Dear Students, Parents and Teachers,

I hope everyone had a great holiday break and are ready to get busy
as we begin a new year. We have done a lot of planning this year to
hopefully provide additional activities and seminars based on what
our students have asked for. We have added some other classes for our
black belt club students, including a weapons class on Thursdays and
a Jujitsu class on Fridays.

The sword seminar taught by Sensei Barrowclough will start tonight at
6:00 and will continue every Sunday evening for the next two months.

Belt test for the main school students is next Saturday. 9 am for
white belts, 9:30 for yellow and orange belts and 10:00 for green,
blue and purple belts. Brown belt workout will be at 1:00 (not 12:30
like I posted last week). I will also be teaching the pinan nidan
seminar from 2:30 – 4:00 next Saturday. This will get into the bunkai
or application of the form, fighting strategies, how to develop body
power, etc.

On the 19th, Sensei Richardson will be teaching a Sai seminar from 1 –
3pm.

This is the time of year when many people decide to try and study the
martial arts. Not only do we need additional members into our Kempo
classes, but we are also trying to help Gu Ping build his Shaolin
Kung Fu and Tai Chi programs. We are blessed to have an authentic
Chinese master here with us and are actively trying to get his visa
so he can stay in this country and bring over his wife and child. We
may not be able to save the world, but with your help, we can provide
the opportunity for one family to experience the American dream and
at the same time provide a needed resource in this community.

On a final note, we are pleased to announce that we now have a
Shotokan karate club training at the school. They will be having
classes on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and on Saturdays at noon.
When you meet them, please introduce yourself and welcome them to our
facility.

Lesson of the Week

BUDO – The Way of Stopping Conflict

Many people translate Budo as "the way of war", but "to stop
conflict" is probably a better definition. From a soldiers point of
view it may be easier to see, but how does the modern martial artist
use this principle in the everyday life?

The modern warrior seeks peace and is a master of resolving conflict.
He strives for peace while at the same time not allowing himself to
become a victim. He has learned the ways of the world by observing
nature, and adopting the successful strategies and principles of
others. Knowing that he can't do any good for his family or his
community if abused, victimized or dead; he defends his place in the
universe. There are several ways of defending against threats, and
the first is simply don't be there. This is the art of awareness, the
art of avoiding dangerous situations and always taking positions of
relative safety. When you find yourself in a crisis situation, then
avoidance is a solution. Using the way of the crane, he uses angling
and stepping off the line of attack as a common tactic. This strategy
demands the psychological attribute or ability to give up or yield a
position, as well as the physical traits of balance and agility. The
modern warrior also uses the tactics of the leopard, yielding to
aggression until the time is right for a defense. The civilian on the
other hand, stands strong and hardens his position, many time
suffering the same fate as the mighty oak tree during a wind storm
.
The warrior looks for the win-win situation in every encounter while
the civilian sees this tactic as weak and ineffective. A key
principle in looking for the win-win, is to truly know yourself and
your opponent. Many times what the civilian sees as the attack, is
only a posture and the true intent and attack is hidden. The warrior
has the ability to see things as they really are, and therefore is
guaranteed success before the action begins.

In combat, attacks are usually fairly obvious, but in general, most
attacks to our well being are subtle and almost undetected.
Sometimes, simply hanging around people with negative attitudes can
be a tremendous threat. Many negative comments, that do indeed
threaten your success in life, need to be neutralized with positive
thinking, clearly defined goals, and proactive action based
strategies. This is why you may see students doing push ups in the
dojo for using "the four-letter word can't!"

Having a positive attitude, setting goals and being proactive won't
allow you to do everything, but it will allow you to do everything
better than negative thinking and tactics will.

Respectfully,

Terry Bryan, Kyoshi