Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts

The summertime offers more free time and our kids are going to want to do things online more than ever.  So what are some guidelines that we can set and how do we keep them safe.  This article that just came out covers this material very well.  It is at the Common Sense Media website.

As for Balanced Life Skills we will be covering age appropriate reminders for students on internet safety in our Focus on Friendship summer workshops for kids.  In this part of the workshop we will be talking to each group about defining the term cyber-bullying, and helping them to see healthy ways to use the computer and safety rules for them to be aware are necessary.   Each age group will be treated appropriately.

Announcement: Balanced Life Skills introduces the first in a series of public websites that will address issues that our children, parents and teachers will be interested in following.  The first of this series is Bully Prevention Partners.  This public site will have information for all on it, but will also invite everyone to become a partner in changing the culture of our schools and communities.

Here is the link to Bully Prevention Partners.  Please take a look and let me know what we might be able to add to it to make it more useful for all.  Future sites will cover a number of subjects that we are looking for partners in educating and bringing awareness too.  We look forward to the coming weeks.

QPR Gatekeeper Training Flyer

QPR Gatekeeper Training Flyer

Ask a question, Save a life

Black Belt Test Candidates

Each of the Black Belt candidates wrote an essay about their journey.  The winning Best Essay will be read at the closing ceremony on April 22, 2012 at Camp Letts.  In the mean time I thought it would be nice for all to see some of the excerpts from all of them.  We are looking forward to all come out for the testing and seeing both the physical and mental skills of these students.  Here is the Essay compilation.

Student Workshop: Bully Prevention & Healthy Relationships

We are pleased to announce that this summer Balanced Life Skills will be conducting workshops for students on bully prevention with a focus on relationships and friendship.   Each workshop will be gender specific and age specific.

For Today’s Parents:

Creating a Culture of Peace in our Schools and Community

Information every parent should have on what is bullying and why we must not ignore it.  We will discuss the effects on every child, and why children do not tell their parents it is happening.  We will also discuss what to do if your child is the bully, bullied or is a follower.

Dates for this workshop are Monday May 7th or Wednesday May 16th at 6:30 PM

If you are interested please call us at 410-263-0050

Parent workshop will be FREE

For Today’s Girls & Young Women:

It’s not just girls being girls.  It has a name: Relational Aggression

This workshop will be age appropriate  and focus on relational aggression.   The lessons will equip girls with an understanding of the language of peer aggression, including the roles that are played out, and the steps needed to develop healthy, inclusive friendships.  Our goal is to raise awareness about the nature of and the impact of relational aggression on the lives of young women.   This is a great program for girl scout groups from Daisy to Senior & Ambassador.  Here are the dates and age groups for the girls program.

Monday – Wednesday July 9-11  10 AM to 1 PM     Kindergarten and First grade girls and boys combined

Monday – Wednesday July 16-18  10 AM to 1 PM     Second and Third Grade Girls

Monday – Wednesday July 30-August 1  10 AM to 1 PM     Fourth and Fifth Grade Girls

Monday – Wednesday August 13-15  10 AM to 1 PM        Middle School Girls

They will explore how aggression affect their lives, how social norms impact decisions, what is friendship, what makes an effective leader, and digital citizenship.  Each workshop will be $75

For Today’s Boys & Young Men:

Reduce Aggression, Increase Self Empowerment

This workshop will be age appropriate  and focus on relational aggression and bullying.   The lessons will identify the roles of bullying situations, assess the importance of the bystander, determine the positive qualities of friendship and leadership.    This is a great program for boy scout groups from Tiger Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  Here are the dates and age groups for the boys program.

Monday – Wednesday July 9-11  10 AM to 1 PM     Kindergarten and First grade girls and boys combined

Monday – Wednesday July 23-25  10 AM to 1 PM     Second and Third Grade Boys

Monday – Wednesday August 6 – August 8  10 AM to 1 PM     Fourth and Fifth Grade Boys

Monday – Wednesday August 20-22  10 AM to 1 PM        Middle School Boys

They will explore how bullying affect their lives, what does it mean to be a man, what is friendship, what makes an effective leader, and digital citizenship.  Each workshop will be $75

Contact us Today and reserve your spot for any of these workshops.

410-263-0050  or
Send Email

Two Evan’s both with a last name that starts with a W. and both of them 6 years old.  Oh yes and they take class together here at Balanced Life Skills.  One of them put together this service project of collecting cereal for children who do not have homes.  The box he decorated and supplied  was getting filled up and then on Saturday it got really filled.

The other Evan W.  had a birthday party and he asked his friends to bring a box of cereal to the party in lieu of gifts.  Now look at the results.  The box is flowing over and so many children will benefit.  Those children who brought in the cereal benefit too.  When they take the time think about what it would feel like not having a home or something to eat for breakfast, it makes them more aware and grateful for what they do have.

Thank  you to both Evan’s for a job well done.  A great project and a great collaboration of efforts.

Black Belt Test Candidates

A demanding full-day test of endurance. A difficult personal interview. A sincere four-page essay on what a Black Belt means to you. Momentous service projects finished after a year or more of preparation. A critical pre-test determining your ability to go forward. Intense hours of sparring, stances, footwork, technique, forms, and demonstrations finalized with wooden board breaks.

Could you do it?

Eight current red belt students are about to find out. It is possible that not all of them will be performing at the Black Belt Candidate Test and Demonstration on Sunday, April 22, 2012. Balanced Life Skills is inviting you to attend the demonstration and see what these martial artists are made of — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Black Belt Candidate Test and Demonstration will be held at YMCA Camp Letts dining hall located at 4009 Camp Letts Road, Edgewater, MD 21037. Please feel welcome to arrive as the Black Belt Candidates begin their final portion of their test at 11:30 am with Mr. Joe.

The exciting main event of the program will occur from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. During this timeframe, you will see impressive physical skills and demonstrations, as well as learn about each student’s project and character. You do NOT want to miss this!

Watch to see what six or more years of training at Balanced Life Skills can do for your child.

Experience the confidence. Witness the determination. Celebrate the achievement!

Here is a great photo of a student who is testing for his yellow belt making a great board break.  This part of the test is not about just the physical ability and technique – but more about breaking through the fear one person may have in anything that they may have ahead of them.  The next time Noah has a task he is not sure he can do, he knows that if he works hard, practices correctly he will be able to accomplish anything he puts his mind too.  Great Job Noah.

Corey Hopp in Yuxugong Temple

Corey Hopp is a full time student of kung fu.

Eight hours a day, six days a week, ten or eleven months of the year, he can be found punching, kicking, and jumping on the paving stones of Yuxugong temple in rural Wudang Mountain, Hubei Province, China. However, in January and February of 2012, Corey will be at Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts here in Annapolis, sharing some of his experiences with the local community.

Corey is a student of Master Yuan Xiu Gang of the Wudang Daoist Traditional Internal Kungfu Academy. Wudang Mountain has its own special style and tradition of martial arts, emphasizing softness and sensitivity, flexibility and balance. Students of Master Yuan’s school learn a variety of disciplines, including Tai Chi, that are intended to impart not only the ability to defend oneself, but also to protect and nourish one’s spirit and vitality.

Though he had been studying martial arts for a few years beforehand, Corey’s kung fu training truly began in January 2008. He had been teaching English at a small university near Nanjing for the fall semester. During his Chinese New Year holiday, he decided to follow his interest in martial arts and visit one of the ancient homes of Chinese kung fu. That first dark, cold January visit left its mark of snow, sweat, and muscle pain, and the determination to learn more about Wudang’s unique art.

Corey is now part of the traditional program at Master Yuan’s school. It is a rare and demanding opportunity for non-Chinese martial artists to be immersed in the same physical and mental training that has been handed down through many generations of kung fu practitioners.

Having grown up in southern Anne Arundel County, Corey returns here every year to spend the holidays with his friends and family and save money for another year of training. For six weeks in January and February, he will be offering seminars in the basic health practice called Qigong. Qigong combines breathing, stretching, and meditation to strengthen and relax mind and body.

I would like to invite all of our students and others in our community to meet Corey and practice with him for the short time he is here in Annapolis.  You can then follow his studies next year right here on our site.

Thank you to everyone that has contributed to the Balanced Life Skills Community this past year of 2012.  Our school has provided costumes, jump ropes, food for those in need here in our community and in other parts of the world.  Our students stepped up and did much to support USA troops stationed around the world.  Support for the teens in foster care this holiday season was the best ever.  With the support of our students we now have one of the most complete collection of books on the subject of bullying and relationships for students, parents and teachers.

Our Grants 4 Teachers fund has now given almost $30,000 to teachers in Anne Arundel County.  This year we started Bully Prevention Partners with the goal of creating a culture of peace in our schools and helping every child to feel safe in school and their community.  We have continued to support the Youth Suicide Awareness Task Force here in Anne Arundel County and this year with the help of one our students will be offering training right here in our school.

Upcoming this year will be a growing emphasis on Bully Prevention Partners and reaching out to the community.  In addition, we will be holding Safety Seminars for parents and young students to address how parents can talk to their children about safety including “good touch, bad touch”.  There will be guest instructors invited to the studio this year starting with Corey Hopp in January, Gerald Dawson in February and Keenan Cornelius in the spring.  I am planning on more nature hikes for students and in the spring (date to be announced very soon) BLS very first testing for black belt.  This will be an event you do not want to miss.

I am so proud of our students, young instructors and all of our families.  I promise to be here to continue to work on character building, physical growth in strength and skill, and teaching self defense in its most global meaning.  Working together we can have an impact on our community in a most meaningful way.