Board Breaking

Forms

Thanks to Andres’, Savannah, Luke, Caleb and Molly for helping us out!

(click through to watch video)

Failure must be an option. And overcoming it must be a trait. Once you master failure, anything is possible and everything becomes an option to you.

Here’s a good video I came across. The action starts about 30 seconds in. Even though we just started teaching grappling, many of our students are showing great progress! Here’s something to look forward to:

This is a good article from parenting.com on the benefits of martial arts for children.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to work with your children and make them stronger both mentally and physically. We believe that martial arts is by far the best activity for children, especially when they are enrolled in a quality program.

See you in class!

As parents, we are responsible for keeping the commitments and obligations of our children. Commitment provides structure and guidance for a child to achieve their goals. Without commitment, children are disadvantaged in developing important habits such as responsibility, goal setting and perseverance that are essential to success in all aspects of life.

Parents set the example that their children will follow from the time they are very young right through young adulthood. As a parent we carry the responsibility of ensuring that our children have our support and commitment to help them complete what they start and to be accountable to a standard of excellence.

We start our children with basic commitments such as brushing their teeth and explaining the benefits of having healthy teeth. Parents guide them to brush their teeth after every meal and /or before bedtime. Eventually, a child will no longer need to be told, as their own good habits will be formed
through parent’s commitment. However, we will still be there to remind them periodically by asking “Did you brush your teeth?” These reminders establish ongoing commitment to our child’s healthy teeth. Did you make your bed? Did you do your homework? Did you clean your room? Did you take out the garbage? Did you remember your lunch? These are among the many questions parents come to memorize over the years, with the hope of instilling positive habits in their children. As they mature, children will take over the responsibility of meeting daily challenges without a parents intervention.

Your children’s martial arts training is no exception. Parents are responsible for their class attendance and helping them to meet their class requirements. These important parental commitments are crucial to allow them to progress and achieve their martial arts goals. In order for a child to improve focus, self control and discipline we as parents must make a commitment to keep them on track by regular class attendance. Children will show the best results when they are in a supervised routine.

Sometimes martial arts parents are faced with situations that challenge these commitments. How you handle these challenges will determine your child’s success or failure while installing other important habits, good or bad, that are integral to their success in life. Karate USA realizes that you only want to do what is best for your children. As martial arts instructors we also share in this objective. Situations arise that may challenge your commitment to bringing your children to class but we strongly feel that their absence works against their martial arts goals which in turn works against life goals. The first class missed is the first step towards dropping out. To help you make the right decision (the best for your children), we offer a resolution to a potential scenario that can face a martial arts parent.

What should I do if my child wants to skip a class at Karate USA? When children suggest skipping a class, parents often worry if the child is losing interest. In most cases, your child isn’t telling you that they don’t enjoy class (they’re always enthusiastic after taking a class) but rather that they would prefer to seek immediate enjoyment. Children are often focused on the present and are not able to project their thinking into the future and weigh the potential for future rewards. (For example, if you offered a child a dollar now or five dollars next week, most children would ask for the dollar and receive immediate gratification).

Parents often ask children to make choices that are difficult and create conflict. A child may resist turning off the TV or a video game (immediate gratification) to go to a martial arts class (delayed gratification). A child may enjoy training, but may still complain and demonstrate other negative behavior because martial arts is introduced as a deferred (and therefor less attractive) alternative to what they are currently doing. To deal with this response, parents can set limits on activities ahead of time. For example, a parent might say “You may watch TV for one hour before your class,” rather than: “Turn off the TV set now, it’s time for your martial arts lesson”. Or this option, ” You may do your homework now or go to your karate class”. Once limits are set, martial arts can be encouraged as a positive activity. Your child will not feel that they are sacrificing one enjoyable activity for another.

Equally important, when your child is attending class with enthusiasm, explain that you will not accept any complaining that interferes with their commitment to their martial arts program. If they think they have a specific problem, they should speak to their instructor before or after attending class. By doing this, you have provided a strategy for resolving any future problems that aren’t directly related to their class, and you have given them a grown up approach to addressing any real complaints.

As your children matures, they will be able to understand delayed gratification and its benefits. Rewards such as improved confidence, self esteem, increased attention span, self defense skills, and better school grades are the result of consistent actions from children, parents, and instructors. Children often experience plateaus in their training and periods of time they do not feel motivated to train. When parents and instructors work together, these feelings often pass and lead to attaining higher goals. All roads aren’t smooth, but with parents in the driver’s seat, children can fulfill their commitment to martial arts training and martial arts can fulfill its quest to reward students with all its benefits.

It is important to understand the difference between martial sport and martial art. There are hundreds or even thousands of styles of combat-based martial arts. Many of these have been transformed into modern day sports. Taekwondo is one of them.

Unlike combat-based martial arts, sports have rules. The rules are designed to protect the competitors and keep the game organized. This adoption of rules and organization breeds strategies that attempt to take advantage of those rules. These strategies are not always conducive to self defense.

Self defense is combat. Combat has no rules or organization. The reason most martial arts were turned into sports is so the practitioners could safely practice their combat-based martial art to the maximum allowable level while minimizing injury. And as games always do, the martial sports evolved.

Taekwondo has been an official Olympic sport since 2000, joining only three other Olympic martial sports: Judo, Wrestling, and Boxing. Besides being watered down by rules and policies, not all martial arts are suited to total self defense anyway. Until now.

Mixed Martial Arts is the fastest growing sport in the World. It is the new standard of martial sport and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) uses the tagline “as real as it gets.”

It is as real as it gets. It’s the only martial sport that allows the combined use of every style of Martial Art. The training is safe, but the competition is as close to combat as you can legally get. The good thing is that you don’t need to fight like a professional mixed martial artist to learn what works and what doesn’t. They do the dirty work and we integrate the takeaways.

Anderson Silva - UFC Middleweight Champion

In just 15 years, the sport of mixed martial arts has evolved to the point where effective hand to hand combat has been boiled down to an exact science (for the most part). All that’s left is to figure out is who is better in what area, who is faster and stronger, and who is smarter. So what are the takeaways?

We’ve learned that the most effective mixture of martial arts seems to be:

• Striking (Boxing, Muy Thai, Taekwondo, etc.)
• Wrestling
• Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Without good striking, it’s difficult to defend yourself on your feet. Without wrestling skills, you can’t prevent someone from taking you down and you can’t take them down. And without jiu jitsu you can’t be offensive or defensive on the ground. The combination of these skills creates effective self defense, proven time and time again inside the Octagon (UFC) with real people, not Hollywood superstars.

Alone, these martial arts (boxing, wrestling, brazilian jiu jitsu, etc.) are not complete. Together, however, they are unstoppable; save for the fact you aren’t using them against an equally knowledgeable and athletic opponent.

Back to Taekwondo as an Olympic sport.

Karate USAs base art is Taekwondo, a martial art that evolved into a martial sport that teaches devastating kicking techniques. But like the thousands of other arts taught around the world, Taekwondo is not complete. Hand skills are minimal and take downs and ground techniques are nonexistent.

We love the sport because it’s exciting and extremely technical. It takes great skill and athletic ability to participate in. But for self defense it is inferior just as wrestling, boxing, and brazilian jiu jitsu alone are also inferior.

Karate USA recognizes this inferiority. We have learned from the evolution of mixed martial arts and we are working to adapt our program to benefit you, the student. Our goal is to preserve the art and sport of Taekwondo and excel in that arena while also making sure our students are well rounded and able to defend themselves in any situation. It’s that simple.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Triangle Choke

Our team of instructors are also students. Martial arts is never a finished product as it’s constantly evolving. It’s a never-ending learning process for all involved. If we were stagnant and uninterested in the evolution of our martial sport as well as the martial arts in general, we would be like all the other Martial Arts schools across the country, clinging to our single system and pretending it’s the best thing anyone ever came up with. But pretending only puts you at a disadvantage and oppresses your potential and that’s not what we’re here for.

The differences between combat training and martial sport should be completely clear. There is no reason to blur the lines. This isn’t a knock on any martial sport. Taekwondo as a sport is absolutely relevant. Boxing and wrestling as sports are absolutely relevant. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a sport is absolutely relevant. We want you to dedicate yourself to the martial sport of Taekwondo as it is one of the most exciting martial sports taught today. But at the same time we want you to understand that we’re dedicated to teaching you more so you that you can be confident in your ability to defend yourself in any situation. That’s the Karate USA program for the future.

What other program allows you to compete in an exciting and technical Olympic sport, teaches you self defense, challenges you mentally and physically to your limit, cultivates your character, and allows you to accomplish all of that as an individual while at the same time teaching you how to be a good team player?

Beginning in August, we will implement Boxing, Wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills into the curriculum. You will not only learn these techniques, but you will be tested on them at each exam and expected to show their use effectively. As this is a fairly large addition, it will take time to complete the transition. Thank you for your patience and thank you for being a part of our program and our journey toward excellence.

You’ve chosen to become a student of the martial arts with all the commitment, hard work, and discipline that the martial arts require. That makes you a winner.

As a winner, you never quit or give up on the goals you have set for yourself. A winner continues forward when times are tough and goals may not seem immediately attainable. Winners see the roadblocks of life as mere “speed bumps” along a path that MUST be completed. Winners will not be deterred from their objective.

Most of us were taught , however, that winners are only those with the highest scores, the most points, and the championship trophies. Some define only those people as “successful”. We know better! We know that all martial arts students are winners. Each time they attend class they renew their quest for learning and their commitment to achieving their goals. Each class is a step on the path along which all students work together to achieve success.

Students soon discover that the martial arts develops into a way of life. The principles that are taught in the martial arts can take winners and make them successful in all aspects of their life. Principles such as perseverance, commitment, dedication, teamwork, respect and focus are important in making successful martial artists. But aren’t these principles also what makes us successful human beings?

As martial arts instructors we are proud to have the opportunity to teach these ideals to our students so they have the tools to become successful both inside and outside our doors. This is one of the reasons we aspire to keep students active in the martial arts and in our school for many years to come. This objective can only be accomplished if all of us (instructors, students, and parents) have a winning attitude.

It is easy to keep a strong winning attitude when everything goes as expected. But life doesn’t always deal us a great hand, and we are often faced with challenges that can interrupt our plans. For martial artists, challenges are often external influences that may prevent them from attending a scheduled class. Bad weather, sickness, vacations, and other obstacles can lead to lower attendance. It is at these times that the student with the support of parents/spouses must remain focused on their martial arts goals.

Winners never quit and quitters never win. A student quitter begins with the first missed class. We don’t want any student to become a victim of a series of absences. If a class must be missed, make a personal commitment to attend your next class and give it your all. This is the winning attitude.

Together, as martial artists, we will help each other continue to be winners for life. And through our winner’s attitude, we will become successful in all we do.