January Newsletter
Leadership News
January 2009.
Forthcoming Events
Monday 5th Jan – first training day of 2009.
Kata class, Sunday 11th 10 – 11.30am
Sparring Seminar- Saturday 10th 1pm Points then 2-30pm Kickboxing. Please note new date (2nd Saturday) for this month only.
Sunday 25th Jan 09, NAK National Semi contact Championships.
Saturday 31st Jan – last date for Junior Black Belt Candidates to apply for March grading.
Tournament Sparring Seminars.
I have changed the date for the sparring seminars for this month only. Instead of the 3rd Saturday it is to be held on the 2nd. This is to allow more preparation time to those who wish to compete in the NAK National Championships on 25th Jan 09.
Technical Course.
The technical course went very well. We had good attendance and it was good to see that only a few discrepancies had crept in since we last held a course like this. The technical course will be an annual event .
Mixed Martial Arts Classes
From Wednesday 28th January from 6-30 to 7-30pm we will be starting a Mixed Martial Arts beginners class. In it we will teach the basics of; kicking, punching, grabbing/grappling, throwing, pinning, joint locking etc.
The class will be approximately 50% body conditioning/fitness as this is vitally important in MMA. The other 50% will be spent on the technical aspects.
The primary reason for putting on this class is to attract NEW students to the Academy but we do accept that some existing Taekwondo and Kickboxing students may wish to take part. You will be welcome to try a couple of classes without charge but there will be a small additional cost to your monthly payment if you wish to participate regularly.
This does mean that the Wednesday Leadership class will begin at 7-30pm from 28th January.
If you know of anyone who may be interested in starting MMA ask them to get in touch with us please.
MACT Team.
Mr Fitch and myself have re-organised the Martial Arts Career Training schedule this year to have fewer training sessions that each last for half a day. The reason we have done this is to cut into fewer of your weekend days and also to supply you with greater levels of information on each of the sessions. We do appreciate that sometimes it is easier to learn in smaller chunks but sometimes it is more convenient to set aside half a day once every 3 months than 2 hours each month.
The dates for the sessions at present are 28th Feb, 25th April, 30th May and 24th October. We will do our best to keep to these dates but please be understanding if other, subsequently booked or discovered, events require them to be changed (ie tournaments or seminars).
For those of you who do not know what MACT training is, I will explain.
Because we are a ‘professional’ martial arts school with professionally trained coaches (all of them), we need to constantly be on the lookout for potential new instructors. We need a trickle of new instructors coming through because; occasionally, one of the team will leave, we like to be able to expand when the opportunity is right and sometimes changes in the timetable mean that a student is unable to continue teaching a certain class. Training a martial arts coach fully takes approximately three years so we like to have a steady flow of people coming through. This is why we will sometimes approach a student who may currently be quite young or a low grade. By the time they are fully trained they will be considerably older and of higher rank.
The MACT programme is a great system, it not only teaches martial arts coaching but has a VERY strong business ethic too. All of our qualified instructors have been well coached on how to run a business as well as teaching physical skills.
So, when you see a reference to MACT, you will know what it means.
Save Money
With all the talk of recession and credit crunch, you may be thinking of ways to save money? There is a great way to cut down on your grading fees.
We offer ‘Grading Vouchers’ these are pre payment vouchers that cover all of your gradings up to a certain grade. If you purchase a voucher for 5 Kyu gradings or more the cost will be just £15 per grading, (plus £80 to take the voucher to Junior Black Belt). A voucher to cover ALL kyu grades and chosho grades up to 1st Dan is just £275.
A voucher for ALL kyu and Chosho grades to 2nd Dan is £350 and ALL grades to 3rd Dan is £450.
Remember though that grading vouchers are not transferrable and not refundable.
Another great way to save money is by helping us with our cash flow. Anyone who runs a business understands that cash flow is usually the biggest challenge and we are no exception. If you would like to help us by pre paying your membership for 12, 24 or 36 months, we will offer you a discount of 15%, 20% or 25% respectively.
Would YOU like to become a Kickboxing National Champion?
On Sunday 25th January 2009 we will be holding the first National Kickboxing Championships since 2002. Back by popular demand this event is the perfect way to decide who the best semi contact fighter is in the ‘National Association of Kickboxing’ for each weight division. With a maximum of 8 entries per weight category you need to get your entry in early. The winner will need to be successful in quarter, semi and final to take the title and trophy. There will also be trophies for second and third place competitors.
The entry fee is £15/person, spectators £5.
In the evening we intend to hold three 5 round full contact bouts for NAK full contact titles.
Remember someone in each weight category will go home with the title ‘National Champion’ it could be you.
This event is an ‘open’ event which means that martial artists from any style or association may compete.
Business Board
As some of you already know, I attend a business breakfast on Friday mornings. This breakfast is designed to generate business between the members of the group. It’s a sort of ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ type situation. We all do our best to use other members of our group for business rather than someone outside the group. For instance I always use the printer in our group to produce leaflets and flyers.
We have begun something at the Academy along slightly different lines but with the same desired outcome. We have a ‘business board’ at Bull Close, if you would like to promote your business to other members of the Academy please feel free to place a business card on the board perhaps along with an A6 sheet of information about what you can do.
If everyone were to do this we would generate more money for each other and pick up lots more business.
If you need more information please speak to Mr Fitch or Myself.
Thinking Part.
The House of 1000 Mirrors
Long ago in a small, far away village, there was a place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the house, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."
In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."
All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?
Japanese Folktale
Please remember I NEVER want to tell you what to think, just encourage you TO think.
Joke;
Juniors;
Grown ups;
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
