Team Chip Tae Kwon Do performs at Cogdell for Heart Month

Cogdell Memorial Hospital is using the month of February, American Heart Month, to encourage people to be more heart healthy and physically active.
Cogdell brought a treat to all the local schools Wednesday — a performance from the Team Chip Tae Kwon Do of Sweetwater demonstration team.
Team Chip takes pride in empowering individuals to build confidence and strength while also learning valuable self defense tools. People of any age can join the program, but the demonstration team is strictly 11- to 16-year-olds.
Amanda Martinez, one of the founders and teachers of Team Chip Sweetwater, said that they try to do performances as often as they can, and students involved with the demo team go above and beyond what is expected of them. Demo team students must stay on top of their grades as well, with an A/B average being a requirement for them to be eligible to perform. Team Chip representatives try to help the kids with that as much as they can.
“During the school year, we do limit school kids to only two classes a week, and that’s just so they don’t start feeling overwhelmed,” Martinez said.
Martinez said that although the kids can miss quite a bit of school, they try to make sure that it is never jeopardizing a child’s academics.
“They have to get their work before they leave, and we double-check to make sure they’re picking it up,” she said. 
“As we’ve grown the past couple of years, the schools are definitely more understanding.”
Team Chip does not only offer tae kwon do, but also jiujitsu, kickboxing, parkour, and self defense classes, including a free women’s self defense class every second Tuesday of the month.
“Anything we can do to give back to the community, we try to,” she said. “We also do family fun fairs with the advocacy center and those kind of things. It’s just a way for us to get out there and do something different for them to get to see.”