Dear Students, Teachers and Parents,
Next week is our Black Belt weekend! Friday night we will have black
belt testing beginning at 6 pm at Air Academy High School and
admission is free. It should last a couple of hours. I hope you have
the chance to come and witness some of our students make the jump
into the black belt ranking. On Saturday we will be having seminars
by some of the best instructors around. Special guests include Kyoshi
Kennedy from Kansas City and Kyoshi Greene from Oklahoma. The
seminars will run from 9 am to 1 pm. For more information and to sign
up, please contact Mary. Saturday evening at 6 pm will be our awards
dinner, which will be held at the Air Force Academy press box. This
is sure to be a great event with dinner, entertainment and
celebration.

Congratulations to everyone that passed their belt test this week.
Everyone looked awesome!


Lesson Of The Week – Acres of Diamonds

Dr. Russell H. Conwell founded Temple University in 1884 by traveling
around the country raising money by giving over 6000 lectures. In
each of those lectures he told a true story entitled " Acres of
Diamonds".

The story was an account of an African farmer who had heard tales
about other farmers who had made millions by discovering diamond
mines. These tales so excited the farmer that he could hardly wait to
sell his farm and go prospecting for diamonds himself. So he sold the
farm and spent the rest of his life wandering the African continent,
searching unsuccessfully for the gleaming gems that brought such high
prices on the markets of the world. Finally, the story goes, worn-out
and in a fit of despair, he threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, back on the farm he had sold, the man that had bought it
happened to be crossing the small stream on the property. Suddenly,
there was a bright flash of blue and red light from the bottom of the
stream. He bent down and picked up the stone and later placed it on
his fireplace.

Several weeks later, a visitor to his home picked up the stone and
almost passed out. He asked the farmer if he knew what he had found.
When the farmer said no, that he thought it was probably a piece of
crystal, the visitor told him that he had found one of the largest
diamonds ever discovered.

Needless to say, the farm that the first farmer had sold so he could
go look for diamonds, turned out to become one of the most productive
diamond mines on the entire continent. The first farmer had owned
free and clear, acres of diamonds, but had sold it for little of
nothing in order to go look for them elsewhere.

The moral of the story is clear – had the farmer taken the time to
study and prepare himself – to know what diamonds look like in their
rough state – and since he already owned a piece of property – to
thoroughly explore that property before looking elsewhere, all his
wildest dreams would have come true.

What makes this story important is each of us, at this very moment,
is standing within our own acres of diamonds. If we only had the
wisdom and patience to intelligently and effectively explore the work
we are currently engaged in, to explore ourselves, then we would
probably find all the riches we seek, whether they are financial,
intangible or both. Instead of running off to greener pastures, we
should explore how to make our own pastures greener.

J.B. Mathews wrote: " Unless a person has trained himself for his
chance, the chance will only make him ridiculous. A great occasion is
worth to a man exactly what his preparation enables him to make of
it." It takes curious imagination to see diamonds in their rough
state as cut and polished gemstones, or "problems" that you encounter
as opportunities for growth. Your mind is your most powerful
resource. By exploring all the possibilities and striving for black
belt excellence, you will soon begin to see the diamonds that lay at
your feet.

Respectfully,

Terry Bryan