Welcome to Week 4 in Fire Month! I love framing our months by elements in nature because we have so much to learn from the world around us. I always find myself pointing to the natural world to teach lessons to my children, about where their greatest power lies and how to connect with it.
One of those lessons is that we are each responsible for what we focus on. In any given situation, we can look at what we have, or see everything we don’t have. Take what John F. Kennedy said, “Of those to whom much is given, much is required.” This concept is ingrained in our society, but the big question each of us must ask ourselves is: Am I someone to whom much is given?
I believe we can choose how we see ourselves and this affects how much we feel we ought to be giving back to the world. If we are not able to see how blessed we are, we can stay stuck in a mentality where we are always struggling, thinking we just aren’t in a position where we can help anyone else.
I think that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can see the advantage we have, or the disadvantage. The power of a tenacious attitude is especially clear when it comes to self defense situations. There are countless stories about people who beat the odds and came out on top when they were weaker or outnumbered. They were able to flip a switch in their mind and keep focusing only on where they had the upper hand, staying present and never giving up.
It’s this kind of internal and undying fire that can see us all through the tough times, whatever they may be. And this same tenacity allows us to become someone who looks beyond our own problems and take actions to affect the world for the better.
This week, we’ll be getting into tough situations and learning to work with what we have, as we hone the following techniques:
Techniques of the Week
| Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | |
| Ukemi | Review All Break Falls | Review All Rolls | |||
| Technique 1 | Single Arm Grab Escape | Double Wrist Escape | |||
| Technique 2 | Kusari Fundo Blocks, Strikes, and Captures (Less experienced kids shadow box without weapon) | ||||
| Technique 3 | Throwing by Kicking Out the Legs | ||||
Kasumi Club: (most likely) : Ryu Techniques
Kid’s Adventure: This week, we’re turning into Earthworms and learning our moves through an underground adventure!
members: Please take this time to login and review these techniques here
Thanks for reading. I’ll see you in the dojo!
~Sensei Nesta