Dear Students, Teachers and Parents,

The next belt test will be February 1st at the following times: 8:45 –
little dragons; 9:00- all white, yellow and orange belts; 9:30 all
green, blue and purple belts. At 10:00 we will be having a free
seminar to cover the new requirements for all green, blue and purple
belt students. This should last 1 hour, so novice students should
plan on being there from 9:30 to 11:00. Remember the belt test fee is
$30 and make sure you sign up early to ensure we order the right
number of belts. We will have an instructor class at 11:00, which is
mandatory for all instructors and assistant instructors; it should be
finished at 11:45.

Next months black belt club seminar will be on the 9 elements of
Kojosho and will be covered on Saturday, February 8th from 9:00 –
10:30. This seminar is free for black belt club members, $25 for
everyone else.

Come join us at the Colorado Springs City Auditorium on Saturday,
February 8th from 11:30 to 3:00 as we celebrate the Chinese Year –
The Year Of The Sheep. We will be putting on the martial arts
demonstration at this event. There will be a buffet dinner, free
prizes and exciting demonstrations. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for
children. Tickets are available at the main dojo – please see Mary or
Dawn.

We have two martial arts tournaments coming up in February. On
Sunday, February 9th we will be taking a team to the Volk Gym at the
Colorado School of mines in Golden, Colorado for a traditional
Japanese Karate tournament. If you are competing, you need to turn
your registration forms in right away. On Saturday, February 15th we
will be attending an open tournament at the Holiday Inn DIA, just
east of I-225 and I-70. Many students have asked to go see an open
tournament and this is your chance to see the difference. Anyone
wishing to compete should talk to your Sensei, Sensei Richardson or
Kyoshi. If you are going to compete, fees are around $50 and
spectator fees are $7.

The dojo will be closed on February 17th for Presidents Day.

Special Seminar:
My Shorin Ryu instructor, Dan Smith, is coming to town at the end of
this month and will be teaching a couple of seminars here in the
Springs. I would encourage everyone to attend this event if at all
possible. Location is to be determined, but will probably be hosted
by the Timberview or Challenger Middle school karate club. On
Thursday night from 6:00 –8:00 PM we will be covering material
appropriate for students below brown belts, although brown and black
belts are encouraged to attend. On Friday evening from 6:00-8:00 PM
we will be doing another seminar but it will be restricted to brown
and black belts only. Kyoshi Smith will continue teaching on Saturday
and Sunday in Denver and are students are allowed to continue their
training there at no additional charge. Cost for this seminar is only
$30 and please register early. Registration forms will be available
this week.




Lesson of the Week

The Principle Behind One-Step Sparring

In a conversation with my instructor, Kyoshi Smith, this week we were
talking about the merits of one-step sparring in our karate training.
As everyone knows, martial artists are taught to attack in
combinations because this is the hardest attack to defend against.
One of the key elements of Okinawan karate is taught through the kata
and practiced with one-step sparring when we develop the ability to
move and control the attack, eliminating our opponent from throwing
multiple attacks. Interrupting his attack and creating a moment where
no attack is possible without changing directions or repositioning
his posture creates this moment of weakness, called kyo.
After this discussion, I realized that this is indeed one of those
key elements of Chinese and Okinawan martial arts that train their
students to think differently than others. While we can cut down the
chances of being attacked through proactive strategies and life style
choices, we can never eliminate totally the threat of a surprise
attack. We can, however, through mental and physical training,
develop our responses so that all they get is one shot.
This principle has ramifications in other areas of our lives as well.
Think for a moment and identify a problem that you are facing at this
very moment. What one response could you do, that would neutralize
this threat in one move, eliminating the continuation of negative
consequences in the future. Identifying actions to be taken in
response to any potential threat, which at the same time nullifies
any future problems, is the hallmark of the modern warrior.

Respectfully,

Terry Bryan