Special Message About Re-Opening During Covid-19

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]First of all, we want to thank all of those on the front lines of this pandemic, from doctors and nurses to grocery store workers. We are proud of you and grateful for your diligent work to curb this tide.

August 13th, 2020 Update

Like we talked about before, we are opening up to 2 households at a time for in-dojo training, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as we teach online. No one will appear on camera that does not want to do so. We have the camera set up angled away from the rest of the training space. In order to maintain contact tracing, quarantine, and social distance guidelines, the in-dojo schedule will work on a 2-week cycle, meaning that each person that signs up comes in either Tuesday or Thursday every other week. Classes in the park on Wednesdays will continue as scheduled and all online live classes will continue as scheduled.

Here is the schedule as it stands:

TKD

WEEK 1

Tuesday and Thursday 5:30PM slots are filled.

WEEK 2

Tuesday and Thursday 7PM slots are filled.

JKD

WEEK 1

One spot each on Tuesday and Thursday are still available.

WEEK 2

One spot each on Tuesday and Thursday are still available.

We currently have 4 spaces still open, one each on each day of weeks one and two. Let us know if you are interested in taking one of these time slots or if you contacted us about one of these time slots and were not scheduled.

What if I want to sign up, but none of those days work for me?

We understand that the scheduling is limited. So, we are also considering opening up more days to this kind of limited training and additional hours of availability during those days. On days that we are not broadcasting live class, we can have up to 3 households while maintaining more than the 6 feet required and keeping the group well under the recommended limits for indoor gatherings.

What is being done to keep students safe and healthy?

We have installed UVC lamps in the AC ducts to help keep the air sanitized, sanitizer stations, and other cleaning protocols to help us keep the dojo healthy. Each household must sanitize any and all borrowed equipment and their training area after class, plus, all of our existing biomaterial clean up and first aid protocols remain in effect.

Only members of the same household can train together unless previous arrangements have been made between students and Master Cat and myself.

Finally, masks are required during in-dojo lessons. 

Please, RSVP to this email as soon as possible so that I can complete the schedule and add times or dates as necessary. 

We are working hard to make sure that we can train safely, in a sanitized, Coronavirus-free environment and appreciate all of your efforts to keep yourselves, your loved ones, and your KSA Family safe and healthy. As we find new ways to continue to train, we would like to remind you that, whether you attend these new in-dojo sessions or our Wednesday park session — which will continue, it is imperative that, if you come into contact with a person that may be infected, you notify Master Cat or myself. This way, we can inform others that may have potentially been exposed while keeping your information private.

Finally, on the subject of kids and Davidson and surrounding counties’ Back-to-School Plans: if your kids get scheduled for in-dojo classes, privates, or attend the park group classes, please keep us advised of in-person school contact or exposure so that we can take the necessary steps to keep everyone safe.

We love you all and appreciate your continuing support. Together, we can get through this pandemic and adjust safely to the new reality.

 

June 9th, 2020 Update

Hello KSAers! We wanted to update you on our path to re-opening. This morning, the Mayor’s Office announced that Phase 3 of the city’s re-opening scheme has been delayed for at least two weeks due to an increase in new, confirmed Covid-19 cases since their re-opening plans were implemented. Additionally, the data source that we follow, Johns Hopkins University, continues to show Nashville as a Covid-19 hot spot. As a result, we will continue with our plan to expand our offerings based on confirmed case data as outlined at the end of March.

To recap our plan, we will continue to offer:

  • online live classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
  • :30-:45 minute online privates to supplement these classes, and, weather permitting,
  • a once per week in-person live class at the park, where we can maintain a minimum of 6 feet distance between students and not find ourselves in a confined space with recycled air.

If you have any questions about how KSA will proceed, please call us, (615) 720.4820. We are here for you. Remember, we are the KSA Family, we are here for each other and for our community, so, if you need anything at all, let us know!

March 28th, 2020 Update

KSA joins cities and countries around the world in observing Shelter-in-Place orders by closing the doors to our dojo space. Training Martial Arts can be a challenge in this new world of social distancing, which is why we are working diligently to provide online, at-home training options for all of our students.

This week, Mayor Cooper launched Phase One of the Nashville re-opening plan. Without going into all of the specifics, each phase is supposed to last a minimum of two weeks and reopens businesses according to what category it falls under. KSA and our self defense program, ASSERT, fall under Phase Three of the scheme, so, at the earliest, we would not be able to re-open until mid-June.

However, we are concerned that the plan has launched while infections in Tennessee and, specifically, Davidson County, are still, very much on the rise. With Nashville currently listed among the top ten growing infection hot spots, we do not feel comfortable risking the health and safety of our KSA Family. Still, it is a hard balance to strike in maintaining a small business and observing proper pandemic mitigation standards.

We have obtained and studied the CDC reopening guidelines, and talked, at length, about how we can best apply them to training. We feel that we have come up with a workable solution.

  1. We will not open to group classes until there is a true, sustained decline in infections in the county and state.
  2. We are working on fitting the dojo with contagion mitigation systems, including ventilation, airflow, and sanitation practices, in preparation for a time when we can begin to have limited in person training sessions.
  3. As a result, we will continue our current schedule of live, online classes and continue to add new materials for home practice.
  4. Starting Tuesday, May 19th, we will also start booking Virtual Private and Semi-Private training sessions, based on demand and availability. Sessions run 50 minutes and can host your household, for those members that train as a family. ???? Currently available times are Tuesdays – Thursdays, from 1PM-4PM – a total of 12 spots per week. Because these sessions are meant to supplement the online group classes, each member/ family can schedule up to 2 sessions per month (once every other week), in order to make sure that we have space to train as many of you as possible. We will add additional days according to demand.
  5. As things improve, we will add in-person private and semi-private sessions, following the same scheduling standards and attendee limits as the virtual sessions. In other words, sessions are limited to once every 1-2 weeks, only members of the same household can attend as a small group of no more than 4 people, temperature checks and PPE will be required, and will last 50 minutes in order to provide time to sanitize the space after each use. We are currently seeing 3 private clients for rehab sessions and have been successful in mitigating and reporting potential contagion. In-person privates will become available in the next couple of weeks on a trial basis.

We have also discussed how to test those of you who are eligible and ready to test, across all of the arts. Here is what we have come up with:

First of all, we really appreciate your continued efforts to train and support KSA. We are making testing free to thank you for sticking with us.

TKD:

The structure of the remote TKD testing will remain similar to the in-person version.

  1. Forms: You now have access to all of the forms, on video, in the student portal. You are required to submit video of all of the forms that you are responsible for (from White Belt to the rank that you are testing for). This also acts as a video journal of your path, helping you to begin to keep a portfolio of your Martial Arts journey. During the live online portion of your test, you will have to perform the forms assigned to the rank that you are testing for and your favorite form – the one you feel that you do the very best.
  2. Techniques: During the live online portion of your test, we will ask that you demonstrate specific techniques, just like when we are on the mat.
  3. Sparring: Instead of sparring, you will shadowbox during the live online session.
  4. Breaking: Instead of breaking boards, we will ask that you declare a challenge for yourself, something that you need to work on, break through, change, etc. over the course of the two week period before your test. During the live portion of your test, we want to hear all about how you conquered that challenge!

JKD:

  1. You already have access to your testing sheets and testing questions. Please submit your testing questions through the Student Portal.
  2. We will ask to see techniques and drills much in the same way that we do during regular testing.
  3. We will ask questions, such as the philosophies of the arts, etc., as you test that you will need to answer.
  4. Depending on rank, you will have to: show Carenza for white shirt, for black – Carenza with at least 2 different arts, for blue – Carenza showing changes in range (weapon to ground), for purple – Carenza showing a change in art (style/ personality/ movement) and range. For higher ranks, other arrangements will be made.

AKD:

We will resume once in-person sessions can begin. If anything changes, we will let you know.

Remember that attendance in the group classes counts toward our testing eligibility. Testing invitations will be sent over the next couple of days. We will need you to confirm whether you will be testing or not, once invited, and if you want us to mail or deliver your certificates and belts/ shirts.

Please let us know if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns about our path forward.

If you are already a student, please log in via the Member section above. If you are interested in becoming a remote student, please call us at 615.720.4820.

Stay healthy, stay safe, and keep training. We’ll see you all online.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]