Snow and Class Cancellations

As I am writing this newsletter in late December, the temperature is nearly 50 degrees and it is hard to imagine cold, snowy weather.  However, should class be cancelled due to weather, a notification will be posted to the web site and sent out via e-mail.  Whether the studio is closed or not, our members are urged to use their best judgment when deciding whether to attend classes when the weather is bad. During the previous year, class was only cancelled once.

Academic Excellence

Please let me know whether you, your son or daughter makes 2nd quarter honor roll and whether the person had straight A's.  We want to recognize our student's academic successes in the newsletter.

Belt Promotions

The December belt test promotions were listed in the December Newsletter and no promotions are listed in this month's newsletter.

Thursday Weapons Class

Weapons class on Thursdays are likely to be suspended through February 2nd.  The instructor has limited availability during this time due to an injury.

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.

Winter is certainly the time of year for colds.  The common cold (or upper respiratory infection) is a viral infection of the nose and throat. The symptoms of a cold could include: a runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, hoarseness, red eyes, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck and sometimes a fever.  Usually the fever last less than 3 days, and all nose and throat symptoms are gone in a week.  The cough may last 2 to 3 weeks. 

The cold viruses are spread from one person to another by hand contact, coughing, and sneezing.  Colds are not caused by cold air or drafts.  Because there are up to 200 viruses that cause colds, most healthy individuals get about 4 - 6 colds a year. 

Colds are not serious.  However, between 5% and 10% of people develop a bacterial infection from a cold or have a more serious infection like influenza.  These more serious conditions have more significant symptoms including a sever aches and chills, prolonged or high fever, earaches, purulent nasal drainage and sever sinus pressure or pain (possibly indicating a sinus infection), or productive cough and shortness of breath (possibly a sign of pneumonia).

Sometimes your nose just runs and it is not a cold.  Many people have a profusely runny nose in the wintertime when they are breathing cold air.  This is called vasomotor rhinitis.  The nose usually stops running within 15 minutes after a person comes indoors.  It requires no treatment beyond a handkerchief and has nothing to do with cold or an infection.

Other people suffer from seasonal allergic rhinitis and their nose runs in response to something they are allergic to.  In this case the nose could run persistently but there is no fever and the other symptoms are not as sever.    

Not much can be done to affect how long a cold lasts.  However, we can relieve many of the symptoms.  For fever and body aches; acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin) are helpful.  For sore throats; hard candies, cough drops and a warm drink help.  To help the body stay hydrated and able to fight the infection you should drink plenty of fluids.  To help keep the secretions stay moist you could run a vaporizer in your room at night.  

Most over-the-counter cold remedies do little.  Nothing can make a cold last a shorter time.  If the nose is really running and you also have allergies, consider using a pure antihistamine (for example, chlorpheniramine products).  Especially avoid remedies that have several ingredients because there is a greater chance of side effects.  Avoid oral decongestants if they make you jittery or keep you from sleeping at night.  Use acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin) for a cold only if you also have a fever, sore throat, or muscle aches.  Vitamin C, unfortunately, has not been shown to prevent or shorten colds.  Do not give leftover antibiotics for uncomplicated colds because they have no effect on viruses and may be harmful. 

As I mentioned a cold is caused by direct contact with someone who already has a cold.  Over the years we are all exposed to many colds and develop some immunity to them but sadly this immunity is not complete.  Therefore, prevention is the best way to avoid the suffering.  It is recommended that you avoid contact with individuals who are already sick, wash your hands frequently and maintain a good immune system with good nutrition and exercise.

Wade Weatherington, MD, FAAP

Adapted from: Instructions for Pediatric Patients, Barton Schmitt, M.D., 2002

Tournament season is approaching.  A large number of Taekwondo tournaments are held between February and May.  These tournaments are a great opportunity for our students to test their skills against students from other schools.  In the past, our school has attended the following Tournaments:

• USA Taekwondo - Winter Games

• AAU Taekwondo State Championships

• Ahn's Classic Tournament

• Warrior Taekwondo Championship - sponsored by our school

• Master Smith's - Flight of the Eagle Tournament

If you are interested in participating in these tournaments, you should start thinking about

• Conditioning for sparring - running is an excellent way to build stamina

• Developing breaking routines

• Perfecting the forms that you want to use for competition

If you would like detailed suggestions on how to prepare for a tournament, Master Huffstutler, Adam Rolson, and Scott Cornwell can provide lots of direction and help preparing for these competitions.  You may also want to examine the following articles from former newsletters

• Tournament Breaking - February 2006

• Tournament Forms - March 2006

• he Donut - May 2005

Grappling is offered on Saturdays from 11:45 am to 12:30 am for juniors and from 12:30 to 1:30 for adults.  A mixture of sparring and grappling is offered on Wednesday.  The Wednesday offering includes both Taekwondo sparring or mixed arts sparring.  The Wednesday class is offered from 7:15 to 8:15 pm.  The class is for adults.

The Medford Judo Academy, puts a monthly technique on their web page.  The site is a good reference for a number of different judo techniques.  This month's technique was a self defense technique against a bear hug from the front.  I have outlined the technique below and provided a link to their web site where you can view the technique.

Escape from Front Bear Hug
Step	Description
1	Start in a position where your opponent has grabbed you in a frontal bear hug with your arms pinned down.	Linked to http://www.medfordjudo.com/month/mae-daki-nage-ni.gif
2	Reach up with both hands and grab your opponent's back.  Step backward with your right or left foot so that your opponent must take a step forward.
3	By stepping forward your opponent has exposed the groin area.   Drive you back knee into your opponent's groin.  Your opponent should loosen their grip.  Turn your hip into your opponent and execute a hip throw. http://www.medfordjudo.com/techniques.htm