Getting up on the Right Side of the Bed

Life has its ups and downs. So, as much as we want to be happy everyday, it’s certain that we will have bad days. Sometimes bad days start off with bad mornings. So, it’s useful to think of ways for us to avoid letting a bad morning become an entire bad day.

First, if we wake up and feel grumpy, the best thing to do is to think about what’s bothering us. If it’s a little thing like a rainy day, then we can decide to do fun things inside. For instance, going to school to learn cool new things, reading a good book, and going to Seichou Karate are fun things to do inside.

If the thing that’s making you grumpy is something that you can’t fix on your own, then speak with your parents, brothers, sisters or teachers. Talking about problems often helps because other people might be able to suggest a solution that hasn’t occurred to you.

Second, once you have a plan to improve your day, then you should put a big smile on our face because you will outsmart sadness. Smiling will make you feel better. In fact, if you make funny faces in the mirror, you might even be able to make yourself laugh!

Third, when you greet your family members, teachers and classmates with a big smile, they might start smiling too because smiling is contagious! In this way, you can infect others with happiness, which is a very good thing to do. In fact, making others happy might even increase your own happiness.

Finally, although being sad is no fun, plenty of people spend their time being sad because it’s easier to be sad than to be happy. So, let’s get in the habit of choosing happiness over sadness by getting up on the right side of the bed and greeting each day with a big smile.

Children learn this happiness technique and other powerful life skills at Seichou Dojo. OSU!

What Do Martial Arts Do for Us?

Here’s a question. What do martial arts do for us?

Here’s the answer. Martial Arts make our bodies and minds stronger, and it makes our hearts kinder.

In Seichou Karate^® class, we practice exercises and karate techniques that make our muscles stronger and more flexible. This is good.

As we practice those exercises and techniques, our bodies become tired and tell us to rest. However, if we use our minds to overrule what our bodies tell us (“you should take a rest…”), then our minds become stronger than our bodies. This is very good.

As our muscles become stronger and we learn powerful fighting techniques, we often discover that we are stronger than others. In fact, using our superior strength and fighting ability, we might even be able to boss other people around. At this point we must ask ourselves a question that will determine our character. We will become bullies or will we use our special strength, knowledge and skill for good?

We must never use the special knowledge of Seichou Karate^® and other martial arts for violent or criminal purposes. Rather, Seichou Karate^® and other martial arts teach us to use it our special knowledge to uplift ourselves, our families and others in the spirit of good citizenship.

This is the most important thing that Seichou Karate^® and other martial arts do for us. OSU!

For Parents. Please use the following questions to shape a discussion with your child concerning the forgoing essay. Thank you for visiting our KarateKid.me blog.

a. What does “technique” mean?

b. What does “flexible” mean?

c. What does “overrule” mean?

d. What does “bully” mean?

e. What does “character” mean?

f. What does “citizenship” mean?

g. What does it mean to have a strong body?

h. What does it mean to have a strong mind?

i. What does it mean to have a kind heart?

2012 Goals

It’s that time of year again. Yes, we need to think hard about our goals for the New Year.

Are you wondering why it’s important to set goals for yourself? Well, consider that 11 months from now, you’ll go to karate class and your teacher will ask you what you accomplished this year. If you haven’t set a goal for yourself, you won’t be able to answer and you might even feel embarrassed!

It’s good to set goals in order to measure our progress in life. For example, by setting goals we can answer questions like: are we becoming more responsible and are we becoming better people.

If you set and achieve goals, you can feel great about yourself at the end of this year. If you don’t set goals for yourself, then you won’t know whether to pat yourself on the back or to try even harder in 2013.

So, at Seichou Karate® we recommend that all students sit down with their families or friends to identify concrete goals for 2012.

Come on, don’t procrastinate! Think of some exciting goals and do your best to accomplish them this year. OSU!

Just Sweat

What’s the secret to becoming good at karate?

The answer is simple: there’s no secret. If you want to become great at karate you just need to practice hard and often both at the dojo and at home.

When I was a little boy, I wanted to be like my teacher and the other black belts. Their basic form was beautiful, their kata was crisp, and their fighting was strong! However, my basic form, kata and fighting didn’t look like theirs and I became frustrated.

One day my mom suggested that I discuss this problem with my teacher. So, the next time I went to the dojo I asked my teacher to tell me the secret of how to be become a great karateka. “There’s not secret,” he replied. “Just come to the dojo and practice hard.”

But how would I know if I were practicing hard enough? “That’s easy,” he said. “If you sweat during class, then you’re practicing hard. If you don’t sweat, then you need to practice harder.”

I liked his answer because it meant that I, too, could become a great karateka. However, what if my teacher were wrong? I shared my concern with my mom and she said that sometimes we have to trust what our teachers say.

I liked mom’s answer and decided to follow my teacher’s suggestion. Every time I went to class, I made sure that I practiced hard enough to sweat. If my dogi (uniform) was dry at the end of class, I hadn’t worked hard enough. However, that rarely happened. I usually went home with a wet dogi and a big smile on my face.

Eventually, my basic form improved, my kata became crisp, and my fighting became stronger! So, my teacher was correct, and all it took was trust and hard work.

So, don’t waste your time searching for some “secret” to becoming great at karate. Just come to class often, practice at home and make sure that you always sweat. Just sweat! OSU!

Note the Challenge Words in blue italics:

1. Crisp – clear, precise, quick
2. Frustrated – upset, discouraged, annoyed
3. Concern – a reason to worry
4. Suggestion – an idea or proposal that we make to another person

Facing Our Responsibilities

There was once a boy who liked to have fun so much that he didn’t do the things that his parents or teacher asked.

Every morning, his mom asked him to make his bed. “I’ll do it when I get back from school,” he always replied as he ran off to play.

Every afternoon, his teacher reminded him to do his homework before leaving school. “I’ll do it after I get home,” he always replied as he ran off to play.

Every evening, his dad asked him to take out the garbage. “I’ll do it before I go to bed,” he always replied as he ran off to play.

The problem was that the boy didn’t want to make his bed after he got home from school. Nor did he want to do his homework because he was too sleepy. Nor did he want to take the garbage out because it was already dark and he was scared to go outside.

As a result of his disobedience, his mom, teacher and dad would become angry with him. So, soon playtime wasn’t so much fun because the adults were angry with him. What could he do?

He thought and thought and, one day the boy discovered the key to solving his problem. Instead of running away from his responsibilities, he would face them immediately. Instead of procrastinating, he would do what his parents and teacher asked right away.

Lo and behold, soon his mom, dad and teacher were very happy with him. His mom sent him off to school with a big kiss, his teacher sent him home with a big smile, and his dad put him to bed with a big hug.

Seichou Karate® students don’t run away from their responsibilities or problems. They face them. OSU!

Note the Challenge Words in blue italics:

1. disobedience - refusal or failure to obey

2. responsibilities - things that we must do; duties or obligations.

3. procrastinating - to postpone or delay needlessly

About Your Friends

There is a Spanish proverb that says "dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres." It means that if you tell me about your friends, I'll tell you about yourself.

It’s natural to want to have friends, but we shouldn’t try to be friends with everybody.

When I was a child I wanted everyone to like me, so I tried hard to make friends with all of the other children. If one child liked strawberry ice cream, I told him that I liked strawberry too. If another child liked basketball, I would say that I liked basketball too. This didn’t work out well because no matter how hard I tried there were kids who didn’t like me. There were even some who treated me unkindly.

For instance, one day when I was 9 years old I was playing soccer with other children at school. We were practicing throwing the ball in from the sideline. It was my turn to throw the ball in, but one of the other boys wanted to take my turn and he demanded that I give him the ball. When I refused, he punched me in the mouth. I dropped the ball and fell down. My mouth hurt a lot and I started to get a headache. Too dizzy to stand, I just stayed there for a while crying because I was embarrassed. Finally, I sat up and discovered that the boy who had punched me had run away. None of the other children came to help me.

After that day I thought a lot about what had happened. I didn’t understand why the boy had punched me because I hadn’t mistreated him. I was just taking my turn. Finally, after a long time, I realized that I was not the source of the problem. The boy who punched me had been completely wrong. I came to understand that although it is important to treat other courteously, there are two reasons why it is not possible or desirable to be friends with everybody.

First, no matter what we do, we will meet people who simply don’t like us. We should not pretend to be like others because when we pretend to like the things that others like, we lose ourselves. A true friend will like and respect us just the way we are.

Second, there are people in this world who are bad. We should be courteous to bad people, but we should not try to make friends with them because they do bad things and, in order to be friends with them, we too must also do bad things. So, in the end we will become bad.

The best policy is to make friends with people who don’t criticize us for our differences, instead they like and respect us for them. Most importantly, when choosing your friends you should remember the Spanish proverb… "dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres." OSU!

Set Goals for 2010!

2009 is coming to a close. So, it’s a good time to think about your goals for 2010.

Why don’t you sit down with mom or dad and think about your 2009 accomplishments and then decide what you desire for 2010?

In selecting goals, don’t make them too small or too large. Also, don’t choose more goals than you can manage. Rather, you should choose goals that are significant and challenging. That way, next December, you can look back on 2010 and learn an important lesson from the efforts that you made during the year.

By setting goals each year, your life will be very fruitful and rewarding.

OSU!