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Patience and focus.
Not usually words I would use to describe Chase on a daily basis.
Chase suffers from lack of patience that being a tad bit "hyper"
brings about... geeee, I wonder where he gets that from? But
Chase's ability to focus, be patient, practice and listen shown
through brightly throughout the month's of February and March.
He was signed off on all material required for Orange
belt in early February, but he wasn't allowed to board test until
mid March. Master Sanchez, Sensei Mike, and most importantly,
his father Sensei Butch, had to feel he was truly ready. He
tested on ALL his material every week, over and over again, to
have a chance to board test, never once showing any displeasure or
losing his patience.
He practiced non stop before class, after class, and at
home to prepare himself for our scrutiny. When he was finally
allowed to test, more than a month after he was signed off on
everything, he was more than prepared. He flew through the
material with flying colors, and made the board, and his father,
proud.
Choosing student of the month isn't easy... we always
meet to discuss who we feel truly earned it, and this month Chase
won our vote. Good job Chase! Try to stay as focused and
attentive as you were during your "Run for the Orange".
To access our "Student of
the Month Archives", click below:
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
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Get Ready! Our "First Annual Inner School
Tournament" is a few short weeks away! The tournament is to be held on
Saturday May 8th, 2004 from 10:00am – 3:00pm. You may
compete in Sparring (Kumite), Kata, OR BOTH! All entries and
entry fees must be in no later than Saturday, April 24th, 2004. All
participants will receive a competition award, and trophies will be
awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
for each division. The "divisional competition times" will be
posted on Monday, April 13th, lessening the wait time for
participants.
The fees are to help with the cost of trophies, plaques
and certificates. The fees are as listed below:
Kata or Weapons Division $12.00
Sparring Division $12.00
* Both Divisions $20.00 *
More details will
be available throughout the month. This will be a fun
event, and also will give each student a chance to put their newly
acquired Martial Arts skills to the test. Everyone will go
home a winner, besides the "competition award" they will receive,
each participant will also learn the values of sportsmanship, fair
play, respect and how to handle defeat. We hope to see you
there!
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One of our "AFC" (American
Freestyle Cardio) students handed my an article on jumping rope that
I thought explained the benefits perfectly. Having trained
with a boxing coach, I quickly realized the importance of jumping
rope in a workout routine. We regularly include jump rope
routines in our cardio classes, and many of our students rave about
the benefits they see and feel. Read the article below, and
remember, you can attend one cardio class for FREE to experience the
workout first hand.
"Better Fitness" By
Michael Shae
"According to research, a 10-minute program of jumping rope can be
as effective as 30 minutes of jogging for improving your
cardiovascular health," says Buddy Lee, a former U.S. Olympic
wrestler and author of "Jump Rope Training". "Combined with a
good diet, it ranks as one of the most effective methods of burning
calories in a short time period." Countless athletes and
trainers, including Lee and myself, champion the jump rope as a
building block of fitness and improved sports performance.
Basketball, tennis, football, skiing, soccer and volleyball
are some of the sports that include it as a part of training.
Aside from burning calories and raising the heart rate, jumping is
an overall workout that increases muscle strength, timing,
coordination and balance. For women, it's a great cross
training exercise that helps strengthen the bones of the lower body.
This schoolyard pastime tones not only your legs but also your back,
glutes, shoulders, abs, chest and arms. lastly, by following
proper form, jumping rope can be a low impact alternative to jogging
or running.
Wow. Not bad.
All that from a ten minute jump rope routine. Oh... I forgot
to mention that we do include a jump rope routine for around
ten minutes in almost every cardio class... BUT we also include many
other routines such as Karate, Kick boxing, Boxing Drills, Pulates
and much, much more to give you a full 60 MINUTE workout.
American Freestyle Cardio, truly the ULTIMATE workout.
CLICK HERE for further information on
our Cardio Class
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"The apple doesn't fall far
from the tree". An old adage that seems fitting when
describing the Pulaski's.
Pictured are Cas and his three sons, Kyle, Dan and
Ryan. The four of them signed up under our family plan, and
after being fortunate enough spending a few month's training them, I
quickly realized how much that statement means. First off
Kyle, a member of our "Lil Dragon's" class (ages 5 - 8) has
unusually well developed attention and focus, not to mention
behavior, for one of such a young age. His older brothers Dan
and Ryan also stand out in their class (Karate ages 9 - 12)
for those exact same principles. Ryan was even selected as our
"Student of the Month" back in December of 2003.
Which leaves us with Cas, their father. Cas is a
member of our Adult Karate program, and he also manages to attend
our Cardio classes regularly. All you need to do is have a
small conversation with Cas to see where his boys inherited their
good traits. He is always positive, quick to offer a hand and
rarely seen without a smile. He seems like the type of person
who would do anything in their power to help you out if the need
arose.
Cas is Sensei Mike Bress's brother in law, and we thank
Mike for bringing such a loving family to our dojo. We hope to
watch their whole family rise the ranks in both martial arts and
friendship throughout the years to come. |
"Kumite", or sparring could be defined as
simply being able to practice your Karate in a controlled, injury
preventive
environment. But more importantly it's FUN. The sparring
class has been moved to Friday Nights, from 6PM to 7PM and it is
open to ALL age groups. A typical sparring class involves a
quick warm up where the instructor will not only work you out, but
while doing so will give you valuable techniques to use in your
sparring. This is usually followed by partnering off with
another student and actually practicing the moves you just learned.
After this, you will do some 50/50 sparring where you
again focus on practicing the techniques you just learned with control
(this is simply regular sparring, just taken down a notch). Then the second half of class pertains
to actual point sparring itself. This is where you will face
different opponents, mostly at your belt ranking level, and actually
be able to go at full speed.
Sparring class is one of the most fun classes we offer,
but to make it even better you are welcome to stay at the dojo after
sparring and practice or test on anything you wish. It is
"open Floor" from 7PM to 9PM. An instructor is always on hand
to help you with your new material, or to test you on your current
requirements. Take advantage of "open floor", it's almost like
private lessons.
One last important issue, sparring is REQUIRED for rank
in our system. You will have to spar at each board test, which
means making it to some sparring classes is very critical to your
ability to pass the board test.
We hope to see you there!
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The Dojo will be open all normal hours over the Easter holiday.
Including the Saturday before Easter. So... if you want to be
able to eat all the chocolate the Easter Bunny brings, make sure you
don't miss your workouts!!!
Happy Holidays from everyone at UWMA
 
Sorry! Due to Vacations over Easter, there will be no
BOARD TESTING on Friday, April 9th AND on Friday, April 16th.
Sensei Butch will be away on a family vacation, and many of our
students will also be away. Board testing will resume as
normal on Friday, April 23rd.
Thank You!
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