September Schedule

Please make sure to check out our fall schedule, it’s posted in the lobby. I will also be emailing everyone a copy for feedback on Monday so make sure to check your email. We are excited about some of the additions and new classes we will be offering. For more details please make sure to see any instructor or send me an email.

Added Classes

1. Monday, Wednesday—-Black Belt Only Classes-This class is only for Black Belts.

2. Thursday-Black Belt Sparring Class

3. Tuesday-Mastery Class-This class is for Master Club members only and will be taught by Sensei Nick. This class will cover forms, leadership exercises, personal growth, community events, and will be a mentor ship with Sensei Nick. Master Club members only—See front desk for more details

4. Champions Fight Team-This class is for students who are interested in training like a fighter. We will be adding a class on Thursday’s and a two hour class on Saturday. For more info please see Sensei Morris.

5. Muay Thai Level 2-This class for for Muay Thai students who would like to learn kickboxing with contact. Please see Sensie Morris for how to enroll on this program, it is not included with the regular program.

5. Dragons Performance Team-The DPT will be coached by Sensei Jon. The new class time is on Friday’s at 4:30. If you are interested in being on this team please see the front desk.

6. Color Belt Demo Team-All color belts will now have practice on Friday nights at 7:30. If you are interested in being a member of the demo team, please see the front desk.

7. Dream Team-The advanced demo team will be coached by Sensei Nick. Practices will be every Thursday at 6:30 PM. Master Club members can practice with the team and will work on fundamentals with other Sensei’s. Dream Team consists on red/black belts.

8. Instructor Training-This class will be every Saturday at 1:00. If you would like more information please see the front desk or any instructor.

Champions Tournament

This Saturday Champions of Gloucester Township will be hosting it’s first tournament. If you would like to register for this tournament please make sure to see the front desk. This is a great opportunity to see where you stand. Although you are competing against others in the tournament, it is really yourself who you are competing against.

When you or your child go to this tournament make sure to remember a few things……

1. Don’t compare your progress and improvement to anyone elses. Everyone is at the school for a different reason.

2. If you don’t get scored the way you think you should, after the division is over approach a judge respectfully and ask what you can do to improve.

3. Watch everyone in your division, see how they look, how they sound, how they flow through their form.

4. Walk through your kata in your mind the night before, and then the day of the tournament.

5. Don’t waste too much energy the day of the tournament, watch, listen, and relax. I’ve seen some people get to a tournament and start boot camp training in the gym, or practice 1000 times before they go up for their division. This is a novice mistake, prepare yourself mentally by taking it easy and relaxing your mind and body until 30 minutes before your division begins.

And remember the benefits of competing in a martial arts tournament

1. Confidence-Instructors will respect students that give it their all, and go out and compete. It takes more confidence to get up their and take last place than to mot do it at all. Competition also makes you have and edge mentally versus others, it teaches you-key word “You” how to prepare both mentally and physically for a pressure situation.

2. Focus-There are alot of distractions at a tournament, waiting for you turn gives the practitioner patience, mental focus that team sports does not. Team sports build great qualities, but martial arts tournaments are about the individual performance.

3. Respect-One thing I have noticed about martial artists is they are the most respectful people I know. They always say “Yes Sir” and “Yes Sensei” when they are spoken too. In a martial arts tournament we teach to respect the judges, the competitors, the instructors, and everyone that is out there trying their best.

How to lose

1. Parents should teach learning not losing…the most common mistake is arguing with judges in front of the students.

2. Tell your child your proud of them as soon as they are done performing.

3. Record the competetion so we you can review their moves and help them make improvements.

4. Tell them you love them for just getting up there.

I hope this helps…..

SN

Project Portfolio-Start it today

This week everyone who is participating in the back to school edge program or who would like to should be organizing their very own project portfolio. There are many ways that this can be done. So i wanted to take the time, and review them with everyone. Please take a look at the Q and A below.

Q and A

Q-What is a project portfolio?

A-A project portfolio is each students portfolio of all community events, and or services that he or she has been involved with since being at the school. This should include any type of kick-a-thons, fundraisers, community clean up, special demonstrations, or anything else that you participated in that was for the greater good. The idea is to keep building this portfolio through out your life. And for children, this would be great to build, so when its time to go-to college we can present this to show his/her accomplishments.

Q-What do I do with it?

A-Students can email all accomplishments to senseinick@championswayoflife.comand it will be posted on Sensei Nick’s Blog. Or you can start you own blog and then I will link your blog to my blog to help build a network of everyone that is working on this project….

Q-What if i havent done the assignent’s in the previous weeks?

A-It’s ok…You can get invloved in this program at any time, and we are always taking new members.

Also—-We are still waiting for more vision boards from all the students, so get it done.

SN

Winning-Is it in you?

This weekend I spent a lot of time with one of my mentor’s Master Farid Dordar. Master Farid has always given me awesome business advice, as well as coaching me in personal growth. Well, this weekend the lesson was simple-How to be a winner…..

For those of you who I talk to often, you might remember me telling you about the book “Winning” by Jack Welch. In this book, I have adopted several tips and i recommend it you as well. The point I’m trying to make is that winning is all about who you surround yourself around. And this is an important lesson for everyone. When I look at back at when I struggled in my life, or went through rough periods of time, I noticed that the people I were in my inner circle were nothing to write home about.

This weekend I was proud to see a dear friend, (one of my best friends) achieve a really successful weekend at a martial arts trade show. He had a few characteristics that were exactly what Master Farid had talked about. Please try to use them in your life. And to my family at Champions Way—Thank you for teaching me how to be # 1. And I look forward to next year…..

1. Winning is in your DNA-Most of us either have or we don’t

2. Winners are never satisfied

3. Winners only want to be #1—anything less is not enough

4. Winners care about personal growth just as much a financial growth

5. Winners have a certain look—-Clean, dress well, and like to dance (still working on the last one)

6. Winners don’t make excuses

7. Winners spend more time thinking how it can be better in the future than talking about how good a job  was

8. Winners don’t dwell in the past-they are always looking forward and never behind them.

“Don’t let good enough, be good enough!”-Bill Parcells…

Let me know what you think and please share your secrets on winning!

SN

Edge Program Success

First I would like to thank everyone who has participated in our Edge program so far. My Email is down right now, nut when it comes back I will be able to upload some great pictures of the vision boards that students have done so far. Off the top of my head I would like to say some of the best ones I have seen have been the Martin brothers, Dawn form Muay Thai, Brandon Butler, Connor Buckmaster or C-Buck, Debbie Canuso, and Little Richie from the Dragons class. Oh, yeh and Jules Elwood!

If you haven’t done your vision board, its not too late. Please take the time and just do it. Being a martial artist is about using your mind and body, so I would really like to see all adult students participate in this exercise.

One of the biggest challenges people face in the world is time management. So this week please make sure to work on your time management flow chart. If you need help or would like to use our chart to allocate your time, please see the front desk. One of my favorite books- “Winning” by Jack Welch talks about the 4 characteristics of successful people. And in this book it talks about the 4 E”s.

1. Energy

2. Passing Energy to others

3. Edge

4. Execution

Most people according to Jach Welch have the first two characteristics, then there is a significant drop off in 3 and 4. Well, this exercise is to show you the small secret of Edge and Execution, Time Management!

Be a person of Edge and Execution-Do all the exercises and get caught up so you have and Edge in life…..

Sensei Nick