"Super" Shannon!  That's what we nicknamed her YEARS ago.  You read that correctly, Shannon has already trained with us for over 5 years, beginning her training at around 3 years old.
     She earned the nickname "Super" from her instructors,  not just for her karate talents (which are plentiful!) but also for her "Super" personality.  She seems to always be "up and eager" for class, a fast learner, and a great listener... all great things in an adult, but rare and unique in one as young as Shannon.
     Great job on the Blue Belt Shannon!  We know you will achieve that awesome rank of black belt one day soon, but we also know that your in no hurry because you really enjoy the training, and it shows in your martial arts and in the friends you made. 
 To access our "Student of the Month Archives", click below:              

        STUDENT OF THE MONTH

   
    

     The Burgerfest is already upon us!  Saturday, July 17th we will once again "wow" the crowd...  but this years demo will involve ALL the students, not just the Black Belt Club.
         The Demo should be going on around 1PM with everyone meeting at the Dojo at around 12:30.  Hope to see you there!

How to Improve Hand Eye Coordination –
Learn Key Exercises for Developing Hand Eye Coordination and Improve Your Athletic Performance
By Robert Rousseau

Most of the articles you'll find regarding improving hand eye coordination on the internet have everything to do with young children simply because this skills is learned early on. In other words, it's not easy to change once you get older.

Not easy and impossible are two distinctly different things, however.

Along with this, here are some drills for athletic adults and youngsters to consider when they desire to improve hand eye coordination for the sake of sports performance.

Connect Four: Connect Four is a game of visual planning and organization. The hand part of hand eye coordination won't get much of a workout. However, the eye part will and that can't hurt.

Focus near and far: Quickly practice focusing on a near and then far object. Go back and forth, back and forth.

Goalie: Have someone try to throw a soft ball (like a nerf ball) by you into a real or makeshift goal. The only catch? You have to stop the ball with your hands. Depending on your performance, have the thrower move closer or further away.

Have a catch with a catch: Get a large wiffle ball, softball, or really any ball that's light colored. Then write a bunch of letters on the ball with a black marker. Next, find someone to have a catch with. As each of you is about to catch the ball, call out the last letter you see.

Have a catch with yourself: One thing you can do to improve hand eye coordination is throw a baseball up in the air repeatedly and catch it. The same goes for any ball, including a football.

Raquet sports: Ever play ping pong? Well, if you have then you know how much that sport can improve your hand eye coordination. Have to assume that raquetball is of the same ilk. Tennis too. In other words, anytime you have to react to another person's movement and a ball with your own hand, you're going to improve hand eye coordination.

Speed bag drills: Boxers have outstanding hand eye coordination simply because if they didn't they'd be unconscious a whole heckuva lot of the time. One thing they do to keep sharp is use the speed bag. You can too.

Video games: Chris Spielman, an outstanding former linebacker for the Detroit Lions, once indicated that he sometimes would work on hand eye coordination via video games. How often this occurred is unclear. What we do know is that visual perception and motor skills can be improved through the use of video games.

Wall ball: Stand in front of a flat wall with a basketball. Then begin to throw it against the wall and catch it. After you've warmed up sufficiently, begin to throw it against the wall with only one hand. Every time it bounces off the wall push it back against the wall- without catching it- with the fingertips of the same hand you threw it with. Then repeat with your non- dominant hand.

And finally:

Get involved in sports, period: Virtually any sport from golf to baseball to karate will improve hand eye coordination. In fact, probably nothing will help to improve it more than a sport you attend regularly, whether it be a town sports league or something in a professional sense.

In the end, like anything else, hand eye coordination has deep roots to childhood. That said, change is possible, as is improvement with practice. Therefore, the key is to know how to practice and have the desire to do so.

Good luck

 

     Reminder!  Summer Schedule is in effect for July and August!  The Little Dragons "Advanced" class on Wednesdays will now be combined with the dragons beginner class.. moving it from 7PM to 6PM.
So ALL little dragons for the summer will be at 6PM Monday, Wednesday and Friday.