Dear Students, Teachers and Friends,

Happy President's Day.

I hope that everyone that attended the Chanbara seminar had a great
time. Sparring with padded swords will be a new division to the
local, regional and international events this year and it's good to
get a head start with the strategy, tactics and training needed to
become a winner.

Also thanks to all the black belts that showed up for the advanced
training. I know that 8:30 was early for many of you, but hope you
enjoyed working on the 9 animals, the two man forms, and the
advanced Kempo form Pao Chuan.

The next belt testing is scheduled for March 6th. The north school
testing will begin at 9:00 am. The Bijou school's testing will begin
at 11:00. For all students that are eligible to test for black belt
or any degrees of black belt we are having the pretest at noon at
the Bijou school. Black belt training will follow. (Approximately
from 1-3)

A couple of more up coming events to put on your calendar is the
Pikes Peak Tournament to be held here in Colorado Springs (Coronado
High School) on March 13th and our black belt testing and the elite
training camp is scheduled to be held on April 16th, 17th and
18th . We have a great group of master instructors lined up for
training and many of our senior black belts from around the country
are flying in. If you are coming in from out of town, most of the
event will be held at the event hotel – the Radisson Inn. To get
free breakfast and the $69 a night rate call (719) 598-5770 and tell
them you are with the American Black Belt Academy event. School
owners please get a late flight out on Sunday if you want to attend
the management training event. For more info on the schedule go to
www.americanblackbeltacademy.com and look under up coming special
events.


Quotes of the Week

THOMAS JEFFERSON:
An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.
JOHN F. KENNEDY:
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.


Lesson of the Week

Know Yourself and Know Your Enemy

The famous Chinese general Sun Tzu, author of the classic The Art
Of War, said that, "If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself,
you are certain to be in peril. Know your enemy and know yourself
and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster." This
statement is true not only in combat, but in solving most problems
in life. Experts recommend that when faced with a dilemma to write
everything down and clearly identify the problem. Many times this
simple process gives you the solution while you are writing out the
problem in detail. However, if you need to develop a plan of action,
then only by knowing your true strengths and weaknesses can you
develop a viable and winning action plan. One of the great things
about the martial arts is that it teaches us to truly know
ourselves. Our weekly interactions with our fellow students teach us
our mental and physical abilities and disabilities when it comes to
self defense. This knowledge leads us to understand our abilities to
handle other situations as well. This eventually leads the competent
martial artist to knowing that he or she can solve any problems as
long as they use the correct strategy and tactics. This always leads
back to truly knowing ourselves and our abilities. This is the path
towards black belt excellence.

Respectfully,
Terry Bryan