On October 22-23, 2022 the Pheonix Group hosted its Black Belt Retreat which was held in Phoenix, Arizona.  It was an educational and fun time for all.  As with all of our Retreats it consisted of both physical training, educational topics, and classroom learning.  



Events started Friday evening with dinner for those who arrived early enough.  Saturday was filled with the first half of a Master Class led by Grand Master Trevor Nicholls.  He reviewd the basics of front snap kick, crescent kick, hooking kick, and verticle kick.  There was strong emphasis on knee position, creating a "C" shape with the body while kicking, and connecting all portions of the movement to ensure a powerful, smooth, effective delivery.   Following Grand Master Nicholls there was a short lunch break.  After lunch Mrs. Vickie Harbison provided an excellent presentation on working with special needs students.  She included pictures, and videos of working with her special needs students.  Then Mrs. Diana Hansen (a licensed medical message therapisst) presented on different modalities available to help move past injuries and how to prevent future injuries.  Amazingly she had no difficulty getting volunteers for her portion of the retreat.  There was a dinner and meeting at the park in the evening.  



Sunday took place exclusively in the park.  It consisted of Grand Master Nicholls finishing the Master Class portion of the retreat with an emphasis on patterns.  He was then followed by Mrs. Deann Gould-Lancaster who did the physical test of participants on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).  Her portion of the retreat included online training which was completed by participants prior to the retreat and then the physical test out where students had to demonstrate proficiency in their skills.  



A special Thank You goes out to Mr. Keir Reinhardt, Josette, and all those who assisted them in hosting the event.  



We are all looking forward to the next Retreat!  Where will it be????  What will we learn????