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Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful

I want to share with you a clip from a documentary being done about this wonderfully strong, gentle, beautiful woman who has practiced judo her entire life.  The film maker needs some support to complete the film.  I personally believe this is a film that must be completed. I hope you are able to help.  Please in addition to anything that you can contribute, join with me in writing to Oprah to see if she will help get this film completed.  This is a moving story of dedication, perseverance and love for the art.

This film was brought to my attention by my instructor Mr. Tom Callos.  This is what he wrote:

1000 Letters to Oprah about Judo 9th Dan Black Belt, Kieko Fukuda. Will you Help?

Would you be so kind as to help us write 1000 letters to Ms. Oprah Winfrey –urging her to seek out 96 year old Keiko Fukuda. There is a documentary in the works about Sensei Fukuda’s extraordinary life-story, Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful. Here is a clip:

 

I have not watched the film once, without being moved to tears.

The filmmaker is Ms. Yuriko Romer of www.flyingcarp.net.

Here is the information you will need to participate:

Send a letter to her at the Oprah Winfrey show:

 

To Ms. Oprah Winfrey

C/O: The Oprah Winfrey Show

110 North Carpenter Street,

Chicago, Illinois 60607

Dear Ms. Winfrey,

Sensei Keiko Fukuda is now a 9th degree black belt in judo, at age 96, and the first women to ever be awarded that title. She was a student of judo’s founder, Jigoro Kano –and still teaches classes three times a week. A filmmaker, Ms. Yuriko Romer, is making a documentary film about Sensei Fukuda, “Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful,” which may be seen both on youtube and at www.flyingcarp.net.

Remarkably, Ms. Romer first heard about Sensei from your magazine. As time is of the essence, I urge you to seek out Ms. Romer and Sensei Fukuda, as Sensei’s story is compelling and wonderful. She is, quite literally, “living history.”

Thank you for taking the time to consider this request.

Love and respect,

Tom Callos

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Of course, you may alter the letter any way you see fit. I’ve already sent an e-mail to Oprah’s show –and several people are mining their connections to people they know –who may be able to get through.

Please show and share one or both of the film clips (Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful) to your friends and students, and let’s send 1000 letters to Oprah as a show of respect for this icon of martial arts self-discipline and history.

THANK YOU.

Tom Callos

If you would like to contribute to this project here is the link.

http://documentaries.org/cid-films/be-strong/

I personally have contributed to this project and sent a letter to Oprah.  This is living history. She is a living Hero!

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Charity: acting on our desire to help others

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it takes a natural disaster to move people to open their hearts to give to others.  We saw this great outpouring in the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans, the Tsunami that struck in Indonesia, a fire that strikes a neighbors home, a disease that hurts a child.  But when we take the time to be aware of the needs of others, even when there is not a tragedy involved, and give of our things, talents or time, we not only make the world a better place, but we also are helping ourselves.

Philanthropy is about making the  world a better place.  I have noticed that when I speak to children about this idea of giving to others without expecting anything in return that they are a bit quiet at first.  It is like they are absorbing it and trying to grasp the concept.  Then they many times want to act on it.  Just this week I have heard of our students setting up a lemonade stand to raise money for a cause.  Others have been talking about things that they could create – and give all the money to a cause. 

As parents the example we set in giving, using our talents and time to the advantage of others, will have a long term impact on our children.  What can you do to make a difference with an individual, in your community, or in the world?  Every good act – Every act of kindness is charity.


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Charity: definition

Each month we define and discuss a word of character development with all of our students.  This month the word is Charity.  It will be defined this way.

Young students:  Charity means: “I give to people, places or things in need!”

Older students:  Charity means:  Giving to those in need without expecting anything in return.

If you would like to see how we will deal with this subject with our students please follow our discussions here during the month of August.



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Student demonstrates spirit of Charity

We have been discussing the word charity at our school.  One of our students demonstrated a great spirit of giving without expecting anything in return this year with his own personal birthday party.  Joey is now 9 years old and in lieu of accepting gifts at his party, he made the following request.

He asked his friends to bring a food donation to his party.  Then this week he delivered the food to the Lighthouse Shelter personally.

His dad said, “We have found this practice to be helpful in delivering the message that there are many people in need of our help and we should also be thankful for the lives that we do have.”

Thank you Joey for putting into action the lessons you have learned about charity.  Great job!


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Charity: giving of our treasures

This month the word we are discussing is Charity.  This was always one of the main reasons I started this school.  The idea was that to build the very best students we could build they must learn and practice a wide variety of life skills.  One of them is the ability to give to others without expecting anything in return.

This is of course difficult at first for children as they have no income and I do not believe that just going in and getting canned food off of mom and dad’s pantry shelf and carrying it to school is exactly teaching them about service to others.  

So as we discuss charity it is giving of service or goods to those in need.  Those who need are ones who don’t have what they need to survive and be comfortable.   Our children will have a difficult time grasping that, but we can share with them the cost of food and how so many in our world today – in fact a large majority – live on less than $2 per day.  If you can show them how little that buys, they may begin to understand.  

The real question for me and others has been, what can our children do that is theirs and still be learning about giving.  One of the ways is by sharing some of our own treasures with others.  So when they outgrow their favorite shirt, or get new shoes, they can learn to share the old ones with others.  Or it may be a toy that they do not play with anymore.  Could they share it with a another child, perhaps one that is without toys.  

In addition to that lesson, if our child receives an allowance we could encourage them to put a part of their “treasure” towards giving to a charity or a cause that is important to them.  Doing these things at an early age helps to instill the concept of sharing our treasures with those who are in need.  

I have several students in our school who in lieu of birthday presents they accept donations of toys or books to be given to various community groups that help the homeless or are in some way disadvantaged.  When our child is able to do this, the act is not just about them anymore.  They are now acting as leaders in their community, setting the example for other children in giving to charity.