Here are my 3 easiest tournament prep tips for the week before a tournament! Hopefully my tips will help you calm your nerves & enjoy a stress-free week before the competition begins.

Click “more” to check them out!

NWSMA supports the Camano Island Library!

Why?

Many of our students, including most of our black belts, have relied on the local libraries to succeed in high school, Running Start, and community college.

Martial arts is all about balancing mind, body, and spirit. A library fosters thought & self-improvement, and spreads knowledge throughout the community. We believe these are worthy ways to spend our time as martial artists–by bettering ourselves, we better others.

Myself, I’m in the Camano Island Library at least once a week. Sometimes I’m getting books for fun, other times I’m reading about topics like science of the body, martial arts history, nutrition, bullying, coaching/leadership–things that help me become a better instructor.

I am *always* amazed at the things our community is up to in such a tiny library. Story time for kids, tech help and classes, job searching, research, school projects, reading for pleasure–the list goes on!

If you’re a Camano Island resident, at least consider voting “yes” on April’s ballot. We think it’s a small price to pay for something that helps so many people.

Check out the Citizens for Camano Island Library website for more information on what you can do to help.

Do you remember when you were a white belt? How far have you come since then? Remember struggling with side kick? With that strange turn in your first form? What about how you felt the first time you sparred? What happened the last time you sparred?What did you learn?

…Are you reflecting right now?

Last week, I had a bunch of students fill out a self-evaluation. (If you’re an instructor, I uploaded the self-eval .doc at the end of this post. You’re welcome to download it, make changes, & use it!)

Self-reflection is an incredibly valuable tool. Hit that “more” tag to find out why!

Many people join martial arts looking for success. Sometimes they want to succeed at developing character, or at school. Sometimes they want to succeed at tournaments. Sometimes they want to make it to black belt.

But a lot of people quit before they reach their goal. I’ve heard masters say 1 in 100 makes it to black belt. (Side note–let’s change this! Not by making it easier, but by making ourselves better instructors, better leaders, better motivators). 

We instructors spend a lot of time thinking about why people quit. While there’s certainly many answers to that, I’d rather not dwell on it. Instead, I’ve come up with a list of attitudes–ways of thinking–that I think will help martial artists of ANY style.

If you can find these within yourself, then you have the keys to success. So get out there and do it! (and click “more” for the rest of the article!!)

The best teachers in my life have all had something in common:

I could never figure out whether I liked them or not. And most of the time, I disliked them.

But I also realized something: these teachers, the ones I learned the most from, held themselves responsible for making sure I got better.

Regardless of whether or not I liked it.

Who were the best teachers in your life? Click “more” to find out about some of mine.

One of Gichin Funakoshi’s 20 precepts of karate is,

Karate is like boiling water.

I think this has a lot to do with absences from training. Which has a lot to do with our new policy!

I promised everyone a fuller explanation. If you want to read what was going through our heads when we created it, please click “more.”

NO CLASS TONIGHT due to weather. Enjoy~! 🙂 We haven’t yet decided if there will be class tonight. Please check Facebook around noon for our final decision!

If (BIG IF) we do decide to stay open, remember that you are not obligated to come! If you’re concerned about conditions, it’s always better to err on the safe side. In exchange, we promise not to teach ALL the super secret martial arts moves in one night. 😛