Faith Fighters Martial Arts Academy
Sensei Carl A. Matthews
(443) 286-9680
September 2012 Newsletter
To God Be The Glory
Sensei' s Meditations
One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes...and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility. — Eleanor Roosevelt
Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute. — Josh Billings
In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on. — Robert Frost
Never cut what you can untie. — Joseph Joubert
Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. — Og Mandino
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. — Confucius
All things are difficult before they are easy. — Thomas Fuller
Parental Responsibilities
Nobody ever said it was easy to raise children. They don’t come with guidelines or instructions, and they certainly don’t come with a pause button. What they do come with is a crucial set of physical and emotional needs that must be met. If parents fail to meet these specific needs, there can be wide-ranging and long-lasting negative effects. The following outline provides eight essential responsibilities parents must adhere to in order to foster their children’s physical and/or emotional well-being:
1. Provide a safe environment: Keep your children free from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Keep unsafe objects away or out of reach of your children. Get to know your children’s caregivers (get references or background checks). Correct any potential dangers around the house. Take safety precautions. Use smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, lock doors at night, always wear seatbelts, etc.
2. Provide their basic needs: Water Nutritious foods Shelter A bed with sheets, blankets, and a pillow Medical care as needed and medicine when ill Clothing that is appropriate for the weather conditions Space (a place where he or she can go to be alone)
3. Provide self-esteem needs: Accept your children’s uniqueness and respect their individuality. Encourage (don’t push) your children to participate in clubs, activities, or sports. Notice and acknowledge your children’s achievements and pro- social behavior. Encourage proper hygiene. Set realistic and age-appropriate expectations for your children. Use any misbehavior as a time to teach, not to criticize or ridicule.
4. Teach and display morals and values: Honesty Respect Responsibility Compassion Patience Forgiveness Generosity
5. Develop mutual respect: Use respectful language. Respect their feelings. Respect their opinions. Respect their privacy. Respect their individuality.
6. Provide effective and appropriate discipline: Structured Consistent Predictable Fair
7. Be involved in their education: Communicate regularly with your children’s teachers. Make sure your children are completing their homework each night. Assist your children with their homework, but don’t do it for them. Talk to your children each day about school. Ask open-ended questions about their day. Recognize and acknowledge your children’s academic achievements. 8. Get to know your children. Spend quality time together. Be approachable. Ask questions. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.
Now that you’ve seen the list of parental responsibilities, look at what are not parents’ responsibilities:
Supplying your children with the most expensive designer clothes or shoes. Picking up after your children and cleaning their rooms. Dropping everything you’re doing to give a child a ride somewhere. Providing your children with a telephone, television, computer, or game system. Bailing your child out of trouble every time he or she does something wrong. Maintaining an unlimited supply of treats, chips, sodas, or junk foods. Replacing toys or other items that your children have lost or misplaced.
Reprinted from www.ParentCoachPlan.com by Chris Theisen 2001.
Monthly Bible Verses
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
What the Belt Ranking System in the Martial Arts Means
The first belt ranking system was created by Jigoro Kano. He apparently lifted the idea from a ranking system used in swimming, and applied it to judo. In the beginning there were but two designations, white and black, and truth, they didn't even use belts. Students wore either white uniforms or black uniforms. Eventually judo got its act together and started using actual belts, creating a higher elite of judo black belt ranks, and the practice spread to Karate. The original concept behind belt rankings is found in the words kyu, which means 'boy,' and which was used to describe white belts, and dan, which means 'man,' and which was used to describe a shodan black belt. Possibly because of the zen personality of Japan, the kyu and dan ranking a system came to indicate a 'statement of maturity,' which was manifest as a calmness of mind in the practitioner. In the Karate belt order, possibly to better match the number of forms taught, and to make the teaching easier by separating the classes by rank, the brown belt rank was introduced. The Pinan forms could be taught up to Brown Belt, intermediate kata were taught to brown belts, and expert forms (black belt kata) were taught to Black Belts. As the size of classes increased, more ranks were needed. A white belt is a beginner, a green belt is intermediate, a brown belt is advanced, a black belt is expert, and a fourth degree black belt is a master. This expansion of ranks made teaching easier, and with viral expansion of karate across the globe, other martial arts started using ranks, and more belts came into vogue. The colors were originally based on white, green, brown and black, and further defined by tips on the ends of belts, or stripes running the length of the belts. Eventually, Ed Parker, of Chinese Kenpo fame, introduced the spectrum of color scheme, which was used to goal motivate and as a selling gimmick. Here is a breakdown of how the karate belt colors were arranged some forty years ago: white orange purple blue green brown (three degrees) black (eight degrees) The kenpo ranking system ultimately became the standard for ranking systems, and though there have been more changes, this standard is fairly well adhered to. Further changes include extra ranks for children (yellow belts), red belts for masters (though a red belt in some systems is sometimes used in place of or to augment brown belt ranking), different degrees of black belt, and so on. That belt ranking is important is obvious, but there is an abuse built into the system. Instead of goal motivation, some people become 'symbol collectors,' and a black belt is just a symbol, and thus the spiritual maturity aimed at in the original systems is put aside. And, in the interests of selling martial arts, some systems have too many belts, and have become too 'material heavy.' These problems aside, ranking systems do encourage students, they do make teaching easier and more efficient, and even if some people are only graded on technical skill, the matrix is in place for ranking students in a more spiritual realm, which would be described as increased depth of personality.
If It’s White, Don’t Bite!
If you’re watching your carbohydrate intake, there’s an easy way to guarantee a mix of “good” carbs. Go for colorful foods. “Bad” carbs are frequently white in color, like sugar, white flour, white bread, potatoes, etc. (Cauliflower is an exception; vanilla ice cream isn’t.)
“Good” carbs come from fruit, vegetables, and whole grains like sweet potatoes, broccoli, rye bread, brown rice, etc. So, if you’re eating out and aren’t sure if something is lower in carbs, choose a variety of colors for your plate. Bon appétit!
