Midtown Martial Arts

66 tickets in just 5 seconds! 🌪️🎟️

Sam brought a friend to class this week and his buddy loved it so much that he joined Midtown Martial Arts!

That earned Sam 5 seconds in a Ticket Tornado to grab as many tickets as he could. Now comes the hard part… writing his name on the back of every single one before dropping them into the drawing bucket for our End of Summer Bash. 😅

Way to go, Sam! Thanks for sharing Midtown with a friend, and welcome to our newest student, William. We can’t wait to watch you both grow together on the mat.

Think you can beat 66 tickets? Bring a friend to class this summer and you might be the next student caught in the Ticket Tornado! 🌪️🥋

It’s taken us a few days to post about 2026 UTA Grand Nationals. What a great event.

Relative to many of the schools that were there, we’re pretty small. We had 12 competitors. With our team of 12 we ended up with:
10 gold medals 🥇
12 silver medals 🥈, and
8 bronze medals 🥉
across different events and divisions.

We have several national champions at Midtown.

We’re proud of the medals, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

When one competitor finished in their division, they rushed to other divisions where their team mates were competing to cheer them on.

Not once - not a single time - did any of our competitors or their parents complain or question the judges, the tournament officials, or their opponents. Respect was on high from all of our crew.

Many non-competing members from our school came to watch and cheer on those that did compete.

We had a couple who had the courage to compete for the first time - at a national level tournament.

Some of us helped set up, judged and worked the entire event, competed, then stayed after all the competitors had gone home to help with tear down.

Only one word keeps coming to mind as I write this: commitment.

And that’s a very good thing to keep.

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Noah
Code Name “Forge”

Noah is 12. Noah has been training at Midtown for about a year and a half. Noah is an excellent student. He is respectful and courteous to everyone. With only a year and a half under his belt, there have been tremendous gains in his flexibility, strength and coordination; but his determination has been there since day 1. He listens, asks questions when appropriate, and gets to work.

This will be Noah’s first tournament ever. It took real courage to make Nationals his first tournament. That - in itself - is a win! Noah will be competing in patterns and is most excited to be experiencing a competition for the first time. He undoubtedly will be ringside cheering on his teammates.

Noah is described as the best big brother to three siblings. He often teaches them taekwondo in their living room at home. He is a perfectionist that loves math and science. Steel isn’t born strong—it becomes strong through the forge. Noah has embraced every challenge, accepted coaching, and continues to become stronger every day.

We’re proud of you, Noah!

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Henry
Code Name “Panther”

Henry is 10. Henry started at Midtown after a couple of his cousins received their black belts from us. He comes from good stock. He has been with us for four years. His transformation from when he started to where he currently is defines why we do what we do. He is an exceptional student that has become intensely focused and driven by the indomitable spirit we all aspire to embody.

While Henry is a serious competition contender, he didn’t start out that way. After an early tournament experience that didn’t go his way, he took some time to reengage. But when he did, he did it big. He took his time. He allowed himself to develop. He embraced the lesson and journey. Henry is most excited to compete in sparring and team patterns at nationals.

He loves origami, and the Lord of the Rings book series. He has read The Hobbit four times! Like a panther, he is cool calm and composed until it’s time to perform; then he is vicious! Everyone loves Henry around the school, and when it’s time to line up across from him, they know they are in for one tough match! He is one of the most respected students on our floor.

Go Henry!

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Matteo
Code Name “Spark”

Matteo is 8. He loves Taekwondo and is dedicated to becoming the best he can be. Not many people his age are “coachable”, but Matteo certainly is. He listens, follows instructions then reps it out till he gets it. He is very well liked around the school.

Matteo is already a winner, as he has gotten over the anxiety associated with competing! This will be Matteo’s first tournament ever. He will be competing in Patterns, Sparring and Belt Tag. When asked what he was most excited about regarding Grand Nationals, he responded “Definitely sparring new people!”.

Matteo loves comic books and reading about Bruce Lee. He also loves Chuck Norris memes – so he is on the right track! Every champion starts with a spark, and he’s excited to see where his competitive journey takes him!  

Let’s go, Matteo!

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Spencer
Code Name “Sprout”

Spencer is 39. A long time ago (About 34 years ago), in a dojang not too far away Spencer stepped into his first TKD class. Some 6 or so year later, he reached his goal of black belt. At that stage in his life he had several interests, so TKD took a back seat. For a while. About 5 years ago, his own kids were ready to start TKD. With their decision to start classes at Midtown, Spencer donned a new dobok and took to the mats with them. That was nearly five years ago. He has since promoted up to third degree black belt, and is a critical component of Midtown. He has been all in, competing in tournaments, attending instructor camps and significantly contributing to the betterment of our students and school. Mr. James is awesome.

This will be Spencer’s third Grand Nationals. He and his children competed in Team Patterns and WON as a family. And very recently, his wife made the commitment and is training alongside their two children and Spencer. It is a beautiful thing to watch them setting their goals and working together in TKD.

This year he will be competing in Geriatric Patterns and Sparring (His words, not ours). He is looking forward to seeing his own children and all our team compete on the national stage. He has been hard at work to help everyone get prepared.

Fun fact about Spencer – he is a physicist. He sees and loves explaining taekwondo theory through a scientific lens!

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Ada
Code Name “Phoenix”

Ada is 10. She started Midtown 4.5 years ago and is a quiet but ever-present leader around the school. She too comes from a Taekwondo family. Her grandpa (Pappy) is a black belt, and so is her dad. Ada is a strong representative of the female prowess at Midtown.

This year Ada will be competing in Patterns, Sparring, and Team Patterns. She is most looking forward to watching her team mates compete and to perform her team pattern with her team mate, with whom she has progressed through the ranks at the dojang.

A fifth grade student of the year, this will not be Ada’s first Grand Nationals. She is a returning champion and will again be going for the gold this year. Determined resilient and inspiring, she rises, perseveres and never quits. Look out for Phoenix this year!

Let’s cheer her on in the comments!

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Loxley.
Code Name “Vector”

Loxley is 12. He started Midtown 4.5 years ago and has quietly become a real leader around the school. He comes from a Taekwondo family. His grandpa (Pappy) is a black belt, and so is his dad. Both have instructed at Midtown, and Loxley is sure heading in that direction. A third generation Taekwondo practitioner, he puts great effort into his quest.

This year Loxley will be competing in Patterns, Sparring, Team Patterns and Team Sparring. He is most looking forward to competing again and getting the chance to hang out with all of his friends from Midtown on the competition stage, and seeing his competition friends from other schools who he has met over the years. Loxley is not a tournament rookie.

A returning national champion, he can be found doing line drills down the hallways at home. On the dojang floor, he always steps up helping to keep things moving in the right direction.

Go get ‘em, Loxley!

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Lillian.
Code Name “Glide”

Lillian is 15. Lillian has been training at Midtown for 3 years. She trains alongside her dad and older brother. Her skills have accelerated significantly over the past year, and it’s no wonder; seldom is there a class underway at Midtown without Lillian on the mats giving it 100%. She is there A LOT!

This year Lillian will be competing in Patterns, Sparring, Team Patterns and Team Sparring. Lillian is most looking forward to Team Patterns at Grand Nationals. She met her teammate at Midtown, and over the years, they have become best buds. Watching them work together is inspiring. They have put together a creative hybrid of two traditional patterns that is impressive.

As a fourth generation martial artist, Lillian has exceptional footwork. She relaxes into her matches and seemingly glides with her movements, enabling her to perform well even in cases where her opponents have more reach. She is a joy to watch!

Go get ‘em, Lillian!

Team Midtown Member Highlight:
Meet Leon.
Code Name “Lil Ninja”

Leon is 7. He started as a Midtown Mini 3 years ago and graduated to the “Big kids class” about a year and a half later. He comes from a Taekwondo family and has been around it since birth. Leon is the youngest in a family of taekwondo practitioners.

This year Leon will be competing in Patterns, Flag Sparring and Point Sparring. When asked what he is most looking forward to about Grand Nationals - oozing with Indomitable Spirit - he says “I wanna win!” Then quickly followed it up with, “But if I don’t I’ll still meet new friends and tell them ‘good job!’”

Leon plays football, basketball, loves to ride his bike and go hunting and fishing. He is also an aspiring young chef! He is a nerf gun connoisseur, and has an impressive collection!  

Best of luck, Little Ninja!