American International Karate Institute
March 2014
UKC
News
Kids Contest Winner
Congratulations to
Ryan
Bradford who won the
February Kids Contest and a
Dojo T-shirt. Ryan's answer
to the question “why is
Karate valuable to you?” was
“If I do Karate I will keep
getting better and better”.
That sounds good to me. Kids
can check out this month’s
contest on page 2, enter to
win the drawing for a T-shirt.
Sensei at Career Day
Sensei Mason was invited to
present martial arts at
Tropical Elementary Career
Day in February. Some of the
kids recognized him from
previous presentations.
Channel 10 Contest
Vote for our karate school.
Go to the Dojo page on
facebook and click the link at
Local Top 10 vote now:
w w w . f a c eb o o k .c o m /
AmericanInternationalKarateInstitute
A Quote From a Master
Celebrating 34 Years in Plantation
Volume 35, Issue 3
Dealing with Feelings
The Role of Emotions in the Martial Arts and in Life
How do you feel? I remember one of my professors at college was fond of giving himself a mood
test every morning to discover how he felt. He would rate himself on a series of adjectives and
score the test so that he could accurately judge his mood. As Martial Artists we need to know
how we feel much more quickly and efficiently than this. Why is it so important for us to be “in
touch” with our feelings? Well, for one thing, if your emotions are screaming scared and you can
run away, that is probably the best thing for you to do. It is no good when you are sparring to try
to convince yourself to attack when your feelings are pushing your body into retreat. So, now
you’re “in touch” with your feelings, what can you do if you need to advance despite having fearful emotions that are inhibiting your actions. First you must exhale very strongly and repeatedly,
allowing the breath to return naturally after each exhalation. This will have the effect of stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system and consequently slowing the heart rate and lowering
the blood pressure, allowing you to feel more calm. Conversely, if you are all fired up about
something, but realize that rushing in will likely hurt your chances of success, use the same
breathing technique to calm yourself and allow the engagement to be appropriately timed, and
with a suitable level of intensity. You must be “in touch” with your feelings, but your emotions
must not be permitted to override your consciousness.
The major emotions that we must learn to control
are Apathy, Grief, Fear, Lust, Anger and Pride.
The other words we use to describe emotions can
be seen as subcategories of these states. Sometimes
we just want to win so badly, or have such a need
to achieve a particular goal, that the “lust” for success overwhelms our abilities. Apathy and grief
arise naturally when we suffer a major setback in
our lives, or perhaps at the death of a pet or the
passing of a loved one. While it is important to
acknowledge how we feel we can use our breathing to rebalance these emotions and recover ourselves. Whether in a sparring match or on “the
battlefield of life”, the sooner we can regain our
composure, without denying our feelings, the
quicker we will be able to go on with what needs
to be done to cope with our situation and move on
to new successes.
Keeping your
emotions
balanced while
being scored
on can be a
challenge
“Thinking about getting in
better shape? Start today.
(L-R) Sensei Meyer, Juan,
Take action today. Nothing
Sensei Alvarez
will happen until you change
your habits and make it Higher levels of feeling, like inspiration, joy, love and bliss are states to which we can constantly
happen”. Sensei Dave Kovar aspire. Generally these only occur when we also feel a degree of safety and security and can turn
our awareness to focus on the inhalation of our breath as well as the exhalation. Inspiration is
“Always do your best.
another word for the process of breathing in. Martial arts helps to balance the emotions. Try it.
© Shihan Robert H. Mason 2014
What you plant now,
you will harvest later”.
7107 W. Broward Blvd. Plantation, FL 33317
Og Mandino
(954) 587-5008
University Karate Center
www.mudokai.com
March Kids Contest
Super Kids Word Scrambler
Karate Words
Scramble
1
taka
2
esiesn
3
ojdo
4
iasze
5
paiesm
6
sytcruoe
7
nrsoc lfeolt
8
pdeymtnh a
9
nes fefdsele
10
fsuoc
Your Name here:
Answer
UKC
News
Refer a New Student
Several of our dojo family have
referred new students recently
and will be given a referral
bonus. We appreciate your
communication to the
community that we are in.
Martial arts is a great way to get
fit for all ages.
Repair or Replace?
According to the EPA, “nearly
40 percent of energy consumed
Simple Rules of Self-Defense
If you are attacked fight back immediately and with ferocity. Do not go quietly with an abductor. Yell “Hands off” and “Fire” to get attention. If you see a suspicious person approaching
you, thrust out your hand and yell “STOP,
BACK OFF”. They can speak to you from
that distance, but if they ask for the time,
or some other question that could distract
you, do not be distracted, stay focused on
them and just say “I cannot answer that,
please leave”. If they continue to approach
you then you are being attacked and should
run if possible, yell and defend yourself if
necessary. Do not wait for them to strike
Learn how to use you first. You are already under attack. If
the right technique they are close enough and you cannot run
to the right target you must strike and yell with all of the feat the right time.
in America is used to generate
electricity”. As a result, the rociousness of an attack dog. Even a large Pit
repair vs. replace decision is Bull only weighs about seventy pounds and they
cannot develop the dexterity of that human belargely influenced by whether ings can. We just have to tap into the feral inthe product in question draws stincts that our ancestors possessed in order to
bring our natural strength to bear on the situaelectricity. The American tion. Through regular training you can increase
standard for product energy- your fighting skills, but you must also move
through your everyday life with confidence,
efficiency is ENERGY STAR,
awareness, perception and observation skills, in
which rates products including the knowledge that you are fully competent to
appliances and electronics based take care of yourself.
on their annual energy and
water use. The ENERGY STAR
website allows you to look up
products and their annual
energy/water usage, so you can
see just how much a new model
When we see video footage of a teenage girl being abducted by her murderer, as happened in A shoe can be an effective weapon. Notice that
Tampa a few years ago, without a fight or a she has secured the hand reaching for her purse
and her left hand is in a position to strike.
shout, it is surely warning enough that compliance with an attackers’ request has no place in self-defense. If you’ve ever seen a mother trying to cope with a three-year-old having a tantrum you can get a sense of the resistance that an
older child with training could bring to bear against an attacker, particularly if they are
trained.
will conserve.
“The here and now is all we
have, and if we play it
right, it is all we’ll need”.
Ann Richards
Advanced students can
effectively use advanced
skills for self defense
In addition to practical self-defense we also need to teach children to
function independently on their own behalf. As part of our Junior
Program we require the children to learn to conform to the Dojo
protocols. Getting their class card themselves, removing their own
shoes and changing clothes if necessary; putting their shoes on again
prior to meeting their parent at the front door after class, all forms
an important part of this training. The sense of being able to take
care of themselves in this way can generalize to the sense of competence, self reliance and confidence essential for successful self defense. As parents we undermine that process when we interfere
with it. “Martial arts training instills confidence based in competence”.
© Shihan Robert H. Mason 2014
March 2014
University Karate Center on the Web: www.mudokai.com
7107 W. Broward Blvd. Plantation, FL 33317
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
(954) 587-5008
Fri
Sat
1
Kata, empty hand forms, is a way to learn how to defend by visualizing imaginary attackers.
The first step is to learn all the moves, and then practice regularly so that the moves are second nature,
and you can perform them in a smooth manner reflexively, without pausing or thinking. Kata is both
martial, and art. When kata is performed well, it is like a dance with defensive applications.
2
3
Grading
11:00 am
All Belts
Adult Grading
7:45pm
9
Daylight Savings
10
11
12
Junior Black
Belt Club
6:00 pm
Happy Birthday
Sensei Martinez
Happy Birthday
Sensei Gallagher
17
18
19
20
21
22
25
26
27
28
29
Happy Birthday
Sensei E. Stamp
Sensei B. Houser
16
4
5
6
7
8
Spring Forward
Set clocks
forward one hour
at midnight
13
14
15
Ash Wednesday
Happy Birthday
Sensei Powell
Happy Birthday
Sensei E. Snyder
St. Patrick’s Day
23
24
Happy Birthday
Sensei K. Smith
30
Happy Birthday
Sensei A. Major
31
Special Dojo Anniversary Beginner Course
$19.95 includes four classes and official uniform.
Kids age 3 and up, Teenagers, and Adults
A great time to refer your friends to our Dojo.