Dear Students, Teachers and Parents,

Next weekend Sensei Scott Richardson is having a weapon seminar where
he will be teaching the bo (long staff). The seminar will run from
12:00-2:00. Contact Sensei Mary Britton if you are planning on
attending. The cost is only $20 or $40 if you need a bo.

Look for Ito- "the peaceful warrior dragon" when you visit the dojo.
He will be highlighting the word or theme of the week. As a joint
effort in brainstorming with Bob Smith of Jungle Marketing and our
staff, we are adopting him as our mascot for the dojo. According to
ancient Chinese stories, out of all the animal systems taught in
China, the Dragon was seen as the source of wisdom, taking tactics
and strategies from all the other styles and using them as needed.
Since we have started the little dragons class for the children, we
thought it only appropriate that we release Ito at this time. While
our physical martial arts techniques are mainly from China and
Okinawa, karate is 90% mental and we have added those qualities to
our program from a variety of sources. This represents the dragon
aspect to our training – training the most powerful weapon – the
mind. We hope Ito represents that aspect well.

Lesson of the Week

Kaizen No Michi – The Path of Improvement

The kanji for "Kaizen" translates as reform / virtue, or to create
change for higher virtue. The process of constant and never ending
improvement is the foundation for black belt excellence in all areas
of ones life. The process is fairly simple to set up, but takes
discipline and planning to make it become a reality.

The first step is to identify what is truly important in your life
and then create a written plan of action on how these important goals
will be accomplished. As long as you constantly work on these
prioritized goals and they are congruent with your personal values,
you will eventually reach these goals. Like a journey of a thousand
miles beginning with a single step, huge accomplishments can be
achieved one step at a time.

In order to generate quantum leaps towards the areas you are trying
to improve in, it is necessary to identify every action that you are
currently doing and then to prioritize them based on their level of
importance and which ones create the most significant levels of
improvement. The final step in the process is to concentrate on those
tasks that produce the best results, and begin handing off or even
deleting those tasks that do not help you reach your goals.

The process of eliminating all wasteful actions and behaviors are
also important. Some actions tend to bring about tremendous
improvements, such as setting aside to 30 minutes to an hour a day in
a quiet place reading in your specific field of interest. Another
method is to use you time driving as learning time by listening to
tapes that help educate or motivate you in a variety of subjects.
Simply following these two tactics can accelerate you to the top 10%
in your chosen field in as little as two – three years.

In combat, these principles are identical. The strategy of planning
on the most effective tactics with minimum risks is the optimum plan
of action. Again it is imperative to keep the tactics simple,
concentrating on the sure thing, while eliminating any tactics that
you are not sure of. Basic movements are constantly improved by
eliminating unnecessary or wasteful actions while trying to improve
those actions that add power, speed and accuracy.

Kaizen no Michi is the path of constant and never ending improvement.
Kaizen no Michi is the foundation of karate-do and all future
successes in your life.


Respectfully,

Terry Bryan