Ultimate Kicks

Ultimate Kicks

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Ultimate Kicks Tae Kwon Do began in the fall of 1997 when Master Wayne and Ms. Marlys Honeyman opened the first gym in Watertown SD. Originally Ultimate Kicks was a part of Jordheim's Tae Kwon Do Association, another association with roots in Great Grand Master Yun's schools. Upon the Honeyman's retirement Master's Jason and Twyla Meyer took over operation of the school in Watertown which brought it under the umbrella of the Lee's Tae Kwon Do Association.

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Master's Jason and Twyla Meyer trained under Grand Master Lee at his gym in Marshall. Prior to taking over the gym in Watertown Master Jason instructed in Camby MN. Master Jason and Twyla operated the gym successfully for several years seeing branch gyms open in Webster, Milbank, Lead and Mitchell. Upon the Meyer's move to Texas the Watertown gym was operated by Master's Billy Joe and Amanda DeVries then Master Jon Anderson and finally transferred into the hands of Ms. Kelly Sternhagen.

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Master Matt Howlett began his Tae Kwon Do career when he stepped into the Ultimate Kicks gym in Watertown on a cool fall day in 1998. His passion for the art was quickly ignited. Master Matt trained under Master Wayne and Ms. Marlys Honeyman. Upon their retirement he trained under Master's Jason and Twyla Meyer. Master Matt has been fortunate to train and work with all the various instructors of the Ultimate Kicks gyms and currently holds the distinction of being the longest active student to come from the Watertown program.

 

After moving to Mitchell Master Matt opened Ultimate Kicks of Mitchell in 2009. With humble beginnings in the lunch room of Lifequest the program say quick success and has not slowed down since. As the program continued to grow Ms. Nichole came on board on 2014 as an additional instructor to continue to provide top quality instruction to all students. In 2016 Master Matt opened a second gym in Fort Thompson, SD. In the fall of 2018 Master Matt stepped out of Mitchell gym turning full operations over to Ms. Nichole. In April of 2019 the Fort Thompson program produced its first Black Belt student and the first Kukkiwon certified Black Belt in the history of the Crow Creek nation! Unfortunately after this momentous occasion and resubmitting all the paperwork to continue with classes IHS which controls the grants to make classes possible in Fort Thompson failed to complete their paperwork in a timely manner and the Fort Thompson program was forced to close.

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In the fall of 2021 as restrictions from Covid-19 began to make training easier Master Matt opened the very first Lee's TKD gym in Iowa. Working in conjunction with the Charles City school district Master Matt teaches youth classes at Charles City middle school and followed soon after teaching adults again.