August Newsletter
Leadership News
August 2009.
Forthcoming Events
Kata class, As usual, no Kata classes for July and August.
Sparring Seminar- As usual no Sparring classes in July or August.
Mats at Weybread.
We will be using proper ‘link’ mats for our Weybread classes from August. This does make training more comfortable, especially sparring and street awareness. The Weybread classes are on Mondays; 6pm Juniors (all grades), 7pm Leadership (either weapons or a specialist area), 7.30pm Adults.
Obviously Weybread classes are a long way for Norwich students to travel but it not far from Diss and even closer to Harleston. Everyone is welcome.
Mr Fitch to Fight Again
Our Chief Instructor Mr Fitch, will be Kickboxing (full contact) in the ring again on Sunday 23rd August at the Ocean Rooms, Gorleston. Come along and give him some support please, its tough fighting at an ‘away’ venue. Andy Godbold and Richard Barnes, who both also train with BBA are also taking part at this event. Mr Barnes has a 3 round bout and Mr Godbold is top of the bill in a 5 round bout against Bin Tyler of 3 Lions Gorleston.
New Uniform for Black Belts and for MMA.
I hope you have all had the opportunity to see the new suit designs. The MMA board shorts are ideal for training in hot weather and we will use the same rule for these as we do T shirts (they can be worn by Taekwondo students from 1st May to 30th September for training but NOT for gradings)
Summer Sale
We have a Summer Sale on plain blue and plain white suits. White suits are available for £15 and blue ones for £29. We do have a very limited number of these so please purchase yours early if you don’t want to miss out.
New Classes at Weybread/Harleston.
We are starting a new Mixed Martial Arts class at Weybread Village Hall on Monday evenings. The first class will be on Monday 14th September at 8.30pm and is for MMA beginners. All our existing students (over 16 yrs) are also welcome to come along and give it a try. If you enjoy it and wish to continue there will be an additional £10 to your monthly tuition fee.
Calling ALL Kickboxers
Why not try our MMA classes at Bull Close? We think you will like the workout. We would like you to give it a try so you can train in MMA until the end of August absolutely free.
Why demonstrate respect (thinking part)
I would like to tell you a short story that I was once told by my instructor. I don’t remember why he told me this story but perhaps I was not DEMONSTRATING enough respect at the time.
There was once an excellent beginner student who was 14 yrs old, she came to classes often and worked hard whenever she was training. She soon progressed through the grades and her Instructor thought what a wonderful example she was to the other students.
The student ALWAYS referred to her instructors as Sensei, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms or Master. She never took advantage to students less knowledgeable than herself and she NEVER forgot to bow in all the right places, come to think of it, she never forgot to be totally respectful in every area of her life.
The Master Instructor had noticed how polite she was and thought that she would, one day, make an excellent instructor. After all, what parent would not want their child to copy the ways of this young lady?
Everything continued smoothly and the student achieved her Black Belt at the age of 17 years. By this time she was an excellent Martial Artist, her kicks were superb, her Kata neat, precise and powerful, in fact every aspect of her art was very good.
Soon after her Black Belt grading however, the young student began to let her respect start to slip. Just sometimes she would forget to say ‘Sensei’ or perhaps to bow as she entered the dojo. As the weeks went by, her respect started to ‘relax’ a little more and she would call adults at the Academy by their first names instead of Mr or Mrs. Occasionally she would be late for classes and more and more often she would give a half hearted performance in class.
After about 6 weeks the Master Instructor decided to take the young Black Belt aside to speak privately about the recent changes.
He was very polite, very gentle and very understanding as he explained what he saw was happening. When the Master Instructor had finished the young lady said,
“I see what you mean about all this stuff but, I do still respect you, nothing has changed.”
The Master Instructor replied;
“It is important to always SHOW your respect for people, both so that they can see it AND so that other people see the respect that you have.”
The young lady seemed to be getting quite annoyed and said;
“Just because I don’t show you respect it doesn’t mean I don’t have respect. You must know that I do, I shouldn’t have to keep showing you. Making me call you Sensei or Master won’t make me respect you more you know”
The Master tried one more thing;
“There is a big difference between having respect and demonstrating respect. I may respect that your opinion on something is different to my own and saying nothing may be a good way to respect that difference of opinion but, if I treat you shabbily when we are alone or when we are with other people (even though I still say I respect you) I am not being genuine or ‘authentic.”
“I don’t even know what authentic means.” Replied the student
“But you do know what genuine means, authentic means your thoughts and actions agree with each other.” Said the Master.
“Whatever.” Came the reply from the young lady as she waved her hand and walked away.
At the beginning of the next lesson the Master Instructor called the young lady to the front of the class,
“Please take off your Black Belt” he said.
The young lady did as she was asked.
“Please hand it to me” the Master continued.
She passed him the belt.
“We all know that you are a Black Belt but, as you don’t think its important to show things, you will not need to show people your Black Belt by wearing it.
“I’ve earned that belt” she shouted.
“Yes you did, and everyone here knows that, but we don’t need to show you what we think do we? After all just by us showing you that you deserve the belt, it won’t make you any better, will it?” continued the Master.
It took slightly less than 4 weeks for the young lady to go back to her old, respectful ways.
The Master gave her back the Black Belt knowing that she had learned a valuable lesson.
This story explains why DEMONSTRATING respect for each other is so important. It shows we are civilised and that we have self respect.
Sometimes, when I do promotional work for the Academy, people ask why I call everyone I meet Sir or Ma’am?
I explain that I wish to show respect. They then ask “what if the person does not deserve respect?”
I explain this, I choose to be a respectful person (that’s the way I want to be) . I don’t think its up to me to decide if people DESERVE respect, the most important thing is that I choose to treat people the way that I prefer. It has very little to do with what they deserve (or don’t deserve).
Every time you treat someone with (or without) respect, you say more about yourself than about them.
Individual (1-2-1) tuition.
This may come as a surprise to some of you but most students that achieve Black Belt have some 121 lessons along the way. Thankfully most of our classes are busy and, although this provides a brilliant atmosphere for training, it does mean that the instructor’s time is divided amongst the members of the class. The instructor will endeavour to divide this time equally but inevitably some students will require more input than others. Mostly this is quite normal as you are all at differing stages of development and therefore require differing levels of input.
A 121 lesson however, provides 45 minutes where you receive ALL of the attention. Small errors can be explained and intricate details demonstrated. Sometimes a 121 lesson can give a student useful training pointers to practice in classes for many weeks.
I had several 121s from my instructor as I progressed through the grades, would it be a good idea for you?
121 lessons are available from; Myself, Mr Fitch and Tom.
Junior Black Belt Grading and ‘prep’ classes.
The Junior Black Belt Grading is scheduled for Saturday 26th September and the ‘prep’ classes begin on Saturday 15th August at 8am. If you would like to be assessed for JBB in September, you will need to be completing a logsheet. This logsheet is available immediately after the June Adult Black Belt Grading. Just a reminder, all adults wishing to take Dan grades at the December Dan Grading are eligible to register immediately after the JBB grading in September.
JBB grading fee £100
JOKE:
A man goes into the doctors. The doctor says, 'Go over to the window and stick your tongue out.'
Man says, Why? The doctor says, 'I don't like my neighbours'
Man says, Why? The doctor says, 'I don't like my neighbours'
Leadership News
August 2009.
Forthcoming Events
Kata class, As usual, no Kata classes for July and August.
Sparring Seminar- As usual no Sparring classes in July or August.
Mats at Weybread.
We will be using proper ‘link’ mats for our Weybread classes from August. This does make training more comfortable, especially sparring and street awareness. The Weybread classes are on Mondays; 6pm Juniors (all grades), 7pm Leadership (either weapons or a specialist area), 7.30pm Adults.
Obviously Weybread classes are a long way for Norwich students to travel but it not far from Diss and even closer to Harleston. Everyone is welcome.
Mr Fitch to Fight Again
Our Chief Instructor Mr Fitch, will be Kickboxing (full contact) in the ring again on Sunday 23rd August at the Ocean Rooms, Gorleston. Come along and give him some support please, its tough fighting at an ‘away’ venue. Andy Godbold and Richard Barnes, who both also train with BBA are also taking part at this event. Mr Barnes has a 3 round bout and Mr Godbold is top of the bill in a 5 round bout against Bin Tyler of 3 Lions Gorleston.
New Uniform for Black Belts and for MMA.
I hope you have all had the opportunity to see the new suit designs. The MMA board shorts are ideal for training in hot weather and we will use the same rule for these as we do T shirts (they can be worn by Taekwondo students from 1st May to 30th September for training but NOT for gradings)
Summer Sale
We have a Summer Sale on plain blue and plain white suits. White suits are available for £15 and blue ones for £29. We do have a very limited number of these so please purchase yours early if you don’t want to miss out.
New Classes at Weybread/Harleston.
We are starting a new Mixed Martial Arts class at Weybread Village Hall on Monday evenings. The first class will be on Monday 14th September at 8.30pm and is for MMA beginners. All our existing students (over 16 yrs) are also welcome to come along and give it a try. If you enjoy it and wish to continue there will be an additional £10 to your monthly tuition fee.
Calling ALL Kickboxers
Why not try our MMA classes at Bull Close? We think you will like the workout. We would like you to give it a try so you can train in MMA until the end of August absolutely free.
Why demonstrate respect (thinking part)
I would like to tell you a short story that I was once told by my instructor. I don’t remember why he told me this story but perhaps I was not DEMONSTRATING enough respect at the time.
There was once an excellent beginner student who was 14 yrs old, she came to classes often and worked hard whenever she was training. She soon progressed through the grades and her Instructor thought what a wonderful example she was to the other students.
The student ALWAYS referred to her instructors as Sensei, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms or Master. She never took advantage to students less knowledgeable than herself and she NEVER forgot to bow in all the right places, come to think of it, she never forgot to be totally respectful in every area of her life.
The Master Instructor had noticed how polite she was and thought that she would, one day, make an excellent instructor. After all, what parent would not want their child to copy the ways of this young lady?
Everything continued smoothly and the student achieved her Black Belt at the age of 17 years. By this time she was an excellent Martial Artist, her kicks were superb, her Kata neat, precise and powerful, in fact every aspect of her art was very good.
Soon after her Black Belt grading however, the young student began to let her respect start to slip. Just sometimes she would forget to say ‘Sensei’ or perhaps to bow as she entered the dojo. As the weeks went by, her respect started to ‘relax’ a little more and she would call adults at the Academy by their first names instead of Mr or Mrs. Occasionally she would be late for classes and more and more often she would give a half hearted performance in class.
After about 6 weeks the Master Instructor decided to take the young Black Belt aside to speak privately about the recent changes.
He was very polite, very gentle and very understanding as he explained what he saw was happening. When the Master Instructor had finished the young lady said,
“I see what you mean about all this stuff but, I do still respect you, nothing has changed.”
The Master Instructor replied;
“It is important to always SHOW your respect for people, both so that they can see it AND so that other people see the respect that you have.”
The young lady seemed to be getting quite annoyed and said;
“Just because I don’t show you respect it doesn’t mean I don’t have respect. You must know that I do, I shouldn’t have to keep showing you. Making me call you Sensei or Master won’t make me respect you more you know”
The Master tried one more thing;
“There is a big difference between having respect and demonstrating respect. I may respect that your opinion on something is different to my own and saying nothing may be a good way to respect that difference of opinion but, if I treat you shabbily when we are alone or when we are with other people (even though I still say I respect you) I am not being genuine or ‘authentic.”
“I don’t even know what authentic means.” Replied the student
“But you do know what genuine means, authentic means your thoughts and actions agree with each other.” Said the Master.
“Whatever.” Came the reply from the young lady as she waved her hand and walked away.
At the beginning of the next lesson the Master Instructor called the young lady to the front of the class,
“Please take off your Black Belt” he said.
The young lady did as she was asked.
“Please hand it to me” the Master continued.
She passed him the belt.
“We all know that you are a Black Belt but, as you don’t think its important to show things, you will not need to show people your Black Belt by wearing it.
“I’ve earned that belt” she shouted.
“Yes you did, and everyone here knows that, but we don’t need to show you what we think do we? After all just by us showing you that you deserve the belt, it won’t make you any better, will it?” continued the Master.
It took slightly less than 4 weeks for the young lady to go back to her old, respectful ways.
The Master gave her back the Black Belt knowing that she had learned a valuable lesson.
This story explains why DEMONSTRATING respect for each other is so important. It shows we are civilised and that we have self respect.
Sometimes, when I do promotional work for the Academy, people ask why I call everyone I meet Sir or Ma’am?
I explain that I wish to show respect. They then ask “what if the person does not deserve respect?”
I explain this, I choose to be a respectful person (that’s the way I want to be) . I don’t think its up to me to decide if people DESERVE respect, the most important thing is that I choose to treat people the way that I prefer. It has very little to do with what they deserve (or don’t deserve).
Every time you treat someone with (or without) respect, you say more about yourself than about them.
Individual (1-2-1) tuition.
This may come as a surprise to some of you but most students that achieve Black Belt have some 121 lessons along the way. Thankfully most of our classes are busy and, although this provides a brilliant atmosphere for training, it does mean that the instructor’s time is divided amongst the members of the class. The instructor will endeavour to divide this time equally but inevitably some students will require more input than others. Mostly this is quite normal as you are all at differing stages of development and therefore require differing levels of input.
A 121 lesson however, provides 45 minutes where you receive ALL of the attention. Small errors can be explained and intricate details demonstrated. Sometimes a 121 lesson can give a student useful training pointers to practice in classes for many weeks.
I had several 121s from my instructor as I progressed through the grades, would it be a good idea for you?
121 lessons are available from; Myself, Mr Fitch and Tom.
Junior Black Belt Grading and ‘prep’ classes.
The Junior Black Belt Grading is scheduled for Saturday 26th September and the ‘prep’ classes begin on Saturday 15th August at 8am. If you would like to be assessed for JBB in September, you will need to be completing a logsheet. This logsheet is available immediately after the June Adult Black Belt Grading. Just a reminder, all adults wishing to take Dan grades at the December Dan Grading are eligible to register immediately after the JBB grading in September.
JBB grading fee £100
JOKE:
A man goes into the doctors. The doctor says, 'Go over to the window and stick your tongue out.'
Man says, Why? The doctor says, 'I don't like my neighbours'
Man says, Why? The doctor says, 'I don't like my neighbours'
Leadership News
August 2009.
Forthcoming Events
Kata class, As usual, no Kata classes for July and August.
Sparring Seminar- As usual no Sparring classes in July or August.
Mats at Weybread.
We will be using proper ‘link’ mats for our Weybread classes from August. This does make training more comfortable, especially sparring and street awareness. The Weybread classes are on Mondays; 6pm Juniors (all grades), 7pm Leadership (either weapons or a specialist area), 7.30pm Adults.
Obviously Weybread classes are a long way for Norwich students to travel but it not far from Diss and even closer to Harleston. Everyone is welcome.
Mr Fitch to Fight Again
Our Chief Instructor Mr Fitch, will be Kickboxing (full contact) in the ring again on Sunday 23rd August at the Ocean Rooms, Gorleston. Come along and give him some support please, its tough fighting at an ‘away’ venue. Andy Godbold and Richard Barnes, who both also train with BBA are also taking part at this event. Mr Barnes has a 3 round bout and Mr Godbold is top of the bill in a 5 round bout against Bin Tyler of 3 Lions Gorleston.
New Uniform for Black Belts and for MMA.
I hope you have all had the opportunity to see the new suit designs. The MMA board shorts are ideal for training in hot weather and we will use the same rule for these as we do T shirts (they can be worn by Taekwondo students from 1st May to 30th September for training but NOT for gradings)
Summer Sale
We have a Summer Sale on plain blue and plain white suits. White suits are available for £15 and blue ones for £29. We do have a very limited number of these so please purchase yours early if you don’t want to miss out.
New Classes at Weybread/Harleston.
We are starting a new Mixed Martial Arts class at Weybread Village Hall on Monday evenings. The first class will be on Monday 14th September at 8.30pm and is for MMA beginners. All our existing students (over 16 yrs) are also welcome to come along and give it a try. If you enjoy it and wish to continue there will be an additional £10 to your monthly tuition fee.
Calling ALL Kickboxers
Why not try our MMA classes at Bull Close? We think you will like the workout. We would like you to give it a try so you can train in MMA until the end of August absolutely free.
Why demonstrate respect (thinking part)
I would like to tell you a short story that I was once told by my instructor. I don’t remember why he told me this story but perhaps I was not DEMONSTRATING enough respect at the time.
There was once an excellent beginner student who was 14 yrs old, she came to classes often and worked hard whenever she was training. She soon progressed through the grades and her Instructor thought what a wonderful example she was to the other students.
The student ALWAYS referred to her instructors as Sensei, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms or Master. She never took advantage to students less knowledgeable than herself and she NEVER forgot to bow in all the right places, come to think of it, she never forgot to be totally respectful in every area of her life.
The Master Instructor had noticed how polite she was and thought that she would, one day, make an excellent instructor. After all, what parent would not want their child to copy the ways of this young lady?
Everything continued smoothly and the student achieved her Black Belt at the age of 17 years. By this time she was an excellent Martial Artist, her kicks were superb, her Kata neat, precise and powerful, in fact every aspect of her art was very good.
Soon after her Black Belt grading however, the young student began to let her respect start to slip. Just sometimes she would forget to say ‘Sensei’ or perhaps to bow as she entered the dojo. As the weeks went by, her respect started to ‘relax’ a little more and she would call adults at the Academy by their first names instead of Mr or Mrs. Occasionally she would be late for classes and more and more often she would give a half hearted performance in class.
After about 6 weeks the Master Instructor decided to take the young Black Belt aside to speak privately about the recent changes.
He was very polite, very gentle and very understanding as he explained what he saw was happening. When the Master Instructor had finished the young lady said,
“I see what you mean about all this stuff but, I do still respect you, nothing has changed.”
The Master Instructor replied;
“It is important to always SHOW your respect for people, both so that they can see it AND so that other people see the respect that you have.”
The young lady seemed to be getting quite annoyed and said;
“Just because I don’t show you respect it doesn’t mean I don’t have respect. You must know that I do, I shouldn’t have to keep showing you. Making me call you Sensei or Master won’t make me respect you more you know”
The Master tried one more thing;
“There is a big difference between having respect and demonstrating respect. I may respect that your opinion on something is different to my own and saying nothing may be a good way to respect that difference of opinion but, if I treat you shabbily when we are alone or when we are with other people (even though I still say I respect you) I am not being genuine or ‘authentic.”
“I don’t even know what authentic means.” Replied the student
“But you do know what genuine means, authentic means your thoughts and actions agree with each other.” Said the Master.
“Whatever.” Came the reply from the young lady as she waved her hand and walked away.
At the beginning of the next lesson the Master Instructor called the young lady to the front of the class,
“Please take off your Black Belt” he said.
The young lady did as she was asked.
“Please hand it to me” the Master continued.
She passed him the belt.
“We all know that you are a Black Belt but, as you don’t think its important to show things, you will not need to show people your Black Belt by wearing it.
“I’ve earned that belt” she shouted.
“Yes you did, and everyone here knows that, but we don’t need to show you what we think do we? After all just by us showing you that you deserve the belt, it won’t make you any better, will it?” continued the Master.
It took slightly less than 4 weeks for the young lady to go back to her old, respectful ways.
The Master gave her back the Black Belt knowing that she had learned a valuable lesson.
This story explains why DEMONSTRATING respect for each other is so important. It shows we are civilised and that we have self respect.
Sometimes, when I do promotional work for the Academy, people ask why I call everyone I meet Sir or Ma’am?
I explain that I wish to show respect. They then ask “what if the person does not deserve respect?”
I explain this, I choose to be a respectful person (that’s the way I want to be) . I don’t think its up to me to decide if people DESERVE respect, the most important thing is that I choose to treat people the way that I prefer. It has very little to do with what they deserve (or don’t deserve).
Every time you treat someone with (or without) respect, you say more about yourself than about them.
Individual (1-2-1) tuition.
This may come as a surprise to some of you but most students that achieve Black Belt have some 121 lessons along the way. Thankfully most of our classes are busy and, although this provides a brilliant atmosphere for training, it does mean that the instructor’s time is divided amongst the members of the class. The instructor will endeavour to divide this time equally but inevitably some students will require more input than others. Mostly this is quite normal as you are all at differing stages of development and therefore require differing levels of input.
A 121 lesson however, provides 45 minutes where you receive ALL of the attention. Small errors can be explained and intricate details demonstrated. Sometimes a 121 lesson can give a student useful training pointers to practice in classes for many weeks.
I had several 121s from my instructor as I progressed through the grades, would it be a good idea for you?
121 lessons are available from; Myself, Mr Fitch and Tom.
Junior Black Belt Grading and ‘prep’ classes.
The Junior Black Belt Grading is scheduled for Saturday 26th September and the ‘prep’ classes begin on Saturday 15th August at 8am. If you would like to be assessed for JBB in September, you will need to be completing a logsheet. This logsheet is available immediately after the June Adult Black Belt Grading. Just a reminder, all adults wishing to take Dan grades at the December Dan Grading are eligible to register immediately after the JBB grading in September.
JBB grading fee £100
JOKE:
A man goes into the doctors. The doctor says, 'Go over to the window and stick your tongue out.'
Man says, Why? The doctor says, 'I don't like my neighbours'
Man says, Why? The doctor says, 'I don't like my neighbours'
