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Holiday Greetings and a New Year is Coming

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.

 

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Martial arts helps us be the change you want to see!

As we get into the New Year we wonder what will it be like?  What awaits us in the year ahead?  Will there be problems or will it be full of blessings?  Ghandi in a very famous quote said, ” Be the change that you want to see in the world.”  Many times we are what we see.

There is a story that goes something like this.  One traveler getting close to a city stopped and asked an old man by the road what the people were like in the city ahead.  He was asked what were they like in the city you just came from?, and he was told they were untrustworthy.  The old man said, “You will find them to be the same in the city ahead.”

A second traveler came by the same old man and asked the same question.  Yet he found the people in the previous city to be warm and generous, and the old man said, “You will find them to be the same in the city ahead.”

The way we see others, the way we live our lives is what we will see in others.  If I am a critical person, I will most likely see others as being critical.  If I am a trusting person, I am more likely to view others as trustworthy.  If you change yourself and become the person you desire to be, you will begin to view others in a whole new light and that will change how you interact in all of your relationships.

Practicing the martial arts opened me to better ways of looking at myself and others, being kinder and accepting of where we are at this very moment and growing from there.  It does this by leading us in  incremental improvements that lead to quite impressive results.  But you must experience it to understand it.

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A look to the New Year

As we approach the new year it is a time to reflect on what our lives will be in this year coming.  I am in that process myself now, with a number of changes that have taken place in my life and business.  While I continue to think about this I do know that there are a couple of areas that I would like to give my attention. Continue reading “A look to the New Year”