Karate Kid of the month!

Jack is truly an outstanding student. Jack has been training with SwiftKick for three years and is currently a purple belt.  I’ve seen him grow tremendously as a martial artist and as a young man through his years in training. When Jack first started in classes with SwiftKick, he was timid, shy, and a bit unsure of himself. Now, I see a new Jack— confident, enthusiastic, and courageous!

What impresses me most is how he has transformed with his sparring. At first, Jack would shy away from punches and truly seemed intimidated by his bigger, older classmates. Through perseverance Jack worked hard EVERY WEEK to build his skills and confidence. Now he spars with his eyes forward, his punches flying, his feet moving, and smiling! I’m so proud of Jack and know that this skill will translate into every area of his life.

Besides martial arts, some of Jack’s favorite things to do are kart racing at K1, playing paintball and flag football, building things, playing the piano and anything that involves mathematics.  He will be moving to England soon. We’ll miss you Jack!

INTERVIEW:

We had the privilege to interview Jack’s mom, Michele.  Here is what was said:

Q:  Hold old was Jack when he first started training with SwiftKick?

A:  9 years old

Q:  What was the motivation behind starting? 

A:  Jack tends to be on the shy side.  He didn’t have much interest in group sports.  We wanted to try it out, thought it would be good for him to gain confidence and be challenged.  We also liked the discipline and tenants in martial arts like respect for self and others and also perseverance.

Q: Did you begin to notice any changes in Jack after training for a time?

A:  He was a little nervous at first but willing to give it a try. After a very short time he was hooked.  It was one of the very first things he always has wanted to come to.

Q:  What is Jack’s favorite things about SwiftKick?

A:  He really likes sparring—not my favorite, but he likes it.  He likes the opportunity for belt testing and moving forward as his progress is noted and visible.  He like that acknowledgment.

Q:  You are moving to England soon.  What is something you feel Jack will take with him that he’s learned?

A:  There’s so many things…Sometimes its like having a different child than 3 years ago. I mean, I know some of it is just him maturing, but there are some things that clearly has come from martial arts; so many little things we see at home that we know is from it.  Like doing things the first time when asked and having courtesy. We see him doing that.

One of the biggest things is his confidence.  He was so timid before and now his confidence translates to moving across the world and feeling good about it.  He feels good enough about himself, he’s really come out of his shell.  He has found so many positives to moving.  We are really surprised about his attitude and know it has a lot to do with martial arts.

Another one is perseverance—when something is hard you keep on keeping on.  The mind part of martial arts is big.  Also the tenants. Most sports don’t incorporate that into the teaching of it.

Q:  What will you miss the most about SwiftKick when you move?

A:  Brian has a way of recognizing and acknowledging each kid in every single class. The positive affirmation, energy, and confidence is so important.  And its based on something real—Brian recognizes what kids are doing in class.

Brian has a way of relating to the kids, speaks to them on their level while at the same time commanding respect.  We haven’t had family out here and Brian has been such an excellent role model for my son.  He talks a lot about commitment and perseverance and that has been really good for my son. We’ll really miss that!

Class is from 9:30 – 10:15 AM and only has a few regular students.

If you’re unable to make a class Monday-Thursday or need a make up day know that Saturday is an option!

Here are the classes available for our members:

We had a blast training our power kicks combined with boxing.  Amy Turner really broke through in class!  I was so impressed with the progress she’s made in her kicking!!

Stage 1 Pathfinder students did AWESOME in Carlsbad!  Kids had fun sparring the team leaders and working on their Crazy Monkey skills.  We even had two kids take on a team leader in some rounds. That was exciting!

One student really stood out this week:  Ivy Taylor.  She is only six years old but had AMAZING technique with her punching and CM defense.  She’s ONE TOUGH GIRL!

Wow! Looking forward to training next week!

Whether you are seeking to achieve high goals, life fitness, excel in a competitive sport, or desire a healthy balance in your life, harmony will make all the difference. Conflicting voices inside  your heart and mind can cause confusion, doubt, and uncertainty.  These voices are a silent killer to inspiration and power.  When your inner voices are properly aligned the doubt will be replaced with confident assurance and you will begin to experience tremendous empowerment.

Harmony begins by learning how to tune into what your heart is saying about who you are, your true desires and how you want to do things.  Rather than fighting with yourself and the circumstances and people around you, you will begin to recognize how to adjust yourself so that the very things that were once discouraging you actually give you more leverage.

In considering what harmony looks like we must understand what is meant by “alignment”.  Consider the alignment of a powerful strike in martial arts.  To deliver a powerful punch in martial arts it must be properly aligned.  A person may have the intention of hitting hard but if they have not developed proper technique the strike will be fairly ineffective or they may even end up hurting themselves. For instance, in delivering a “basic” jab or cross, you should slightly cock the wrist to the side so that the first two knuckles are aligned with the forearm, slightly rotate as the punch is thrown to align the elbow and shoulder with the larger muscles of the back, throw the force of the weight of the body properly by swiveling the legs and hips, and release the whole energy of the body from a powerful stance as the feet are pushed from the ground.  This action utilizes the full force and weight of the body in a snapping motion, snapping back a few inches past the target, not pushing through it in a way that will throw you off balance if you miss.

All of this may seem complicated if you are not trained in martial arts, but for those who have trained for a period of time this becomes thoughtless activity from repetition by developing and applying proper technique.

Just as we can learn how to align our body to deliver powerful strikes, we can also train ourselves to have more leverage and impact in our lives.  By developing routines such as concentrated times of focusing our mind upon the right things, connecting with and aligning with what our heart is saying, developing strong impulse control, and snapping back quickly from disappointment we will find ourselves positioned to succeed in whatever God places in our hearts to achieve.

Have you ever made a perpendicular swipe through an ant line, disrupting their trail? The result is a huge diversion as ants go every which way. Or if a clear trail has not yet been defined ants will meander this way and that at a much slower pace.

There is an ancient proverb that encourages us to “observe the way of the ant” in relation to our work ethic and the way we are living our life. One of the biggest lessons we can learn from observing the behavior of ants is the power of intention. Establishing our intentions is one of the most important aspects to producing results in our life. We need to have clear goals in site and ask ourselves the question: “Am I really committed to doing this?”

The difference between a great athlete and a mediocre performer usually has to do with intention. Take for instance the hurdles in track and field. An athlete that wins at this race is a person who has clearly set their intention to win. Their focus is on breaking the tape at the finish line. With this end in mind they have committed themselves to hours of training so they can effortlessly jump over the hurdles in the most efficient manner. Imagine a runner upon reaching a hurdle stopping to study it. As they stand there questions flood their mind: “Can I jump over this? What if my foot gets caught and fall flat on my face?”

Ridiculous, I know, but many of us live life just like this. We take off from a start line with gusto only to come to a skidding stop at an obstacle before us. Questions flood our mind, we doubt and second guess ourselves, we get discouraged or slowly walk back to the start line. Is the issue that we are just lame people? NO! We simply have not clearly established our intentions. And if our intentions are not clearly defined we can begin to create patterns of failure in our lives develop a poor self-esteem.

Another example, a little closer to home is breaking boards or blocks. If one does not clearly establish their intention to break the board they may not break it. They will try to break it, but may lack the force to actually do it. Something happens when we envision breaking the board, aim our power at a place past the actual surface of the board and strike in a decisive manner. Our form and power lines up with our intention for a powerful strike shattering the obstacle before us.

At SwiftKick we teach effective martial art techniques; we break boards and learn how to deliver powerful strikes, but more important we are learning how to become more powerful people. We are learning to be intentional in the way we train and the way we live our lives. We are learning how to walk through our fears and self-doubts. We are learning to have a powerful vision for our lives and restrain ourselves in accordance to it. We are learning to walk in the power of intention as we become powerful people.

Our chief aim at SwiftKick is to leverage martial arts as a vehicle to truly impact and transform lives! We strive to assist each member and student so they may truly experience every positive benefit associated with training in the martial arts.

Enjoy the holidays!!

A great tip in sparring is to control rim shot range without giving full disclosure to your true range.  Stated more simply, appear farther away than you really are to your opponent.  If you are closer than your opponent thinks you are, you will have an advantage in the fight.

To do this throw a jab with a slightly bent elbow.  Most people will expect that your elbow is fully extended and that you are measuring or commanding rimshot as the jab is often used for placement.  If you exhibit this behavior while sparring you may be able to surprise your opponent exactly at the moment you need.

You may also throw your opponent off by creating predictable patterns and then suddenly breaking from them. This can be variations in your speed, combos or movements.  By doing this you may be able to identify patterns in your sparring that you didn’t even realize are very predictable.  Experiment and try some new approaches in your sparring game.

Next time you are out on the mat experiment with this and see how it feels!