Help!

Is it hard for you to ask for help? Me too. Being independent and not wanting to bother others will often be my deterrent from asking. I’m slowly learning that it’s okay to ask for help. In fact, it actually can be healthy for you as well as others around you. Let me explain.  

How do you feel when you help others? Amazing, right? Whether it is a simple or complex task, it feels great knowing that you benefited another human being. It’s a wonderful way to show that you care, and will help your relationship with others.  

When we don’t allow others to help us, we are actually denying them the opportunity of that amazing feeling. By the way, it’s perfectly fine to do things on your own. I’m simply shedding light on the beauty of giving and receiving help.  

My encouragement to everyone is to help others around you. If needed, ask for help too. Giving is living. Allow the joy of giving and receiving help from others fill your heart with joy this week.

Fun

Do you ever catch yourself being a little too serious? With the various stresses of life on your shoulders, it’s not that difficult to forget to have fun. Here are a few ways we can start having more fun in our daily life.

What’s Your Fun?
Define what fun is for you. It’s different for everyone. Been awhile? Think about the last time you felt real joy when doing something. Do that. Still struggling? Try going for a bike ride, throw or kick a ball with the kids, play hide and seek, play tag, play a video game with your kids, build a fort, go for a scavenger hunt.

Make the Time
If you are all dried up in the fun department, you’re going to need to be creative and make the time. Make it apart of your daily goals. The crazy thing is that fun will start becoming one of your positive daily habits.

This is your journey. Get out there and discover what is fun for you. Be creative and make time for your peace of mind. Ready, set, time to have fun!

How’s Your Posture?

Outside of Tang Soo Do, I enjoy quite a few other activities to help me stay healthy. One of them happens to be ELDOA. It’s a wonderful activity for improving flexibility and body awareness. Proper posture is everything in this activity.

In our society, many of us our spending countless hours on our mobile devices and computers. As a result, many of us are suffering from poor postures.

Here are a few simple things that you can do to help you not end up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

When you sit:

  • Sit up straight and tall
  • Relax your shoulders
  • Take brief walks
  • Keep your elbows in close to your body

When you stand:

  • Stand up straight and tall
  • Pull your shoulders back
  • Bring your stomach in
  • Keep your head level
  • Keep your feet about shoulder-width apart

As you know, gravity is already working against us. Fight with everything you’ve got, and work on having better posture.

ITF Event in Louisiana – April 10th

We are excited to announce that Central Karate (Louisiana) will be hosting the next Masters/Black Belt examination along with Masters, Black Belt, and Gup Seminars. The event will be held on Saturday, April 10th at the the Life Tabernacle Church Gym (9323 Hooper Rd, BR, LA 70818). If interested, please see us for registration forms and fees.

Event Schedule
Check in 8:00 am – 8:15 am
Opening Ceremony 8:15 am – 8:30 am
Masters Seminar 8:30 am – 10:00 am
Masters Test/Recert 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Lunch Break 11:30 am – 12:00 pm
White, Yellow, & Orange 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
All Green Belts 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Red & Cho Dan Bo 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Judge/ Referee Seminar 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
All Black Belts 5:30pm – 7:00 pm
Black Belt Test/Recert 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Martial Art Picture Day!

Martial Art Picture Day is Tuesday, February 23rd! There are a few places left. The sign up sheet is available in the lobby area of the dojang. USMA Photography has reasonable packages and do a great job. We will have our normal classes on Tuesday during picture day.

Smile

Growing up, I was exposed to some of the best comedy teams of all time. They include Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, the Marx Brothers, 3 Stooges and my all time favorite is Charlie Chaplin. 

For many of my younger readers, Charlie Chaplin’s early movies were in black and white and without sound. He was a master of communicating through his expressions, mannerisms, and physical comedy. In addition to being a talented actor, he was an equally talented musician. 

A song that he wrote that has been a source of personal inspiration through the years is Smile. It’s a wonderful reminder to keep smiling though the tough times.

Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You’ll get by…
If you smile
With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile if you’ll just…
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just…
If you smile
With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just Smile…
That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just Smile.

When life’s storms come your way, remember to just smile.

New Class Schedule!

We are excited to announce our new class schedule beings Mon., Feb 15. Our big adjustment is with the Orange Belts & higher. We have been trying to balance safety with numbers, time and efficiency with the classes. It’s not been an easy task, and we appreciate your patience.

As you can see, we are combining Orange & Green Belts and Blue & Black Belts. We feel this new schedule will help provide a better service for our students.

New to the schedule is Private Lessons. They are offered on Tuesday & Thursday by appointment only. 25 minute session is $50.

One More Time

Whenever I hear my instructor, Grandmaster C. S. Kim, say one more time, a smile will come across my face. Let me explain.  

The one more time concept is all about doing something again and again until we get it right. It’s going back and understanding the skill. This often time goes from one more time to several more times. Most people don’t like repeating something. However, the positive results speak for themselves.  

My encouragement for everyone is to use this concept inside and outside of the dojang. Is there something that you are doing that needs several more reps to get it right? It takes patience to achieve the quality that we are after.  

As you go throughout your day, put this concept into motion. By doing it one more time, we can be our best. When I hear the statement, “One more time” from my instructor, I realize that we are not necessarily doing it once more. We are on the path to improvement. However many “one more times” are needed.

Taking Steps Toward Your Goals?

How are your goals going for 2021? Writing down our goals can be really exciting, but it’s the next step that most people struggle. It’s getting started. Need some help? Keep reading.

Make a Plan – Working on your goals without a plan is like trying to find your destination without a map. When developing your plan, make sure to be realistic in your approach. Small doable steps is a smart way to help you get started. Too big of action steps can often lead us to not doing anything at all. Keep it simple.

No Excuses – A million other things will creep up when it’s time to work on your goals. Don’t let your excuses stop you. Leave your excuses in the dust, and rise above them. Make the time to work on you. You are worth it.

Start With the End in Mind – Getting started is half the battle. One trick that I’ve found that works really well is thinking about how it’s going to feel after completing the goal. Just the simple action of taking steps toward my goal feels great. Focus on that feeling. Start with the end in mind.

This is your year to accomplish your goals. Make a realistic plan, don’t give into your excuses and start with the end in mind. Best wishes in your journey of becoming the best version of yourself. See you at the top!

Time to Reset

Here we are again. It’s the beginning of the year. The time of year that we usually start or stop certain activities. Hopefully, we can all start positive habits to replace the negative ones.

Looking back to lessons from the past year, we can use the knowledge gained to help us make better choices. We all have our mistakes and regrets. It’s what we do with them that helps us to be a better human being.

It’s like pressing the reset button. It’s a fresh start. A new chapter in our life story. How will we be different this year than last? What areas of our life do we need to improve? Are their relationships that need mending?

As we gaze into the unknown of another year, I hope that we can all agree that we want to be better. Perhaps, it’s just being a little kinder, more patient with ourselves and others, smiling more often and being more present.

One of my favorite quotes comes from an agricultural scientist and inventor, George Washington Carver. His words of compassion has resonated with me for many years. “Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these.”