or http://www.foothillstkd.com

We would be happy to hear from you.