Kids and Sports.

It seams to me that little, well I am not going to use any names like Johnnie, or Billy. For what I am about to say I will call them "little PC" (politically correct). So little PC goes out for a sport and is on a team. Unfortunately little PC is not very good at chosen sport. He/She sits with the other participants and watches the event and gets a trophy for just being there. The everybody wins no matter what is a great up lifting idea to make all the kids happy and better in life. So then we have a group growing believing they are entitled to whatever life has to offer as opposed to earning it. In Martial Arts you are not entitled to be a good kicker or get a belt you are to earn it. Yes there are some places that may give you the next level or belt with out showing proficiency, that is not the way here at Choe's HapKiDo the no one is left behind attitude has been left behind or not up for consideration. You must earn each rank and show a good understanding and skill level to move on. This helps to drive a student to develop ambition and feel a sense of accomplishment with each rank. The entitlement program is not a Martial Art way or a way that I want to have my child learn. It does nothing for self-discipline if you think that you can just show up and get a prize. skill  level through practice and work. Work ethics is not something that a person develops when they just get a prize by doing nothing. You can make your kids feel all warm and fuzzy and not strive beyond the bench, or they can get a real life lesson by earning it and get a real warm feeling of accomplishment. Martial Arts disciplines the mind to attain that self accomplishment through practice and work. What kind of world would we have if no one was willing to work towards their goals. If we expected the food on the table to just show up and not know ow it was made or who made it. What kind of job can we expect our child to have who does not have a good work ethics and thinks its just going to be given to them. How will their life be better, is that not what we want for our child a better life.

What motivation to be better will a person have if they never lost at a game, what drive would be shown by someone that got a trophy for bench warming. Martial Arts teaches you to attain a

If we just hand things over to them then we may think that it is better with the instant joy. When  the reality is we are denying them the ability to survive in the real world. Some Martial Arts schools focus on kicking or punching, some on the weapons and attacks. The real Martial Artist is the one who has learned, how to learn, how to be taught, how to fall down dust themselves off and keep fighting. Fighting for them or what they are trying to succeed in, isn't that what we really want for or children the ability to succeed. With the everybody wins attitude is that really teaching our kids how to succeed.

Commit to stay fit in Febuary

February can be just as bad as or even worse than Christmas with all the candy and chocolates but it doesn’t have to be. The key to success in any exercise program is finally coming to terms with what you really want out of life. Do you want to keep feeling bad or do you want to finally take charge and make a change for the better. This is never an easy decision to make and trust me I know more than anymore how hard it is. It was many years that I told myself I was too far gone that I could never be able to exercise the way they do in class. Everyone has different fitness needs and everyone starts off at different levels. Once you set your mind to it then you can accomplish anything. Fitness is an ongoing change of life. That’s the main thing anyone has to realize it’s a life changing event. It doesn’t matter your size what matters is what you are able to do. Choosing to change ones diet, and to lose weight is a great plan. However try looking at it a different way. I am making a choice to live longer, healthier and stronger. When we eat all the wrong foods and don’t exercise our bodies tend to react to that. You start getting diabetes, heart disease, even fibromyalgia. Diseases can get better and even reverse themselves. I know from someone that weighed 274 pounds I had diabetes, fibromyalgia, high cholesterol, and arthritis pain among other things. After losing 110 pounds and still going, I have no more pain. In fact my blood work is better than when I was in my twenties, I feel fantastic and know that I have another 60 years to live. My success started with kickboxing. Kickboxing is unlike any exercise program out there. Flowery Branch Kickboxing is different than any aerobic class or gym because everyone is trying to reach goals. When you find a place that supports and encourages you it becomes like a second family. See the one thing I tell everyone is just do it take that first step.  Now it’s time to make that change decide for yourself how you want to feel, you don’t have to settle.  So if you have pain and think you are so out of shape that you could never do something like kickboxing it’s time now to make that change and try it. The decisions we make now effect the future so if you have been thinking about it. There is no better time than right now. Just try!!

You don’t have to be the best, you don’t have to keep up with everyone else you just have to show up and do your best. The same thing goes with what you eat do not go to the extreme and cut out everything all at once. Start slow taking one thing away at a time. Once you do without it for a while then your body stops craving it.

Kristi Green

Flowery Branch Kickboxing

Stress.....

Oh my the word alone can trigger a headache, we have so many possible avenues of stress from job related, to social, to financial. We use he word stress when we feel that we are overloaded, that things or a thing has become way to much. In some terms stress is a difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension, another is the reactions to adverse stimuli, physical or mental. Now we can dig deeper into the effects of stress disorders via biological or psychological  and research for days weeks and years without the definitive one reason or the quick fix. There is no one reaction to stress there is the many different reactions. Some people eat to channel the stress, not a positive way to react but there are not many positive reactions to stress. Another reaction is the one of many physical reactions hives, breaking out (acne). Not to say that  puberty and the changes from kids to teen is not a stress free zone. Acne at that part of life can be said caused from stress, for some it is the stress of body changes and the mental oh my goodness steps in and the child goes what is going on, but that is another avenue of discussion for another day. Stress does not directly cause high blood pressure but the fight or flight that our bodies go through under stress does increase the heart rate and constrict blood vessels. This a temporary reaction to the situation when the stress reaction goes away we go back to normal blood pressure. On the flip side the modern world we live in today can have many stressful events that we are unable to handle with that reaction. Now we have a chronic stress situation and our bodies go into high gear (shall we say) on and off for days or even weeks at a time. Negative reaction to this is the over eating, drinking alcohol, or smoking and that leads to the possibility of high blood pressure, heart disease, and unhealthy weight gain. Martial Arts is a good stress relief option for several reasons, first it is a physical exercise you are moving with all the punching and kicking.Hitting a target  is a great stress relief, to channel all that emotion in one focal point and release is awesome. Secondly there is the mental sides of Martial Arts the discipline to be aware of situations and how to handle them. Along with that focus there is the time to sit and meditate, this is a relaxation moment.

Meditation is a great tool for stress relief' relaxing and letting the worries of the day go. Now a days with the work and family life we need to take a moment for ourselves in a physical activity such as Martial Arts and reap the rewards of a healthier lifestyle. These rewards are for us but also our families, children, and spouses by being around to enjoy the family dynamics.
You sweat  releasing toxins in the body and you are moving which gets the blood flowing to all the parts of you.

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Confidence the great Anti-Bully.

Bullying is the use of force to intimidate, threat , or aggressively impose domination over others. It consists of 3 types of abuse verbal, physical, or emotional. Bullies do this to get self esteem or feel empowered so as to hide their own shame or feeling of jealousy. Some bullies have been bullied themselves and hide it by finding someone to bully to again regain control of their lives. Some have a hard home life and lack the self confidence themselves to be sociable. So back to the word confidence, certitude, assurance, self-reliance, belief in oneself. This one attitude or belief makes for a powerful tool or remedy in the world of bullying. If you have the confidence it shows in every aspect of your life. Shows from the way you walk, the way you talk how you carry yourself. Do you have your head up that's confidence. Walking around with head down is lack of confidence or some determine a social fear. the people that try to make it through with out being seen are usually the ones getting bullied. That is what a bully looks for low esteem to boost their low esteem or social ineptness. On the other side of the coin a person with confidence does not feel the need to bully a person or the situation. The sureness they feel in one self helps them to reach their goals on their own merits and not impose their will through threats. With their poise and leadership quality will have others wanting to help or follow, as opposed to demeaning a person to do what he or she wants. Martial Arts helps with self confidence through proper assurance and reinforcement.

A student joins a group that helps each other through out the class and outside of the classes as well. Not only does that support help the student but the individual achievements helps the self esteem more. Martial Arts shows you the way to do the kick but your the one doing the kick. The Instructor holds the target and ever so often increases its height or distance but you are the one hitting that target at that distance or height. Martial Arts is not the sit on the bench and get a trophy style sport. Martial Arts is the close knit group with individual accolades and accomplishments.  Martial Arts develops leadership qualities in individuals that follows the student for the rest of their life. Choe's HapKiDo has made society better one black belt at a time.