Dear Students, Teachers and Parents,

I hope everyone that had a chance to train with Kyoshi Smith and
Zenshun Shimabukuro had a great time. The senior black belts had a
chance to train and fine tune their techniques and get personal
corrections, which will their karate and our schools quality
immensely. Kyoshi Smith also asked Sensei Dawn to go and compete at
the World Championships representing the team USA. Dawn is currently
rated #2 in the world and we want to help support her in her efforts
to attend these championships. Total costs will be around $3000 and
any ideas of how we can generate the necessary fees would be
appreciated. Any donations received will be a tax-deductible donation
to our nonprofit organization. Anyone with corporate connections and
can help please contact me directly.

Next Saturday we will be working on the Tiger posture and form during
the black belt club seminar. The Tiger posture and form develops
power through hip rotation and body movement. The foundation of the
tiger posture is having perfect timing and then to attack with speed
and power. Once the attack begins it continues with a constant and
relentless attack. The seminar will run from 9:00 – 10:30 and is free
to BBC members and is $25 for everyone else.

There will be a Jujitsu seminar on the 15th of March from 9:00 –
10:30 and a Bo seminar on March 22nd. Anyone interested in attending
any of this special training should contact his or her Sensei for
more information.

On April 12th we will be having a tournament in Colorado Springs at
Timberview middle school. This event will be open for all our
students to compete in.

Lastly, many people have asked when the next instructor training
class will be held and we have scheduled the class to begin on the
first Saturday in April. If you are interested in attending, please
contact Sensei Mary or myself.

Lesson Of The Week

So far, the most questions I have received in relation to this
weekend's training so far is asking about Qi or Chi. While at the Air
Academy High School karate class, Kyoshi Smith demonstrated how he
could stop a persons Qi flow and the results were that the persons
hand began instantly turning purple. To many people this is
mysterious and they wanted to know how this works.
Qi is the Chinese word for life energy. According to Chinese thought,
Qi is the power that flows through all living things. A living person
is filled with it while something dead has no Qi. A healthy person is
one that has abundant Qi and also where it flows freely through the
meridians in the body. When the flow of energy is interrupted,
sickness and discomfort results. Advance martial artists learn to
develop and use their Qi for personal health and also to add power to
any defensive actions we may need to make.
The process of developing ones Qi is called Qigong; gong meaning work
or benefits derived from persistence and practice. For thousands of
years, Qigong masters have developed their Qi power to help with
their own health and have also learned to use their Qi to heal
others. They have also learned to manipulate this energy to use it in
self-defense when necessary.
All classical martial arts training is Qigong training. From the way
we breathe to the way we stand the purpose of the kata training we do
is to increase and facilitate the flow of this energy through our
body.
When asked how a person can do this demonstration of Qi on someone,
Kyoshi suggested just keep doing what you are doing for another 30
years or so. It all relates to proper breathing, proper standing and
proper movement. The higher a person goes in their training, the more
they realize it all is based on natural actions – like walking,
sitting, standing and breathing. .

Respectfully,

Terry Bryan