3-31-2025 4:20am

Boyertown Tae Kwon Do Academy To Host 3rd Annual Martial Arts Championship

Lesley Misko Editor

Team Elite World Cup 2025; [Muzo Media Productions]

[Editor's note... Press release provided by muzomediaproductions.]

Ellixson’s Tae Kwon Do Academy will host its 3rd annual Battle of Boyertown Martial Arts Championship events on Saturday and Sunday, April 12th and 13th, 2025.

The academy students are no strangers to competition. The tournament competition team, known as Ellixson’s Team Elite, traveled to Herndon, VA earlier this year to compete at the World Cup Martial Arts Championships and brought home more than 20 gold medals and a Grand Championship Trophy. This open competition included practitioners from many disciplines including Karate, Kung-Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing, Goju, Kenpo and Sport Karate.

The upcoming Battle of Boyertown tournament will give Team Elite the home court advantage, but the competition will be fierce. More than 150 competitors from martial arts schools across the East Coast will come together to compete in forms, weapons, breaking and sparring divisions. The tournament was designed to offer something for everyone and draws students of all ages, at all levels of competition.

The weekend will begin with World Forms and Fighting Champion John Chung giving a seminar on Saturday, April 12th from 5-6:30PM. Competition begins Sunday morning at 8AM.

Students will compete in Forms Divisions and Weapons Divisions which are pre-arranged routines of martial arts skill. These ‘floor routines’ are judged on speed, power, skill, balance, confidence and showmanship. In addition, there will be Board Breaking divisions, where competitors are graded on level of difficulty, number of misses and skill. There will also be Team Demo events, Choreographed Fight Skits and a new division: “CMX” or Creative/Musical/Extreme, where students combine martial arts with jump kicks, spin kicks and gymnastics. Competitors will be judged on focus, skill and level of difficulty.

Another intense competition is Sparring, a controlled fight, where the winner is determined by the competitor who has the most points at the end of the match. Fighters spar for 2-minute rounds and are scored based on contact with an opponent: 1 point for a punch and 2 points for a kick.

The Grand Champions are the overall winners of the tournament. Individuals that win their division go on to compete against other division winners at their level to compete for the Grand Champion title. Grand Champion Belts will be awarded in Youth and Adult Forms and Weapons, with separate awards for Blackbelt and Under Blackbelt Divisions. The culmination of an amazing event will wrap up with a “Super Fight” between Nationally-ranked Blackbelt fighters.

“I am beyond proud of the work this team and our staff puts in to prepare for this tournament. Our motto is ‘We win or we learn’ and that’s exactly what we will do,” says Mr. Donnie Ellixson Jr., founder of Ellixson’s Tae Kwon Do Academy, who celebrates more than 30 Years teaching in Boyertown.

As part of this event, Mrs. Veronica “Peaches” Vizzio will be honored into Battle of Boyertown Hall of Fame on Sunday. Ellixson selected Vizzio for her lifelong dedication to martial arts and her profound impact on the community. Born into a martial arts family, Peaches began her training at just three years old under the guidance of her father, Paul Vizzio, the undisputed kickboxing champion of the world and a degree holder under Grandmaster Wai Hong. Peaches has spent over four decades perfecting her craft, earning her own degree in Tiger Claw Kung Fu, as well as a 5th degree in Shotokan Karate, an honor bestowed upon her by her late Godfather Sensei Miyazaki. Peaches went on to be the highest ranking female ever to studey under Miyazaki. Her dedication to multiple disciplines and her ability to master the intricacies of combat arts have earned her the respect of her peers and the martial arts community.

In his past, Master Ellixson has traveled the country, heavily working on the tournament circuit, as a judge, coordinator, promoter and arbitrator. From 1996-2003, he hosted one of the top 15 national tournaments in the country. Now, twenty-plus years later he’s at it again and very excited to bring together and show off the top martial arts talent on the East Coast to “our little town of Boyertown.” This event will be an impressive feat of martial arts skill and stamina. You won’t want to miss it.

For more info on the Battle of Boyertown or to purchase tickets, go to www.ellixsonstkd.com

Attendees are encouraged to "Make a weekend of it in Boyertown."

www.ellixsonstkd.com/boyertown

About Ellixson’s Tae Kwon Do Academy

Ellixson’s Tae Kwon Do was founded in 1994, by Donnie Ellixson, Jr. Mr. Ellixson is a world-renowned martial arts expert who has won many awards and competitions. He has been named in the Who’s Who in the Martial Arts Hall of Honors, Chuck Norris Edition (2020) and has been inducted into both the Amerikick International Hall of Fame (2012) and the Pennsylvania Karate Hall of Fame (2019.) Ellixson’s Tae Kwon Do Academy has a foundation deeply rooted in the 5 Tenets of Tae Kwon Do: Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control and Indomitable Spirit. In 30+ years of serving the Community, over 4,500 students have benefited from the training they offer.

A select group of students from the academy belong to Ellixson’s Team Elite Competition Team. These team members train at the dojang an average of 3 days a week and compete in a minimum of 4 tournaments per year to maintain their team standing. Several team members are nationally ranked and have competed internationally.

Contact:

Donnie Ellixson Jr., Owner & Chief Instructor, Ellixson’s Tae Kwon Do Academy

Cell: 215-512-7488

dellixsonjr@msn.com

All photos courtesy of Muzo Media Productions.