Dear Students, Teachers and Parents,

I hope everyone had a great spring break and are ready to get going
again with a refreshed energy.

Belt test is next Saturday April 5th and will start with the little
dragons at 8:45. Good luck to everyone and work hard this week to
insure you are well prepared on the needed material.

We have tentatively scheduled an instructor training class starting
on the 5th of April for those wishing to become certified teachers
someday. If you are interested in applying for enrollment, please
contact Sensei Mary at brittonme@...

Our next tournament is April 19th and is going to be held at
Timberview Middle School. Please see you Sensei for a registration
form and get ready to go for the gold. This event is open for
everyone and is geared for every competitor to walk away feeling like
a winner. We are having team divisions in forms and sparring, so
please start recruiting now to get a winning team.

Some of you may not see me at the dojo or in your class for a bit, as
I have some medical problems I need to take care of, but we have all
the classes covered and encourage you to train hard and work well
with your sempai and kohai.

Lesson Of The Week

Picking Up A Stick

There is an old saying that when one picks up one end of a stick,
they also pick up the other end. In my opinion, this concept is one
of the great qualities that martial artists learn that others don't
really understand. I guess it begins when we learn how to deal with
specific attacks. We learn that there are tactics that work best
against certain attacks and we begin to read the appropriate response
to any given attack. We also begin looking for the ending posture in
any conflict situation we may run into. Later we take that a step
further by understanding how each technique resolves the problem, but
also where we will be in the near future and what we will have to
deal with at that time. Like the game of pool, a serious player
thinks about how to make his shot, but also how to set up the next
shot by using English on the cue ball to insure a good shot on the
next ball. An expert billiards player, I am told, can see an entire
game from the beginning and has his strategy planned 10-15 shots down
the road.

The same is true with the modern martial artists and their view of
the world and how he or she interacts with those in it. Understanding
that we are where we are today is based on our actions in the past
and at the same time we begin to understand that where we will be in
the future is based on what we do today. In choosing our actions, or
picking up a stick, we also learn that we are responsible for the
other end as well. We learn to pick our communications, behaviors and
physical responses based on the best long-term outcome for everyone.
This is one of the focuses of many of the old Okinawan karate
teachers when they say there is no first strike in karate. By solving
problems through creating win-win solutions, the modern martial
artist proactively responds to conflicts and through proper solutions
eliminates future problems at the same time.

The proactive martial artists, understands all the best responses to
any situation, as well as, all the possible reactions to those
responses. They understand the true meaning of when you pick up one
end of the stick you pick up the other side as well.

Respectfully,
Terry Bryan