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Our Certified Instructors
The
American Taekwondo Association nationally certifies all of our
instructors. All of my
Certified Instructors have completed a minimum of 300 hours of
supervised assistant instruction under me and have passed a
regional certification camp, demonstrating mastery in their
curriculum and teaching skills. What this means to you is
that my Black Collar instructors are highly trained and approved
of not just by me, but by a panel of regional Masters who are
trained by the Grand Master resulting in the highest quality
instruction found anywhere in any school.
It
takes more than a Black Belt, fast kicks and loud yells to make a
great instructor. A great instructor must also know how to
tailor training so that the individual needs of every student can
be met in a group setting. My Certified Instructors
deliver. Come on in and see for yourself.
Mark Thieme
(Sahbumnim, 4th Degree Black Belt) 
Mr. Thieme has been training and teaching
martial arts since 1987.
His interest in the Martial Arts started when he was a
young boy who spent every Saturday morning watching Bruce
Lee Karate movies.
His Taekwondo background includes both Olympic style sparring
in the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and point style
sparring in the American Taekwondo Association (ATA).
He has additional background in Hapkido and Aikondo Kickboxing.
He is also a certified instructor in SHARP, Sexual Harassment
and Rape Prevention.
Throughout these two different Taekwondo styles of training
and fighting, he has earned numerous Regional, State and
National Championships.
In June 2006, he competed in the ATA World Championships and
finished 4th in the World in both Forms and Weapons
competitions. Additionally, he is the 2006 Virginia State
Champion, an honor he has maintained each year since relocating to
Virginia in 2002.
His greatest passion is teaching the art of Taekwondo. He
has experience teaching in ATA schools in both California
and Virginia. He also taught in Taekwondo schools
in South Carolina prior to joining the ATA. While
he enjoys teaching all of the classes, his favorite classes
to teach are the young children and adult classes.
Thieme’s ATA Taekwondo Academy in Lake Ridge, Virginia
is his first school and he plans to open additional schools
in Virginia and Maryland in the coming years.
His favorite motto (adopted from his Chief instructor in
California, Mr. Moraitis), is “Train Hard,” and,
if you’ve ever taken one of Mr. Thieme’s classes,
you have experienced what “training hard” really
means!
Mr. Thieme expects the best from his students but always
provides the best Taekwondo instruction in return for their
efforts!
Mr. Thieme was promoted to the rank of
4th Degree Black Belt in December 2006.
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Stephanie
Thieme
(Certified Instructor, 2nd Degree Black
Belt) 
Mrs. Thieme began training with the ATA
in 2003 and earned the rank of 2nd Degree Black Belt in
October 2006.
After three years of watching her husband train, teach,
and compete in the ATA, she decided to begin training in
Fall 2003. (It must be noted that her very first Taekwondo
workout was a Black Belt only class headed by Senior Master
Dilegge at ATA headquarters. She decided that if she could
survive that class then she could do anything!)
Since she loves working with children and always wanted
to become a teacher, she entered the Trainee Instructor
Program in August 2004 and became a Certified Instructor
in October 2005.
Additionally, in 2005, she earned her instructor certification
in SHARP, Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention. She
holds the title of 2006 Virginia State Champion in Forms and
Sparring, and finished the tournament season ranked in the
top ten in the World in Forms.
Look for her on a training floor!
Joe Limber
(Certified Instructor,
2nd Degree Black Belt)
Mr. Limber began his training in ATA Songahm
Taekwondo while stationed in South Carolina in September
2002. In a path familiar to many in the ATA, his son, Joseph,
was the first in his family to begin training in Taekwondo.
His daughter Ellen, then asked to join as well - happily
giving up her ballet lessons to do so. It was during his
children's classes that Mr. Limber discovered that the
ATA was not just for children but was open to Adults also.
Soon, he and his wife, Teri, were also training.
Mr. Limber achieved the rank of Green Belt while stationed
in South Carolina but had to put his training on hold when
he and his family were reassigned to Newport, Rhode Island
for one year. Even though there was not an ATA school at
his new duty station, Mr. Limber remained committed to
his ATA training. Upon learning of his assignment to the
Washington DC area during the summer of 2004, he was pleased
to learn of a new ATA school near his new home.
Since his arrival in July 2004, Mr. Limber has trained
hard to "shake the dust off" from his year away
from training.
He joined the Trainee Instructor program in November 2004
and was promoted to 2nd Degree Black Belt in March 2008.
Mr. Limber has always enjoyed teaching and is a weapons
and tactics instructor for the United States Air Force.
Training has allowed Mr. Limber the opportunity to learn new
things and to share new experiences with his wife and
family.
Look for him on the training floor!
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