February and Valentine's Day

The gray and snowy days of winter are nearly over.... at least I really hope they are!   

Tournaments

February marks the beginning of tournament season.  The first tournament is scheduled for 24th of February. There is more information in the newsletter.

Newsletter

After two years of publishing a monthly newsletter, I am struggling to come up with topics to write about.  So for the next several newsletters, I am going to limit the content to the calendar for the month, belt promotions, and any other special interest items.  If you would like to explore previous newsletter topics, try the following link

Newsletter Index

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 to be approximately an hour and a half long.

The next black belt test will be in April or May.

Several of our students made the honor roll first quarter at their school.  We are very proud of our students' academic achievements and have included them in this month's newsletter.  The people whose names are in red had straight A's. 

Saturday, February 24th, 2007 - U.S. Taekwondo Association Tournament.  The tournament will be held in Cincinnati Ohio at the Price Hill Recreation Center.  Competition includes Forms, Breaking, Sparring, and Weapons. 

• Registration Forms

E. coli (Escherichia coli 0157:H7) has been in the news quite a bit lately.  With outbreaks stemming from places seemingly as safe as Taco Bell and prepackaged spinach it is important that you know the facts about this illness and how to prevent it. 

E. coli infections are more common than you might think.  There are hundreds of strains of E. coli and most are harmless.  However, the 0157:H7 strain is one that produces a powerful toxin that is responsible for the severe illness in humans.  The 0157:H7 strain has been found in healthy cattle, deer, goats and sheep.  In the United States it is estimated that over 73,000 cases causing over 60 deaths occur annually. 

Infections can occur in many ways but all are associated with ingesting the bacteria.  Most illnesses are associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef.  However, people have also become ill from eating contaminated vegetables or drinking raw and contaminated cow’s milk.  Person-to-person transmission is possible if hygiene or hand washing habits are inadequate.  There have also been outbreaks associated with swimming in or drinking sewage-contaminated water.   

The quantity of organisms necessary to cause illness is small.  Once ingested the severe abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea start in an average of 3-4 days.  Usually there is no fever and most people recover without treatment in 5-10 days.  Antibiotics do not help and can even make things worse.   Anti-diarrhea medications (Imodium) just make the symptoms last longer. 

In some people the infection can cause a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in which the blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys fail.  This condition is more common in children less than 5 years of age and in the elderly.  As many as 8% of people with E. coli 0157:H7 develop this complication and 3-5% of people with this complication will die.

Since there is no treatment for the illness and there is no way of detecting if a food is contaminated knowledge of prevention techniques are of great value.  The following are the current recommendations to help you prevent exposure to E. coli 0157:H7:

• Wash your hands carefully before you start cooking or eating.

• Wash your hands carefully each time you use the rest room or change a diaper. 

• Cook ground beef completely before eating (no pink should be seen anywhere).

• Don’t put cooked hamburgers on a plate that previously held the raw meat.

• Always order hamburgers cooked well-done.

• Drink only pasteurized milk, juice or cider. (Don’t drink raw milk)

• Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, especially those that will not be cooked.

• Only drink municipal water that has been treated with an effective disinfectant.

• Avoid swallowing water while swimming, especially in lakes and public facilities

• Avoid petting zoos and other animal exhibits

To learn more you can visit www.about-ecoli.com

Wade Weatherington, MD, F.A.A.P.   

Weapons classes are offered on Saturdays at 11 am and Thursday's at 6:30 pm.  Students are taught nunchacku, short stick, and a few knife techniques.  The classes are open to juniors who are at least a brown belt and to all adult students.  The classes are a good way to diversify your martial arts experience.  The nunchacku classes are particularly good for building up hand eye coordination.