Action Karate Whitehall

I’ve been silent on the website for a while, but there has been a really good reason. I’ve been working with my instructor to open a new Karate school.

Finally, after more than a year of preparation, all of the paperwork is signed and we are accepting applications for students. With luck, the renovations will be done by the end of January and we’ll be open for students in February.  If not, we have been fortunate to find space in a church almost right across the street from the school location where we can host classes until the construction is complete.

The new school is “Action Karate Whitehall” and it is located at 3690 Lehigh St, Whitehall PA, 18052.

You can follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/actionkaratewhitehall/

Or you can check out our website at https://actionkaratewhitehall.com/

 

 

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Martial Arts News – April 2017

1. If you don’t go to stupid places,
2. with stupid people,
3. doing stupid things, it is much harder to get involved with danger.  – Rory Miller, The Rule of 3.

Articles

What is Situational Awareness?

As martial artists we often talk about being aware of our surroundings, but what exactly does that mean.  For me, it means knowing where the exits are, recognizing who is in close proximity to me, and spotting what doesn’t belong.

When looking for exits, keep in mind that they aren’t always a doorway, and they don’t always lead outside. They are meant to get you from your current location to someplace safer.

It might seem a little paranoid, but when people are within arms reach of me or approaching to that distance, I become hypersensitive to them. That doesn’t mean I stare at strangers with an evil eye, but I do take note of their attitude, hand position, general posture and whether their proximity is appropriate for the context. I’m not as likely to raise a red flag if I’m waiting in line at Disney or squished into a crowded elevator. Where as if I am going to my car and someone is leaning on the car next to mine, I’m more likely to awesome the worst.

And that kind of leads into the next point, spotting what doesn’t belong. I’ve know people who will ask me what color eyes a stranger had to see if I was being “aware.” I’ll fail that test every time.  Ask me to point out the guy in dark sunglasses in a dimly lit room…. yeah, I got that.  You can’t be observe every detail, and the more you try to focus on one thing, like the color of someone’s eyes, the more likely you’ll miss something else.

Most of us already recognize when something is out of place. In the article linked to above the author talks about going to a dog park where there is 30 dogs running around and one that is growing and snapping its teeth.  You don’t have to know whether the dog has a collar or what breed it is to know that you might want to keep an eye on that one.

Teaching Situational Awareness to Kids

Speaking of Situational Awareness, one of the best ways to improve it is to make a game out of it.  The article talks about doing it with kids, but you could just as easily do it with a group of adults, or even by yourself.

It the article, the author talks about breaking the game into three sub-categories. One would focus on the place, the other on people and the third on things.

I like the places category, but I’m not a huge fan of the other two.  With places, the questions focus on “Where are the exits?”, “Where did we par?”, “Where would you go to be safe?”  Those are good questions to ask when you are in a new location.  I wouldn’t ask them an hour later because by then the information isn’t nearly as useful to have.

For people and things, the author asks specific questions about a person or object that was encountered. What color shirt did the cashier have on? What was the sign next to the door?  I think you are better asking “who doesn’t belong?” or “What’s out of place?” And,  I think it’s better to ask those questions in the moment.  After all, you want to train awareness not memory.

If you are working with kids, focus on a small scale such as a display where all the boxes are facing one way but one is facing the opposite.  Then, specifically ask,  “What is out of place in that display?”  Once they get the hang of it, turn it around. Have the child discover something out of place and challenge you to find it.

Keep in mind that young kids might (make that probably) say something embarrassing if you ask them about people. You don’t want to hear, “the fat one” as the answer when you ask  “Who doesn’t belong in that group?” A safer bet might be about an item of clothing. “Who has shoes not like the others?” or “Who’s not wearing a name tag?”  When you are specific you can always ask the follow up question. “What does it mean when someone is wearing a name tag?” “Why do you think the one man has on sneakers when everyone else is wearing boots?”

Keep it simple and make it fun. That’ll go a long way to helping kids (and adults) for a lasting habit.

 

Top 10 Pre-Incident Indicators

Recognizing a threat is the first step to avoiding it. Here is a list of ten things to be aware of.

  1. Inexplicable presence – Someone appears out of place.
  2. Target glancing – Someone watching you without trying to look like they are watching you.
  3. Sudden change in status – Someone changes their position when they see you.
  4. Correlation of movement – Someone falls into step with you, matching your pace or direction.
  5. Hidden hands causing unnatural movement(s) – Someone is hiding a hand (or both hands) as the move.
  6. Inappropriate clothing – Someone wearing a heavy trench coat on an sunny, summer day.
  7. Predatorial movement/actions that seek an advantage/dominant position – Two people approach and begin to flank you, or one cross the street to get in front of you while his friend continues past to get behind you.
  8. Unnatural impediments to free movement – Someone is blocking your way.
  9. Unsolicited attempts at conversation – Someone tries to strike up a conversation out of the blue. Especially if they get hostile if you try to avoid them.
  10. Baiting – Someone accuses you of something or implies you did something wrong.

None of these ten items are a sure fire test to say that someone is going to attack you, but all of them should put you on alert. If the situation doesn’t feel right, then it’s time to get out of there.

Recently I heard an instructor say something like “Your safety overrides their feelings.”  In other words, don’t be the nice person who doesn’t want to hurt someone’s feeling if you are even a little concerned for your safety. Your safety is always your number one priority.

Video

PEAK HOW TO MASTER ANYTHING by Anders Ericsson | Animated Core Message

Simply doing something for hours and hours doesn’t mean you’ll improve.  In fact, once you reach a point of “acceptable performance” your actual skill level is likely to decrease even if you continue to practice.  Your practice must be deliberate with the intent to improve if you wish to get better doing something.

“Mental representations explain the difference between novices and experts.” – Anders Ericsson

The core components of Purposeful Practice are:

  1. Have a specific, small, incremental goal.
  2. Practice session are periods of intense focus.  Distraction are eliminated.
  3. Immediate feedback after each attempt that was easy to understand. Success or failure.
  4. Operate just at the edge of your ability. Push beyond your comfort zone.

Deliberate Practice is the combination of Purposeful Practice with Expert Coaching.  Sort of like what we do in a Karate class.

Books

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals that Protect us from Violence – I have only started reading this book, but I was blown away by the content in the first few chapters.  It was highly recommended to me by a fellow martial artists, and it is definitely worth the price.  If you are a Kindle Unlimited or Kindle Prime member, you can read it for free as one of your borrows.

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Martial Arts News – March 2017

“In battle, do not think that you have to win. Think rather that you do not have to lose.” Gichin Funakoshi Founder of Shotokan Karate

Articles

Martial Artists Against Bullying

Unfortunately, bullies seem to be everywhere.  As martial arts instructors, helping children deal effectively with bullies seems like a no-brainer, but it’s important that we begin with a solid foundation. This is a free program that provides the foundation that any martial arts instructor can use to plan their own seminars to help kids deal with bullying.

Even if you’re an expert, its worth a glance.

  • Session I – What is bullying? Why do people do it? Why is it bad to bully others?
  • Session II – What should we/shouldn’t we do when we see others being bullied?
  • Session III – How should you deal with bullying?
  • Session IV – Buddying

10 Requirements for Teaching a Self-defense “Move”

Here are some things to consider when you are figuring out what drills to do during your next self-defense session.  There is no “one move” that will work in every situation, but there are lots of moves that won’t work in any.  These question will help to get the most out of the moves you practice.

  1. Is the Move significantly better than an instinctive response?
  2. Is the Move appropriate for the situation?
  3. Does the Move meet the standard for legal self-defense?
  4. Does the Move meet the criteria of attempting to create the results of the Rory Miller’s Golden Move? (Damage the attacker. Minimize the student from taking damage. Put the attacker in a worse position. Put the student in a better position)
  5. Is the Move consistent with the student’s goal of creating one of the following results given the student’s risk/occupation profile?
    (Escape for your student. Control of the attacker by your student. Disabling the attacker by your student.)
  6. Is the student capable of executing the Move in an actual conflict?
  7. Does the student have the prior training and experience to be able to execute the Move under stress?
  8. Is the student able to train this Move to become proficient?
  9. Will the Move NOT put the student in a worse position if the Move fails to work as intended?
  10. Is the Move consistent with increasing the student’s understanding of the context of his or her actual risk profile?

 

7 Tricks to Finally Nail the Whole Portion Control Thing

This is my struggle these days.  When I was young I could eat anything and get away with it, but now I need to be more selective.  A good workout and picking the right foods helps a lot, but it will only go so far if you aren’t also limiting the intake.

  1. Always aim for a 50/25/25 plate – 50% vegetables, 25% lean protein and 25% starch/carbs
  2. Eat off smaller plates – This will help to trick your mind, and it’s a good tool for those of us who always seem to be going back for seconds.
  3. Set aside leftovers before your meal – This can help with the “well, there isn’t enough to save, so I might as well finish it” mentality. (One I suffer from when chocolate cream pie is involved.)
  4. Go halvsies at restaurants – The portion sizes at restaurants are often way to big. You don’t have to split the meal with your partner. Take half of it home for later.
  5. Stop eating straight from the bag – Dump the chips into a bowl when you are snacking if you want to know how much you are eating and to prevent yourself from accidentally finding an empty bag in your hands.
  6. Survey the scene at the buffet – Do the walk and plan your meal before loading up your plate.
  7. Separate meal time from TV time – Focus on the meal so that your mind is fully aware that you ate something.

Videos

How to Practice Effectively

This video from TED Ed looks at what it means to practice, and how we can do it better. It’s not just about the hours we practice, but the quality and effectiveness that goes into that practice.  Practice needs to be consistent, it needs to be focused, and it needs to target our current weaknesses or current limits.

For example, if I can do twenty-five pushups with ease, then only practicing ten probably isn’t  going to do that much for me.  Also, when working on technique, try to find an area for that technique that you can improve. Can your kick be faster or more powerful? Does your chamber or balance need work?

Don’t just practice what you are good at. Work on improving each time that you practice.

When you practice, stay focused.  If you are watching TV while practicing your kata, you aren’t going to see much improvement on the kata, and you probably won’t remember what you watched on TV either.

Start out slowly to get the form correct. Practice is about repetition, and you want to repeat the right thing, so begin slowly (or in slow-motion) to make sure you are doing it correctly, then pick up speed as you become more comfortable.

Take breaks. Frequent repetition is good, but your body and mind needs to take breaks. Instead of going for one mega-long workout, try doing three smaller ones spread throughout the day.

And once you get proficient, visualize what you are practicing. Imagine yourself doing it as vividly as you can in your head. This last tip is great for right before testing or competition. It helps to reinforce what you have been practicing physically.

Books

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Karate-Do: My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi

Whenever I need a little inspiration for my own, personal martial arts journey, this is one of my go to books.  Considered by many to be the father of modern day karate, this book provides an excellent insight into the early days of karate.

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