We have launched our new website. This will be the last post here.

It's been a few years and Blogger has been great to us.  We've posted some great news and want to thank all of our followers for reading, sharing, and liking our articles.

We have recently updated our website, below is a link to follow our latest articles.  This will be our last Blogger article.  

http://evomaa.net/news-updates

Labor Day Weekend Schedule (August 29 - Sept 1)

As a reminder here is the schedule of classes and events for this Labor Day Weekend:

Friday: Regular Classes
7:30-9pm - The LEGO Movie

Saturday: Martial Art classes Cancelled
9am - CrossFit Class Only

Sunday: Mini Cubs class Cancelled

Monday: Martial Art classes Cancelled
9am - CrossFit Class Only

Have a safe and relaxing weekend!

End of Summer Movie Night - The Lego Movie (Aug 29th 7:30pm)

As summer officially ends that doesn't mean we can't have just a little more fun.  Evolution Martial Arts Academy will be hosting a FREE movie night for our members and their friends.  The movie we will be showing will be The Lego Movie.  So invite your friends, lay back, relax, get comfortable, and enjoy the movie.  As always we will be serving free freshly popped popcorn.  Fliers will be on front counter to invite a friend.

Movie: The Lego Movie
Date: Friday, August 29th
Time: 7:30-9pm (Movie starts promptly at 7:30. Come a bit earlier)

• Invite your friends
• Bring a pillow and blankets
• Bring your own snacks
• Free Popcorn 

CRUSH CANCER 2014, Plus EVO Donation Bonus.

Can you believe it?  It's already the time of the year for Crush Cancer!  Last year we raised more than $2750 and are hoping to raise more this year for this great cause. This year EVO will donate $0.30 every single time anyone Checks-In on Facebook from August 15th - October 15th.  All you need to do is check-in in your status, or with your photo post.  The more you come in and check-in the more we donate.  It's pretty simple right?

Please join our team, it doesn't matter if you are a CrossFitter, a martial artist, or even a parent.  Everyone working together toward a good cause is what matters!  Someone you know has been affected by cancer.  (Click on the link below to join our team)

Here is more info regarding the event.

Stand Up and join us in the 4th annual 2014 Crush Cancer event that benefits Stand Up To Cancer’s collaborative cancer research! This year, Crush Cancer will have two events that will be held in Miami, FL (Saturday, September 27) and Culver City, California (Saturday, October 18).

Crush Cancer is an endurance fundraising event and health expo where participants must raise $150 in order to participate. This circuit-training-style workout includes five different exercises. Participants are encouraged to perform as many reps of an exercise as possible for one minute. They then get one minute of rest and repeat the workout two additional times. The health expo is open throughout the day and features local shops, restaurants and businesses—as well as some of the biggest brands in the endurance workout space.

You do not have to participate in the actual workout if you raise the minimum $150.
To join our team click the link below.

https://www.crowdrise.com/crossfitevolution2/fundraiser/standup2cancer

New Season, New Team - Top Auditions August 17th

It's that time of the year, Top Team auditions.  We are assembling a new group of Top Team students for the 2014-2015 season.  

Do you like performing in front of a crowd? Does that type of intensity get your adrenaline pumping? Evolution Martial Arts Academy is holding auditions to join Evo Top Team, our demonstration team. Evo Top Team will perform demonstrations at future belt graduations and other special events. A special class on Fridays will allow these team members to work together and prepare for the next performance and improve on special skills.

The ONLY requirement needed to audition is the rank of at least Hapkido Jr. Green Belt. All students who fulfill this requirement are more than welcome to try out but NOT every student will make it. Only 8 spots are available on this roster as of right now. Five of the most important factors we are looking for are

• Focus 
• Following directions
• Technical ability 
• Intensity
• Being able to handle pressure

How Auditions Work:

• Auditions will be held on Sunday August 17th, starting at 8:00am.
• Students must make an appointment ahead of time (Sign Ups will be on the front counter). Students can only audition one time. (Previous Top Team members MUST audition again)
• Students waiting must wait in lobby area until their turn. 
• Each student will demonstrate in 10 minutes a list of techniques in front of judges. (Students have done all these techniques before, list of techniques will not be known to student until they step on the mat) 
• Once students are done they are free to leave.
• Judges will review all notes and students who made the team will be notified a couple days later.

Parents keep in mind there is a possibly only one sibling could make it while the other(s) do not. Students who make the team may be cut from the team at any time. Auditions will be held again in the future as we increase the number of spots on the team or have to fill available spots.

Good luck, bring your skills.

Slight Change in the Tiny Tiger Schedule.

We just hit our 2 Year Anniversary and our Tiny Tiger program has grown tremendously since 2012.  In order to give students the fair share of attention needed for them to grow and improve we need to offer a couple classes based on specific belt rankings.

Starting the week of July 21st we will be implementing the new Tiny Tiger schedule.  Here is a run down of what the schedule will look like.

Mondays & Wednesdays (NO changes)

• 3:30, 5:00, 5:30pm - All Belt Ranks

Tuesdays & Thursdays

• 3:30 - All Belt Ranks
• 5:00 - Blue Belt and Up 
• 5:30 - White Belt to Green Belt

Fridays (NO change)

• 3:30, 4:00 - All Belt Ranks

Saturday (NO change)

• 11:00am, 11:30 - All Belt Ranks

The only days that really change are Tuesdays and Thursdays.  If you have any more questions please email info@evomaa.net

Join Us For Our 2 Year Anniversary Event Sunday July 13th

Can you believe we've made it to 2 years?  Its all because of our awesome members and the community that has been built.

It doesn't matter if you a current member, former member, or just a friend.  We hope you all can join us for our 2nd Anniversary event next Sunday July 13th from 11am-12pm.  Please come and invite your family and some of your friends for this 1 hour event.  Introduce them to us and give them a tour of where you spend your time training.  Even if you can't stay for the hour please just stop by to just say hello.  

Highlights of the event:

• Demonstrations
• Announcements
• Refreshments
• Annual Group photos.  (Hapkido Jr / Tiny Tiger students must wear full uniform.  Adult members please show support and wear one of our shirts)
• Raffle Prices

We look forward to seeing most of you there to just come out celebrate with us, hang out, and have a good time.

Important News and Dates for the Remainder of June

Hello everyone,

Half of the year is almost over here is some important news and dates for the remainder of June.

First we would like to congratulate Ms. Miranda for graduating from the University of Santa Barbara with a double major her first in economics with a emphasis on accounting and second in communication.  Hopefully we will be seeing her a EVO more often this summer.

Hydrostatic Body Composition Testing:

On Friday June 20th the Body Fat Truck will be making a visit to EVO.  This is a great way to measure your body fat and lean muscle percentage.  The truck makes its way every few months and its a good way for you to really keep track of how you're doing and improving.  The first test is $49 and a re-test is $35, please sign up for a time at the front counter or email info@evomaa.net and we will write your name for you.

Morning Class Time Change

Starting June 23rd the morning classes will move up one hour.  The kickboxing will be temporarily be on hold until further notice due to the Jr. Advance class for the summer.  The class times are listed below.

Monday and Wednesdays

9:00 AM - Jr. (Green and Up)  (Ends August 6th)
10:00 AM - CrossFit

Tuesdays and Thursdays

9:00 AM - Adult Hapkido
10:00 AM - CrossFit

2014 Martial Arts Supershow & July 4th Holiday

Most of the Evolution Staff will be heading to the annual Martial Arts Supershow in Vegas from Monday June 30th - July 3rd. We will be spending 3 days learning and training from the best hoping to improve how and what we offer here.

All Hapkido and Tiny Tiger classes will be CANCELLED from June 30th-July 6th.  All of Mr. Jason morning classes will be cancelled as well.  We will be offering CrossFit classes in the evening though.  Members with the morning only membership can attend CrossFit classes in the evening due to morning classes being cancelled.

June 30th - July 3rd - CrossFit 6pm & 7pm ONLY

Sorry for any inconvenience, just like our students and members we are constantly learning and improving as well.  

Small Summer Schedule Change Starting June 16th (Hapkido Jr. Green Belt and up)

Starting June 16th, Monday and Wednesdays we will be offering a 9am Hapkido Jr. class for Green Belt ranking and higher.  Because of this the Monday and Wednesday 4pm Green Belt and up class will be CANCELLED.

This special class time will run from June 16th until August 6th while most children are on summer vacation.

• To recap the two Green belt and up classes on Monday and Wednesdays will be at 9am and 6pm starting Jun 16th ending Aug 6th. 

No other classes will be changed or affected.

Please email info@evomaa.net with any questions.

Important May Events

Here is a quick run down of important dates for the rest of May.  

Saturday May 24th- Monday May 26th.  CLOSED Memorial Day Weekend.

Friday May 30th - JR Belt Exams. (NO Regular Hapkido or Tiny Tiger Classes)

• 5:00pm Green - Yellow Belt Exam
• 6:00pm White - Orange Belt Exam

Saturday May 31st - (NO Regular Hapkido or Tiny Tiger Classes)

• Tiny Tiger Exam 9:30am - 10:15am
• Belt Graduation 10:30am - 11:00am

Please visit this link to see if your child is testing.  http://evomaa.net/exams.html

Please email info@evomaa.net if you have any questions.  Thank you.

Special Class Schedule for Saturday May 3rd.

Mr. Brandon will be attending the CF Defense Trainers Certification course Saturday May 3rd.  We will be having a special class schedule for that day.

• 9am Adult Hapkido Class - Cancelled
• 9am CrossFit Class - ON
• 10am Junior Hapkido Class - ON
• 10am CrossFit Class - Cancelled (Open gym available)
• 11 & 11:30 Tiny Tiger Classes - ON

Email info@evomaa.net if you have any questions.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

Implementing Beyond the Whiteboard for logging your CrossFit weight / time.

Some of the coaches and a few of our CrossFitters have been testing out Beyond the Whiteboard.  Beyond the Whiteboard is a web-based site that tracks and analyzes your workouts.  CrossFit EVO has been created and our members will be able to join our gym and really start to track the progress of their workouts.  Just like the journals we provide you will be able to log in everything from your skill work weights to WOD times.

When you join our gym on Beyond the Whiteboard you will be able to see our Skill Work and the WOD.  All you need to do is simply log into the website on a computer or download the app on your phone and quick log your time and weight.  Not only will you see our programming "track" you can create your own track and improve on your own weaknesses.  You will be able to see charts, graphs, and other analytical information regarding your training.    

This week and next we will begin approving our members into our gym.  Because we love our members, access to this wonderful tool will be FREE.  Just in case you don't have a smart phone we will be adding a public computer in the CrossFit area to allow you to login and log your information.  We will also continue to post a picture of the scores of the day so you can log in from home just in case you forget.

Hopefully this tool will help you achieve your goals.  Just as consistently as you workout you must be just as consistent logging your times and weights to really track your progress.  We are working on removing our points system and be replacing it with the Beyond the Whiteboard Leaderboard.

If you are a CF EVO member and would like access please send an email to info@evomaa.net.  We will then send you an invite and you can begin logging.  We suggest you go back and log any vital data from the journals into beyond the white board.

Hopper Style WODs for the Week Before Easter

Some of you may have noticed on the Big Board it says Random Easter Egg WODs Week. You're probably thinking what is that? From April 14th-18th all your WODs will be randomly chosen by the classes. Just like the original CrossFit games in 2007 all WODs will be randomly selected "hopper" style. We technically don't have a hopper but a big glass bowl should work.

Our coaches always do a great job at programming skill work and WODs daily to help develop your skills. This random choosing will test your strength, endurance, fitness level, and sheer determination. After all, CrossFit is suppose to gear us for the unknown.

So how does this actually work?

Monday April 11th all classes starting with 11am will select eggs. 11am selections that morning will be the WOD for everyone that day Monday.

5pm, 6pm, and 7pm will pick eggs at the beginning of their class also Monday the 11th. The eggs picked by 5pm will be for the WOD Tuesday, 6pm will be Wednesday, and 7pm Friday. (We will make Thursday as a rest day. We feel you're going to need it)

How are the eggs selected?

1) One person in class will select the first egg which must be GREEN from the basket. The green eggs will determine if it will be a AMRAP or how many of rounds there will be.

2) Someone else will select a random BLUE egg also from the basket. The blue eggs will be the number of CrossFit movements that will be in the WOD. (Could range from 3 to a lot)

3) Depending on the number chosen in the Blue egg, others will choose that many eggs for movements from the glass bowl. (There are over 90 different CrossFit items to choose from and 5 wild card eggs)

The Rules:

1) Movements must be done in the order they are selected.

2) If multiple barbell movements are selected the CrossFitter must change their own weights accordingly (just like open 14.3)

3) There will be a time cap of 45 minutes if needed.

4) There will be 5 "wild card" eggs.  If a wild card egg is selected it counts as a movement.

We wish you all the best. Please pick wisely.

Sincerely,
Dave Castro

Quarterly Student Report Cards

The 4pm class and I were discussing their report cards from school.  I thought to myself why don't we have that.  We are an academy, we teach students, thus students should be graded just like at school.  We have belt exams but that only scores a child based on performance over one day and that happens only every few months.  Some parents drop their child off, others workout at the same time.  This will allow you to find out how your child is doing over the course of 3 months.  

So problem solved, we will be handing out quarterly progress report cards to every student.  The first progress report card will be handed out toward the end of this week and early next week covering January - March 2014.  

Just like school, items will be scored on a scale from 1 to 4.  Since most children can relate, 1 is a rating of poor while 4 is excellent.  Children understand that too many 1's on a school report card can cause them to be held back from their next grade.  Same rules apply at Evolution, too many 1's on our progress report card will cause them to be held back from their next projected belt exam.  

Parents these progress reports will be passed out to your child.  Instead of emailing them straight to you we want to make sure they see what their scores are and what they need improvement in.  These report cards must be signed by a parent and returned to us.

These report cards will only go out to Juniors.  No report cards for Tiny Tigers or adults.  

If you have any questions please email info@evomaa.net

Free Movie Night Friday April 11th. Bring Your Friends and Watch Frozen.

We are offering a free movie night at Evolution Martial Arts Academy on Friday April 11th. Invite your friends and come watch Frozen on our big screen. If you missed your chance to watch it in the theaters you can come watch it here for free with your friends.

The movie will start promptly at 7:15pm we suggest you arrive around 6:50. Please plan to feed dinner to your children dinner before you arrive, we will be serving free freshly popped popcorn. Have your child bring a water bottle.  Drinks will be available for purchase and there will also be a bake sale for some sweets available for purchase as well.

Also remember to have them bring their favorite pillows and blankets so can lay back and enjoy the movie. The movie will end at 8:45pm, parents if you are not staying please come back and pick them up by 9:00pm.

Fliers will available for you to pass out to invite your friends with all the details. Hope to see some of you here. Below is a quick summary

• 4-11-14 (7:00-9:00pm) (Movie starts at 7:15)
• Movie - Frozen
• Pass fliers to friends 
• Free Fresh Popcorn
• Bake Sale - Cookies, Brownies, etc...
• Bring pillows, blankets, and chill (No Pun intended)
• Parents enjoy 2 hours off

Important Events for the Month of March

There are some important dates and events happening in the month of March.

Saturday March 15th - NO REGULAR CLASSES - We will be hosting a CrossFit Defense Seminar from 9am-6pm.  More details can be found here.  http://www.evomaa.net/events/crossfitDefense.html  

Sunday March 16th - EVO Clinic.  11:30-12:30pm 

We are holding our first EVO Clinic on Sunday March 16th from 11:30-12:30pm. If you or your child needs a bit more help in Hapkido working toward their tips, or getting ready for an upcoming exam this clinic is perfect for them. The cost of this one-hour clinic is $20 per student, a minimum of 3 students must to sign up for the clinic to take place. Think of it as a group private lesson, you pick what YOU need to work and improve on. Instructors will go around helping you and giving feedback on what you could improve on. There will always be a good ratio of instructors so you are guaranteed quality attention.

There is no stretching, or games, the hour is strictly working on curriculum and your skills. This clinic does not guarantee you a tip or a successful passing of your exam. This clinic is an additional supplement to regular class attendance and practice at home.
If you are interested or have any questions please contact Mr. Jason or email info@evomaa.net

Friday March 21st - Belt Exams - NO HAPKIDO CLASSES

• 5pm - White, Orange, Green Belt Exam
• 6pm - Blue Belt Exam

Saturday March 22nd - Tiny Tiger Exam & Graduation - NO HAPKIDO CLASSES

• 9:30-10:15am - Tiny Tiger Exam
• 10:30-11am - Graduation

Please visit this page to if you are not sure if your child is testing.  http://www.evomaa.net/exams.html

We highly recommend white, orange, yellow, and green belt students to stop by during the 6pm exam so they can witness what we are expecting from them when they reach that rank.    

If you have any questions please email info@evomaa.net

Introducing Our First EVO Clinic. March 16th

We are holding our first EVO Clinic on Sunday March 16^th from 11:30-12:30pm.  If you or your child needs a bit more help in Hapkido working toward their tips, or getting ready for an upcoming exam this clinic is perfect for them.  The cost of this one-hour clinic is $20, a minimum of 3 kids must to sign up for the clinic to take place.  Think of it as a group private lesson, you pick what YOU need to work and improve on.  Instructors will go around helping you and giving feedback on what you could improve on.  There will always be a good ratio of instructors so you are guaranteed quality attention.

There is no stretching, or games, the hour is strictly working on curriculum and your skills.  This clinic does not guarantee you a tip or a successful passing of your exam.  This clinic is an additional supplement to regular class attendance and practice at home.      

If you are interested or have any questions please contact Mr. Jason or email info@evomaa.net

Reminder We Will be Closed for Presidents Day.

We would like to remind you that we will be closed tomorrow Monday February 17th due to Presidents Day.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  See you all Tuesday.