KICKIN' IT! BLOG

How Tip Testing Works

The great thing about the martial arts is that it helps people build confidence. With a built in set of goals, as students work their way through the ranks, inevitably their confidence grows. One important thing that we teach our students is that if you break up a goal into smaller pieces, it’s makes achieving your goals a lot easier. How we do that for our students, is with tips.

Most students have the opportunity to earn their tips in the 3rd or 4th week of the month. To earn their tips, they’ll need to meet certain requirments that include:

Why it’s important to smile

With so many restrictions this year, some of the things that I love doing and that keep me active have been limited. Now, I don’t deal well with not being active…when I’m active, I can’t stop smiling. One night last week I had a great experience that made me smile and that got me thinking about this week’s message of the week.

This week’s message is very simple…

Want to know why principles are important?

Last week I got into a discussion with a parent. At the end of it, I was reminded why my principles are important. I also knew after this conversation, that I had to revisit this message.

Our conversation went along the lines of them asking me to do them a favour. It was something that I could totally understand asking, but I was definitely not comfortable doing it. It went against a rule that I have at the school and my principles so I said ‘No’.

The Key to Success is Effort

You’ve probably heard the saying …

“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”

The Importance of Forgiving

My mom and I had this conversation on the weekend about people making mistakes. It takes a strong person to forgive and forget but the weight that people carry being mad at someone often isn’t worth it. That really got me thinking about the importance of forgiving.

My mom to say the least, can be…passionate about things. Last week somebody did something and it really offended her. She was just outraged and couldn’t wrap her head around anybody doing such a thing. As we talked about it, I realized it wasn’t helping. I also realized she was carrying around this anger and frustration and it was really a burden. That got me thinking about the ability to forgive which leads me to this week’s message of the week…

The Power of Habits

I was watching a tv show this morning. On the show, the people were talking about the importance of routines and habits. How a person’s habits and routines determine their success. That really got me thinking a lot about my own routines and habits and what I do. That got me thinking even more about the power of habits and how important they are. That lead me to think about this week’s message of the week.

One of the things they were talking about was the old saying “The early bird gets the worm.”. The reality is that not everyone is an early riser. Some people sleep in while other people get up early. I probably get up a little bit earlier and go to bed earlier than most. One of my close friends is the exact opposite. It’s not important WHEN you are awake. What’s important is what you do during those hours that you’re awake and that brings us to this week’s message of the week…

Embracing Progress in Karate and Life: Start Where You Are, Use What You Have, Do What You Can!

In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the multitude of tasks and responsibilities that await us each day. Whether getting ready for school, managing our workloads, or pursuing our passions like Karate, the feeling of being paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of it all can be all too familiar. However, by adopting a simple mantra and embracing the power of progress, we can navigate through the chaos and find our way to success. Today, let’s explore the profound wisdom behind the words …

“Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.”

Just like my daughter struggles with organizing her thoughts in the morning, many of us face similar challenges in our daily lives. We often stare at an extensive to-do list, unsure where to begin or how to proceed. During these moments of overwhelm, we must take a step back, breathe, and remind ourselves to start where we are.

Things are never quite as scary when you’ve got a best friend.

I remember at the beginning of COVID being really afraid. There was so much uncertainty and I had no idea what was going to happen but what got me through it was a great friend and that’s what this week’s message of the week is all about.

Lockdown Update

As many of you know York Region was ordered to go into lockdown as of Monday, December 14th and as a result, for the next 28 days, we can no longer hold training in the school.  Given our planned holiday closure, this won’t affect our training too much.

That being said, for the next week, we will be taking classes back online which you can access through Zen Planner.  I’m thankful that so much work has been done that we can quickly adjust to this platform.  On top of that, we’ve made some improvements to our online program so it will be better than before.  For this week, we will be running an abbreviated schedule (Monday – Thursday) and adding to it in the new year. 

Knowing yourself is so important.

Something happened last week and it reminded me of the importance of knowing yourself. Based on what happened, I don’t think enough people REALLY know themselves.

During our Leadership class, we talked about our personalities and the participants had to describe themselves in three words. After that, they had to identify some of their greatest strength and some of their greatest weaknesses. What came out of all of this was quite shocking to me.