In a long distance race, everyone gets tired. The winner is the runner who figures out where to put the tired, figures out how to store it away until after the race is over. Sure, he’s tired. Everyone is. That’s not the point. The point is to run.
— Seth Godin
We all have our own races. Today we tested students for some advanced belts and each of them had to learn how to put the “tired” away for later. How we run the race and our determination to finish strong can be learned and practiced. Our students are learning and practicing.
The following dates are important for the Month of June.
June 2 All students may begin wearing BLS T-shirts to class. I would ask all students to please wear them inside their uniform pants with their belts.
June 6 & 7 Jackson & Ella Art Show Please bring your childs art to the show and then attend on Friday or Saturday. Entrance Fee is $10 per family and $5 per piece of art. All proceeds will go to the Severna Park Assistance Network. There will be no Open Mat on June 6.
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure to watch three of our intermediate students test into their new belts. This was a very good moment for our school because these three students showed us that the standards we set for these students could be met and even surpassed! If you ask any three of them, I am sure none of them will tell you that they got where they are now with only minimal work or purely by themselves. Each of these students worked very hard to get where they are at now and it showed. We (as instructors) are very careful not to call it a test because no single day effort can determine whether or not someone earns a belt. Every day you must continue to earn the belt you wear across your waist.
Each student had strengths and weaknesses in certain areas that the others did not but together they all pulled through and had one amazing show. More importantly they did everything we asked of them, without hesitation or questioning. This amount of trust from these students, and more importantly from their families, was the single most important contributing factor for their positive growth. If their families and themselves did not believe that they could get where we wanted them to be, none of this would be possible.
I’ve been told I seldom give out complements, but for that day, I was smiling even before the test had begun for I had already known that these three students already had earned their new belt. We are proud of all our students but we are very proud of these three young ladies for believing in us, their fellow students and themselves.
Mr. Doug
