As the semester wraps up, we have one more update to give on the campaign. Not only did we achieve our goal of $5,000, we raised an additional $500!

We are extremely grateful to everyone who participated, who donated, and who spread the word. This is more than we could have hoped for, and we know that we would be nowhere without all the supporters in the club and in the community (including our alumni). More videos and posts will be made soon to give credit to all our donors, and we will make sure to keep updating our Facebook page with information on the National Collegiate Championships in April. 

Have a great winter break and happy holidays!

Texas Taekwondo

Hello everyone!

Thanks to all our generous donors, we've raised 94% of our goal! We are just $278 short of $5,000 in the last 48 hours. The whole Texas Taekwondo team is extremely grateful to anyone who has helped us get closer to our dream. Any donation, big or small, is much appreciated! If you haven't already, check out our Facebook page to see our text and video Thank You posts. 

We have another big development in the last couple of weeks. The NCTA has officially announced that the 2019 National Collegiate Championships are being hosted at the University of Texas at Austin! Our officer team and coaching staff has already started planning the logistics of the tournament, and we can't wait to start preparations. This will be a lot of work, but with such a supportive community, Texas Taekwondo can rise to the occasion. 

As we are in the final 48 hours of our campaign, we ask that our members, donors, and community continue to share our message with family and friends and help us finish the last push to $5,000. It's the last 30 seconds of the final round, and we're still kicking. Please keep up the fighting spirit with us!

Hello friends! Thanks to our incredible donors, we’ve raised over $1,700, bringing us to 34% of our goal! This spring, your contributions will help pay for much of the equipment needed to hold such a large event. We’re eager to show off the Texas Fight we’ve been training so hard for to the rest of the nation!

If you’ve been keeping up with the Donor Wall, you might see a certain name make quite a few appearances. Congratulations on your persistence in getting donations, Kevin! We challenge everyone to beat the number of donations in his name! Or if you’re feeling generous… you can just jump on the bandwagon ;)

We’d like to thank everyone in the Texas Taekwondo family again for their continued support. Please consider sharing our link if you’ve already donated! Without your help, we would have never grown this far. Our fighters have been training hard almost every day, through Thanksgiving break, to make the upcoming tournament the best national collegiates yet!

Happy Turkey Day! As we all go about our holiday spending time with family and old friends, watching the game, and enjoying delectable delights, it's important to keep in mind what this holiday is all about: gratitude.

One of the many things we are grateful for here at Texas Taekwondo is opportunity. Unlike many collegiate Taekwondo clubs, we get to train with a huge group of people who all share the same love and dedication for the sport. We show up, push each other to the edge of our limits, and achieve incredulous feats we once thought we were never capable of. Each and every day we strive to become the best version of ourselves, who we were truly meant to be. And as we do so, we recognize that all of our successes and learning experiences were no accident: they were an accumulation of our unique environment. Everything that we are now is because of what others had done for us in the past. They hand down this legacy that we can achieve anything, given the right opportunity, vision, and mindset.  

Our club's opportunity and vision to host the 2019 National Collegiates cannot be completed without the help of our generous donors. We have been gifted with so much, and we would like to extend our blessings and gratitude to them, as well as anyone who has impacted us along the way.

From our family to yours,

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wow! What a way to "kick" off HornRaiser! With week one officially over, we have raised $1,202 and are almost 25% of the way there!

Though the holiday break is quickly approaching, Texas Taekwondo members are doing everything but taking one!

Pictured below is one of our newest officers, Eliza Fisher. Though Eliza has only joined us this year, she has quickly developed a passion for the sport, and has invested herself in the club and its members: 

"I joined Texas Taekwondo because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone a little, and push myself to try something that was totally different from my past experiences. I didn’t expect to find such an amazing community, and make so many friends so easily. From the second I walked in to my first open mat practice, people were introducing themselves, and they all seemed genuinely excited to be there. Taekwondo is definitely physically challenging, but I think people tend to underestimate the amount of sheer determination that the sport requires. No matter what level you are, you have to be dedicated if you want to see growth, and you have to be willing to lean into challenges, instead of running away."

And not only is Eliza a dedicated athlete, but a studious student as well. Her ambition and drive on and off the mat are what make her a well-rounded student-athlete:

"Being at UT is academically challenging --I’m in third-year Russian, and I run a study group for one of my classes. I’m also working on completing my Peace Corps Prep Certificate, with hopes of volunteering as a teacher after I graduate. Balancing Taekwondo and schoolwork can be difficult, but it’s absolutely worth it, because I enjoy all of it."

But what draws Eliza to Texas Taekwondo the most are the people. When you enter that mat room for practice, you aren't alone. You're surrounded by a huge group of people who all share the same core values and passion for the same sport. At Texas, we're all willing to work hard, sacrifice, and go through the pain today if it means we're a little closer to our dreams tomorrow. And that's what makes Texas Taekwondo what it is; the relationships formed and experiences made cannot be found anywhere else:

"My Taekwondo friends aren’t just “Taekwondo friends” -- I spend so much time with them, and I genuinely love everybody in the club. It’s rare that I find people I can spend long periods of time around without needing to recharge, but every member of Texas Taekwondo has become a genuinely important part of my life. When I first heard people say that Texas Taekwondo was like a family, I believed it, but I didn’t realize how true it was until I became part of the family." -Eliza Fisher

We at Texas Taekwondo would like to thank all of our donors for your encouragement and support. It is because of you our family has the opportunity to aspire for more and become a part of something greater than ourselves.

Hello from Texas Taekwondo! Our campaign has been live for two days, and we are excited to see donations already coming in. Thank you so much to everyone helping us "kick" off our month of fundraising! Please keep spreading the word and let other's know why our campaign is important to you.

During this month, we are training hard to improve our technique and strategy before winter break. The photo here shows two of our athletes attempting to fight each other while not letting go of the other person's hand-- a task that forces you to change your normal strategy. Danielle and Joshua are in the middle of a one minute round of light sparring.

This is Danielle's second year with us, and she has already progressed to a blue belt. Her dedication shows inside and outside the ring, as she works to coordinate speakers from the UT and Austin community and maintain the club's strong relationship with its alumni. She won gold in her division at the National Collegiate Championships last year, and is looking to succeed at a more challenging level with some work on flexibility and mobility. 

Joshua is new to the club and the sport this fall, but he is already working towards joining the competition team. His goal is to work on cardio and flexibility alongside technical instruction and put 100% into every practice and every drill, so he can win. Our tournament in the spring will be his first national competition with Texas Taekwondo, and we can't wait to see how he progresses throughout the year.

Thanks again to our donors, and stay tuned for more updates about the progress of both our project and our athletes!