Site Has Moved

Just want to give all our readers and subscribers a notice that we have moved this blog to a new address.  We have stopped posting to this blog and will post all future entries to our new Blog at

www.manitowocmartialarts.com

Thank you for your support of this Blog and please subscribe at our new site.  Also let us know how you like it.

“Nobody Can Make Me Anything.”

Teaching kids about self-defense isn’t just teaching them how to block punches, kicks, and thwart aggressive bullies, it’s instructing them in the importance of proper attitude, perspective, and self-talk.Tom Callos, team coach for a program called The Ultimate Black Belt Test, promotes the idea that real self-defense is far more about what a child thinks –than it is about some technique of martial art  (obviously, this goes for adults too).

“One of the 10 top self-defense skills I teach my students,” says Callos, “is the idea that nobody can make themanything. Someone else can’t make you angry, make you sad, or even make you happy. It’s not wise to give that power to anyone besides yourself. Of course, this is easy to say and far more difficult to put into practice.”

I have to concur. I do know, however, that big things, giant things, huge accomplishments (like learning to take responsibility for the way you feel), are achieved through small, consistent efforts. One incident where you (or I) don’t blame someone else for how we feel then adds up to two incidents, then three, and from there habits begin to form.

This is much the way martial arts classes work (and if you’re kind enough to read this blog, you may visit our school and receive a free pass to try our lessons. Thank you!); anyone can be trained as a martial artist through small successive victories. Real self-defense isn’t just physical; it’s mental, emotional, social, and spiritual.

Thinking, “Nobody can make me anything,” is, in my opinion, as good or BETTER a technique of self-defense than anything I have ever learned; OK, except for The Golden Rule (Which is, of course: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But then, that’s another lesson.).

 
For more information about Self Defense for children, contact me, Mark Weber, Director and Instructor at Lakeshore Tae Kwon Do.

 

“My life is my dojo.”

“Dojo” means “school” in Japanese –and while every country has its own name for school (it’s a different word in Korean, Chinese, ect.), the important part of this statement is that your life is your school.

Should you ever decide to take martial arts lessons, of any kind, I hope that you would be lucky enough to find a teacher who understands and practices the idea of my life is my dojo.

When a student is on the mat, executing punches or kicks, rolls or break-falls, leg locks or arm bars, and/or blocks and parries, all sorts of things are learned, such as the patience required to polish the maneuvers, the control you have to exercise to do it right, the teamwork it takes to participate with a your partner and classmates, and the understanding of the return one gets on effort and consistency. What a shame it would be if we failed to take those lessons “out of the dojo and into the world.”

The real lessons in our school, the valuable ones, are the ones we practice on the mat, but fully understand that we’re practicing for the purpose of making something in our life work better, smoother, and with more mastery. We practice in our school, what we wish to see in our lives. That’s what we know to be the most valuable aspect of what we do in our school.

By the way, if you’re not a student, but you’d like to see what it’s like to be one, just mention this post and we will give you a pass to come in and try classes. Every great journey begins with some small movement in a new direction, yes?

And here’s a secret: I think, “My students are my dojo.” I learn what I need to learn by helping others to do, well…all of the above.

Obvious and Not-So-Obvious Benefits of Taking Martial Arts Lessons.

There are some obvious benefits that young and old alike garner from studying the martial arts. The first one is in the exercise involved. Exercise, if it’s tailored for the age and ability of the participant, is good for the body, the mind, and, yes, often good for the spirit too.

A not-so-obvious benefit of studying the martial arts is the often unspoken requirement to “be present” in the practice. “When you’re dealing with kicks, punches, and arm-bars,” says veteran martial arts teacher Tom Callos of Hilo, Hawaii, “you simply have to stay ‘in the moment’ to keep from getting socked in the nose. Awareness of what I call, ‘The here and now,” is something you can instantly take off of the mat and put to work in your everyday life.”

With exercise and mindfulness comes a third component that is not a benefit you’ll find in every martial arts school, but it’s something we are deeply involved with. It’s about food and its connection to fitness and health. The Diet Chronicles is a project where a group of martial arts teachers are starting to document, on video, what they eat and how it’s prepared –in an effort to eat more mindfully.

Some of the video journals are being posted to an on-line community based around the book Savor (http://www.savorthebook.com/). Savor is co-written by Harvard nutritionist Dr. Lilian Cheung and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

To see one of the Diet Chronicle videos, click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3gANPh_RvY

“What we consume is as important and relevant to self-defense in today’s world,” says Callos, “as any kind of martial arts technique.”

For more information on using the martial arts to improve the body, mind, and diet, contact Lakeshore Tae Kwon Do (www.manitowockarate.com).

Kindness The Movie

Kindness the Movie (Contest / Film Project) may be something you’d like to get involved in?

Do you know someone who has an inspiring story on kindness? Quick, grab your camera. Record their personal story and send it in by our deadline on 5/1/2011!

Grab any video camera you can find, the camera on your phone, on your laptop, or any other video camera. Tell us your true story of kindness or interview a relative or friend about some kindness they have experienced. Life-changing kindness, unexpected kindness, or just ordinary daily kindness. Or go out with your camera and show us some kindness that you see in the world. Write a poem or a song. Make an animation.

Click here to find out more. 

 

via Kindness The Movie.