“We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle
SPECIALTY CLASSES
We still have space for those that are interested in Team Kata, Musical or Weapons Kata. If you want to take your skills to another level take advantage of this opportunity. If you have several partners and want to give Team Kata a try class is Monday evenings at 5:30. If you have the desire to express your art through music give musical kata a go. For students that are purple belt level and above weapons classes are Wednesdays at 5:30. All of these classes are hard working, but rewarding. As a reminder, the weapons class is an “Add-On” class and there is a monthly fee of $10.00 in addition to your monthly tuition.
TOURNAMENTS
KENT CLAYBORN’S ANNUAL KARATE OPEN
Saturday September 20th, 2014 RESULTS
DOMINIC RIVERA
7-8 Novice
1st Place-Kata
2nd Place-Sparring
3rd Place-Obstical Course
WEST COAST MARTIAL ARTS TRI-STATE CLASSIC
Saturday September 27th, 2014 RESULTS
GAGE TEANEY 11-12 Novice-Intermediate
3rd Place Kata
1st Place Sparring
3rd Place Olympic Sparring
DYLAN KIATOUKAYSY 9-10 Novice
2nd Place Kata
3rd Place Sparring
1st Place Olympic Sparring
BRANDON KIATOUKAYSY 7-8 Novice
2nd Place Kata
4th Place Sparring
2nd Place Olympic Sparring
CHANCE BARR 7-8 Intermediate
1st Place Kata
4th Place Sparring
2nd Place Olympic Sparring
WOMEN’S SELF DEFENSE
OCTOBER 25TH 2014
In support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month we will be holding our annual Women’s Self Defense Workshop. Domestic violence is best understood as a pattern of abusive behaviors–including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion–used by one intimate partner against another (adult or adolescent) to gain, maintain, or regain power and control in the relationship. Batterers use of a range of tactics to frighten, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, often injure, and sometimes kill a current or former intimate partner.
Even if you are not in a domestic situation, situational and environmental awareness through a self defense course is good to have. Put this date on your calendar and bring a friend or family member.
THE BENEFIT OF MARTIAL ARTS COMPETITION
Martial arts offers amazing opportunities for students, especially in a competitive setting. When students take lessons in martial arts they are able to receive extra attention from an instructor and maximize performance in competition. The positive encouragement and dedication of growth to reach goals will improve any student’s journey and performance in martial arts. The intangible benefits of martial arts have been deeply explored and widely discussed. The average practitioner and martial arts enthusiast will grow as a person physically and mentally from their training. Many students are completely happy and content with their personal martial arts journey void of any competitive element. This is perfectly fine as some schools are very pro competitive while others are not. Neither is necessarily more or less effective as a result. Why then does competition remain such a central piece in many arts? The answer really depends on the person involved and the end goal. For many, competition is the culmination of hard work and dedication; it is the truest and purest test of skill. When belt ranks become immaterial it helps answer the age old questions “Does this stuff really work?” or “How good am I?” What better, easier and safer way to answer those questions than through organized competition. While fellow students and teammates are invaluable assets for a person’s progression and development seeing and training with the same people day in and out begins to cloud how truly skilled the group is as a whole. This naturally makes it difficult to determine any individual skill level. Competition takes a person to a place where many humans naturally do not wish to go, in direct combat with another human being. It’s not natural. It goes against survival of the species. It goes against our fight or flight instincts. Competition is arguably an exercise in mental strength more so than physical prowess. Self confidence and reassurance are dramatically affected through a competitive environment. I have watch struggling students over the years start competing and make a complete turnaround in their performance of critical skill sets. The value of competition can be an incredibly powerful tool for a student’s personal development.
--Thomas Williams, Chief Instructor
THE TRINITY OF FITNESS FOOD, AEROBICS AND RESISTANCE
The Trinity also referred to as Food, Aerobic Fitness and Resistance Fitness is the staple for healthy living. One of the first components of weight gain or weight loss is to eat. For weight gain it is a no brainer that you have to eat high protein, low fat and low to medium carbs to pack on quality muscle. To lose weight, as odd as it may seem, you have to eat moderate to high protein intake along with low fats and low carbs. In order to lose weight you also need to raise your metabolism by spreading these meals over 4-6 sessions. Eating for health, fitness or just everyday living calls for a personal lifestyle change of eating habits. We don't use the word "DIET". It is a filthy four letter word! A diet is something that most of us at some point engaged in that only worked while we did it. When we met our goal or got tired of the menu we quit and the weight came back.
To go along with your change of eating habits you need to help those meals out by aerobically burning some calories and fat. You can do this with as little as 30 minutes of aerobic activity a day. You can take up walking, jogging, running, formal aerobic classes, dance, martial arts...etc. To gain you need to increase your daily quality calorie intake. To lose you need to take in less.
Depending on how much weight you have lost or how fast, you may wake up some morning to discover that although you are shrinking in size and you can wear some of the outfits you used to wear, you don't look the way you think you should. You are many pounds lighter but you look in the mirror and notice that your chest, breasts, buttocks and back arms (Triceps) have drooped, dropped or sagged. This is a result of ignoring resistance work. You don't have to get into hard core body building or body sculpting while spending 1-1/2 to 2 hours in the gym. But you do need to do some resistance work with exercises using your own body weight or a weight lifting program using light to moderate weight. As fat cells reduce muscle fiber is revealed and must become firm and or increase in size making you look firm, full and healthy.
--Thomas Williams
American Karate & Fitness Is An Attitude
