Back to School!  I am sure that the end of August and early September was marked by the beginning of school for our parents, teachers, and kids. It is hard to believe that summer is over so soon. If you were unable to attend regularly during the summer due to vacations and other summer activities, we hope you will be able to rejoin us this month. 

There is a lot of news this month.  First, the studio website has been updated to include pictures from the Breakathon and a discussion board.  The pictures on the website were provided by Mr. Harris.  As we have events and I get pictures (from you) from the events, I plan on updating the gallery.  As new pictures are posted, the old pictures will be deleted.  So if you see a picture of yourself or your child on the website, you should take a moment and download the image. 

Second, you will notice that the newsletter again includes more extensive information and articles.  I hope that you will find the articles interesting and useful. As you can imagine writing longer articles takes a long time, so if you feel inclined to help by writing an article please let me know. 

On August 13th, a few of our students participated in the tournament sponsored by the Smith Martial Arts Academy. 

Robecca Wilson was 2nd in her age group of 14 and 15 year old girls.

As a reminder to all the sparring students, no sparring classes are held on the night of Junior Belt Testing.  Parents should expect the Junior Belt Test will be approximately 1 - 1.5 hours long.

The semi-annual black belt test will be held in the fall (October or November).

This month I decided to focus on heart health.  As active members at Hamilton-Fairfield Taekwondo Center,  we have the chance to attend the cardio classes.  Proper exercise is critical to good cardio vascular health and the cardio classes, and to a lesser extent the Taekwondo classes, can help meet the exercise recommendations from the American Heart Association. The American Heart Association's web site also provides suggestions on small changes you can make in your home and work life to increase your activity and your health.  I have listed a few suggestions below, but more suggestions are available at http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2155.

At Home

At the Office

• Brainstorm project ideas with a co-worker while taking a walk.    

• Stand while talking on the telephone.    

• Walk down the hall to speak with someone rather than using the telephone.    

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Or get off a few floors early and take the stairs the rest of the way. 

However, in addition to proper exercise, proper nutrition is also critical. I know as I have gotten older it has been more challenging to manage my weight.  The youthful days of eating whatever I wanted have long since departed.  I found an online cookbook from the American Heart Association that I thought some of you would find useful.  I have copied the link below: http://www.deliciousdecisions.org/cb/index.html.

When famous or very experienced martial artists question the value of forms, why should we practice a form? An obvious first answer is that "Master Huffstutler makes forms a part of the curriculum at his school."  However, the answer "because I say so" is not very satisfying.

On the Internet, I found many articles that argued that the traditional forms should be abandoned and very few argued for the continued study of the forms.  However, it should be noted that forms are taught at most schools and Roger Koo and Bruce Lee both trained in traditional forms. So if these masters both developed their skills from a curriculum that included traditional forms, it must be assumed that traditional forms are not necessarily a bad thing.   

Based on my review of Internet articles, I believe the forms that we practice provide a diverse learning tool for developing better balance, timing, precision, and coordination.  While you might argue whether the forms practiced at our school are arranged in progressively more challenging order, I believe that there is a general progression of increased difficulty.  Additionally, it is clear that as people progress in rank, the performance and interpretation of the form takes on a different character.  There are several reasons for this difference:

• Better physical condition;

• Better muscle memory; and

• Better understanding of the intent of the form.

I would like to encourage our students to try to find the hidden moves in the forms and to try to incorporate these three changes into the execution of their forms:

• Use solid, deep stances.  After all "no pain no gain."  Well at least, no muscle growth.

• Execute the moves with focus.  Imagine each block, punch, kick or other movement is against an opponent that is resisting the movement. Kerry Fields, a 3rd Dan Black Belt at our school, said, "When I perform a form, I imagine each move is against an opponent."  If you have the opportunity to watch Kerry perform a form, watch for the focus on his opponent."

• Try to execute the moves with deadly precision, e.g. tight movements. Loose or flailing movements in a self defense or combative situation can be easily defended against and gives an opponent an opportunity to attack.

As you watch the black belts in our classes, look to see whether they are focused and intent.  If the black belt is focused on the form, try to see how he or she performs the movements and incorporate that intensity into your forms. As you have the strength, endurance, and balance to perform these forms with intensity, you should notice that other aspects of your training will improve, e.g. faster kicks, more balanced and controlled consecutive attacks, stronger defensive techniques, etc.  I have included three graphics of John Keller, a 3rd Dan.  Look at the depth of the front and back stances, the obvious intensity and energy in his execution, and the precision of his body position.   These are some of the key attributes to performing a form well and to becoming a better martial artist.

Finally, I will leave you with the following Bruce Lee quote that I found online at www.wikipedia.org, "I think the high state of martial art, in application, must have no absolute form. And, to tackle pattern A with pattern B may not be absolutely correct."  As I completed the research for this article, I concluded that Bruce Lee probably did not mean that forms were not useful for training; I think the real statement is that students must be able to adapt their martial art and not try to force fit a particular technique, e.g. not everyone can effectively perform a hip throw.  I have created a discussion board for this article.  If you want to sound off on this article, click this link discussion board.  I have provided the following links for additional and related information.

http://www.jkasv.com/article9903.html

http://www.i-clps.com/karate/lesson21.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kata

http://www.wadoryu.org.uk/naihanchi.html

Next Month: One Steps: Do they really help you with self defense?

In order to provide a little wider appeal to our newsletter, I will be alternating between presenting a grappling technique and/or self defense technique in each newsletter.  In this month's newsletter, we are presenting an escape to a two handed grab on your wrist.  Like all aspects of martial arts, proficiency at self defense is learned by practice.  So if you have a partner at home, you can practice this technique at home or if you arrive early for class, you can often practice basic techniques by the weights in the corner of the studio before the class starts.  This is a great escape technique for kids though children should be given guidance on when to use the counter attack in step 4.

For this technique, the escape is made by following these steps. 

Step	Description
1	Starting in a standing position, your opponent grabs right wrist with both hands.
2	Take your left hand, reach between your opponent's arms and grab your own right hand.
3	Bend your right arm up, driving your right elbow forward, and pull back with your left hand.
4	Drive your right elbow into your opponent's head.   Note: In many situations, it will not be necessary to use the counter strike (step 4).

Martial Artists: Robert Gerhardt and Craig Stoll

Reference: Jay,Wally.  Small Circle JuJitsu. Santa Clarita, CA.  Ohara Publications, Inc. 1998.

This technique was found in Small Circle JuJitsu.  This book includes a number of excellent grappling and self defense techniques.  The book is available through the Lane Public Library IntraLibrary Exchange (MORE).  If you are interested in learning more self defense techniques or grappling moves, CDROMs are available in the office and include short video clips of many different techniques.