May 13, 2013 · 9:40 pm

Violence and Conflict: Thinking of the children

Violence and Conflict

From our earliest days, humans have had to live a life of violence and conflict. Whether we were hunting for food, defending a tribe or village, or marching to war, violence and conflict were there. We are, as a species, adaptable and violent. And we always have been.

In our modern world, conflict comes in many different varieties. Sometimes we argue with words, or through digital devices we send hateful messages that we would be frightened to speak aloud in the presence of the person we wish to chastise. Violence and conflict are found in the person yelling at and demeaning their spouse, in the cyber bully who taunts a child ever closer to suicide, and the drunken Uncle who starts smacking his nephew
Continue reading →

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May 5, 2013 · 9:07 pm

Reality Check: Kids and the Future

I work with kids, almost exclusively. As a T.E.A.M. Member for KICKSTART KIDS, I work in a public middle school, and the vast majority of my students are in the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, with the rest of my students being former middle school students who are committed enough to continue training with me after moving on to high school.

In KICKSTART KIDS, we teach and train traditional martial arts, but a powerful impact is made by our class in the way that we teach kids about being resilient, about conflict resolution, about winning with humility and losing with good sportsmanship. We throw ideas of entitlement out the window by making each student earn their rank, and we teach them how to face failure with a resolve to go back, work harder, and then try harder the next time that opportunity presents itself. 

Martial arts classes are like this, but from my perspective Continue reading →

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May 3, 2013 · 1:08 pm

Martial Arts Leadership

Leadership within the context of a martial arts school or style is not often examined properly. As often as not, the leaders or founders of a school, style or system feel themselves to be the authority on the subject, and they wish to have all power within the group, they feel that all decisions are theirs alone, and they tend to get their feathers ruffled when someone disagrees with them on most topics, but especially so when it comes to topics directly related to whatever it is that they are in charge of.

Take a moment and contrast this with effective leadership from any other Continue reading →

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April 21, 2013 · 8:19 pm

Kris Wilder

There is still time and space available for the Kris Wilder Seminar! Save some money if you register before Friday! Don’t miss it!

Kris Wilder 2013 Seminar Texas

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April 17, 2013 · 12:29 pm

A Review of a Kris Wilder Seminar

http://samuraigirlsahara.blogspot.com/2013/04/wilder-seminar-review-ii.html

The above link will take you to a blog article reviewing a seminar with Kris Wilder. If you are thinking about joining us when he comes to Texas, the above article give some really good insight. Enjoy!

If you want to sign up, please click here.

KWilder

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Video

Taking MMA to Strange New Levels

Here is the link. I see nothing sportive about this, but I do see a fatality in their future if this is pursued.

I really hope this idea goes nowhere. I am sure at some point the developers were sitting around throwing ideas around an one said, “UFC!” and at the same moment another said, “American Gladiators!”, and this was the offspring…

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April 16, 2013 · 7:02 am
March 13, 2013 · 8:45 pm

Self-Defense for Children: What to Teach and How much is too much?

There have been a series of emails coming in that have been asking questions along the same line of thinking. The main points being:

  • What should be included in a children’s self-defense class?
  • Where is the line regarding how much information the child needs to hear in a class, without crossing the line?

In other words; if the dangers a child faces are in many ways different from those an adult will face, what do we need to cover in a self-defense class for children, and how much is too much when we are telling the kids about the dangers they face?

I will start with the first: what should be covered.

In truth, the self-defense for a child needs to include Continue reading →

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