Month: March 2016

Martial Arts is great for … Co-ordination! 

A child’s physical coordination will ultimately have a bearing on his skill level in sports, academic performance and even attitudes about school and education, found a report by Lori A. Smith, president of the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. That’s why it is important for kids to have structured games and activities throughout the day that present coordination exercises. With your help, your child can work on developing coordination skills that can help him throughout his life.According to Greg Silva a 7th degree black belt in Kenpo Karate and author of the book “The Silva Solution” Teaching Black Belts From The Inside Out”, “martial arts in like no other sport in developing coordination.”   

Coordination is developed thought physical exercise that access both hemispheres of the brain. As kids begin martial arts we often notice kids with good physical skills when doing things on their favorite side. However in martial arts we practice things both sides and often from side to side at pretty fast repetitions. With younger kids we often see difficulty with the coordination from side to side.

When students punch with their right hand they are accessing the left side of the brain. When doing a left punch they access the right hemisphere of the brain. When first starting out it seems that there isn’t a clear path way for many students especially younger ones. Mr. Silva explains it like this. “If you and a neighbor had a large hedge between your properties it would be difficult to pass from one yard to the next. However if you and your neighbor would visit often, a clear path would soon form.” This same thing happens with kids train in martial arts. The drills, basics and exercises in martial arts form clear pathway of communication and the skills and coordination develop rather quickly.

We see kids improve on all areas including quick thinking and decision making. These alone with improvement in physical activities improve confidence as well as self esteem. Parents concerned about motor skills and coordination might want to consider martial arts for their kids. There are very few sports that build coordination inherently. Football and rugby have drills for building motor skills however martial arts has the drills built into all of it’s activities.

Graduation Awesomeness!!

Wow what an amazing and inspiring Graduation & Blackbelt Presentation. We had students from 4years upwards celebrating all their hard and work and success. 

The Diamond Live Lounge was a perfect setting for our graduation with all the students having their time to shine on the stage! 

A huge well done, thank you, you rock & awesome job to every member of the Endeavour Family who helped make the event special; students, parents, families, Blackbelts, instructors !!! 
  

Stand out from the crowd ! 

  It’s about going the extra mile to prove that you are one of a kind in skills, talent, or personality. Standing out from the crowd is about trying to live your best and be your best.
2. When talking, it is important to come across as self assured and knowledgeable, so be sure to have done your research and know your facts beforehand. This might be teaching concepts or sharing a mat chat.
3. Take chances and work hard. Risks and chances are the things in life that can catapult you forward if they work out. Many people won’t take up the challenge because they’re afraid of failure. Yet, without failure nothing new can be gained and it is only those who are willing to take risks and to work hard at their dreams who eventually break through and succeed. Have a well-placed sense of faith in your mission, and a willingness to take risks if you want to stand out from the crowd. Don’t be afraid to compete, be part of a demonstration, lead a class or speak to groups.
4. Say Thank You for all the little things people do, as well as the big things. Send thank you cards to people who have helped you. 
5. When you make someone a promise, do your very best to keep it. People who stand out from the crowd are people who keep their word and follow up their promises to help, to be somewhere, to do something for someone. The reason you’ll stand out is because so many people do not do what they say they will. Reliability makes you memorable and causes you to stand well above all the forgotten promise-breakers.
6. Standing out from the crowd often means that you take action while everyone else stands back, wondering what to do next. If you learn to sum up situations quickly and to respond according to what needs to be done, you place yourself in a position of being different from the silent majority waiting to be shown what should happen next.
7. Check your posture. The person who stands out from the crowd will also stand tall, no matter your height. Slouching is a defensive strategy that does nothing to draw attention to you in a crowd, not to mention its harm for your overall body alignment.
8. The greatest honor you can do another person is to show you’ve really heard them, and to show that what they’ve said matters. Since most people are too busy wondering what to say next, and how to explain their own thoughts, feelings, and ideas, a listener will stand out from the rest. Be willing to give people the space to talk about themselves and show that you clearly respect their thoughts. Not only will this flatter them and reassure them that they matter, but they’ll realize very quickly that you’re someone to treasure and they’ll follow your lead.
9. Remind people how great they are. Regularly single out people in your life, from the workplace to home, to remind them how great they are. So few of us take the time to acknowledge the people in our lives whom we take for granted that when someone does validate us in this way, it comes as a totally sweet surprise and is so out of the ordinary that it gets remembered. It’s also a very genuine way of establishing rapport with people, and maintaining goodwill.
10. Smile. There are never enough smiles to go around; be someone who provides at least five smiles for every one frown you spot.

Martial Arts … Mind & Body Workout 

Stress is part of everyone’s life, yet much can be reduced and controlled. Being aware of how your body responds to stress is number 1.
Do you notice any of these stress indicators?
1. Headache

2. Muscle spasms 

3. Tightening of the neck, shoulder and back muscles

4. Anxiety

5. Rapid heart beat

6. Frustration

7. Anger

8. Hostility

9. Eating too much

10. Drinking too much.
In the martial arts, practitioners are taught to control stress through proper breathing. A few times a day take 10. Ten deep controlled breaths. Breathe in and hold the breath for 5 seconds and slowly let it out saying 10 and counting down. Control you breath so the exhale takes a long of longer then taking the breath. Use the time to concentrate on the breathing, holding and counting so you are completely focused. Repeat for ten cycles of inhalation and exhalation, filling to maximum capacity and emptying completely with each breath.
Next take time to talk to someone and socialize daily. We find out selves working alone or spending time online. Be sure to have interactions with others.
Last get some exercise that is moderate in intensity and allows some stress reduction. Hitting and kicking pads is very therapeutic.
Martial Arts is a great exercise program that trains Mind and Body. It defiantly has stress reduction exercise, breathing and a great community of people dedicated to overall health and well being.

Grading Days Approaching

Grading week is nearly with us! It’s now time to push through those final obstacles and fine tune everything ready for the big day. 

Make sure you are booked in and know the time and date of your test. 

Any questions regarding your grading please speak to a member of the team today!!