Dear Students, Teachers and Friends,

Next belt test is going to be July 10th and will be held at the
Bijou location. We will test all Beginners at 9:00 and all Novice
students at 10:00. The address is 2304 E. Bijou and is located about
3 blocks east of Union on Bijou. We are also trying our new on-line
registration system and would like everyone to register for the belt
test on line at www.abbakarate.com. Click on the link for belt
testing and retail store and then follow the directions. We are
centralizing all our tests from our clubs around the country and if
you have any problems, please e-mail me at kyoshibryan@....

July 16th, 17th and 18th is a regional tournament and training camp
in Grand Junction hosted by Master Bob Davis. For more information,
please see your Sensei.

State Games is being held here in Colorado Springs on the 31st of
July at the Phil Long Expo Center. They have had some trouble with
their on-line registration but it should be up and running again
soon. For more information please talk to your Sensei.

Quotes of the Week

BENJAMIN JOWETT:
We cannot seek or attain health, wealth, learning, justice or
kindness in general. Action is always specific, concrete,
individualized, unique.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU:
The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. I have
no wealth to bestow on him. If he knows that I am happy in loving
him, he will want no other reward. Is not friendship divine in this?


Lesson of the Week

18 Postures – Fire

The double edged factors of the fire element is evident in that a
fire keeps you warm and safe from predators in the wild, but the
destruction of a forest fire is total and fierce. Since our early
ancestors, fire has been used for basic survival, keeping the wild
animals at bay, cooking our food, and even shaping tools and
weapons. Harnessing fire and learning to use it for the safety and
well being of the village has been stated as one of the main reasons
humans survived over the years. In the wild, the comfort and
security of a campfire can still be felt even though many of the
predators we once feared are no longer around. A warm crackling
fireplace is relaxing and puts one at ease, especially on a cool
Colorado evening.

When dealing with the heat from a fire, there is comfort at a
certain range but if one gets too close they can get burned.
Learning how to control the size and heat of a fire keeps us in a
comfort range and if we let it get out of hand it can be totally
destructive. The sword makers of the famous samurai sword learned
the process of using fire to heat the metal, folding and hammering
the metal, combined with thrusting the heated metal into cool water
to come up with the strongest and sharpest sword ever know to man.
These same principles are used in raising children and even training
them in the martial arts. The student is "heated" through positive
reinforcement and easy victories. I am sure you have witnessed a
coach trying to get his team "fired up" before a competition. As the
student progresses, he is "cooled" down by setting higher
expectations and more difficult challenges.

The modern warrior develops fire principles within his or her own
being as well. Most people recognize that they feel comfort and
security when around senior martial artists knowing that the group
is safer with them around. At the same time they also understand
that things can "heat" up real quick if they are threatened or find
themselves in danger. The modern warrior understands his ability to
bring comfort and relaxed feelings into any given situation and
strives to excel at those verbal and nonverbal qualities used to
accent that trait. At the same time, the warrior knows that in
battle, he or she has the ability to attack like a forest fire
destroying anything in its path. A gentle stroke of the well place
hand can heal while the same action applied with speed and intensity
can disable.

Fire has enabled us to turn metal to liquid and in turn shape the
tools to plow the ground and help us to become better farmers and
shape weapons to become better hunters. Fire also helps us
understand the key principles of motivation and energy needed to be
successful at anything we try to achieve. Learning to balance the
flame and knowing when and where to turn the heat up, as well as
learning how to not get burned is one of the key principles in the
art of karate-do.

Respectfully,

Terry Bryan