Blog
Get Smart
Everybody should get smart about their training. The thing about Xmas is the period leading up to it that gives rise to some people to cut down on their martial arts lessons and training when they should be topping up as much as they can before the doors close on you for a couple of 
weeks.
As history has a habit of repeating itself, people worry about what they eat between December and January when it should be the other way round. It is those two months when people go on a food binge and that's where the problems start. We can't avoid that but we can do something between January and December, especially, the period leading up to it by working out to counter the influx of calories. You should be training twice as hard and get to every lesson before the doors do a Maxwell Smart on your nose (reference to the famous Get Smart door scene).
Train, train, train, that’s the best advice from Santa.
GA
Kickboxing (boxer learning to kick?)
Kickboxing has come a long way since it first came on the ‘market’. I was one of the curious ones who went out to investigate, in the mid '80's, and found it was not something that was readily going to convince me to 
give away what I was already doing (karate). What I saw was an amateurish boxer doing a crash course in kicking. Unfortunately, kickboxing, back then was very primitive, and there was no leading authority to persuade us this futuristic concept especially, in an era, the norm was just to concentrate on the one thing.
Once upon a time if girls were allowed to take up Kickboxing, a typical male chauvinistic response was ‘you’ve got to be joking’, if anybody wanted to do it for fitness, the reply was ‘don’t waste our time’, those who wanted do it for the art and pleasure were laughed at ‘if you’re not going in the ring, then take up crocheting’. If the attitudes didn’t change there would be less people in the industry and kickboxing would not have progressed to where it is today. There was also somewhat noteable resistance from boxers and their fans to allow Kickboxing a chance in the arena but Thai Boxing, which was very popular in Thailand and truly developed, kind of pushed Kickboxing in the western world.
The more people in the martial art the further it will progress. Some schools are too busy recruiting or even trying to create Gladiators at the expense of other students when they should be given just as much attention because, without them, the martial art or school would not exist.
GA
More than just a Party
Another year is almost over and we had just celebrated the 2011 BKJ Martial Arts Xmas and Presentation last Friday night. What was different about this one was not all students were from Budoshinkai Karate; we also had our kickboxers, students from BJJ, and persons from the fitness classes (all under the BKJ Martial Arts banner) – all in all, 130 people in attendance.
Special guests included Professor Rob Naumoski (Roots BJJ), Shihan Rob Janceski of Ryu Bujitsu Kai, Sensei Mark Szalajko (of Narellan BKJ and Bujutsu Martial Arts) and Sensei Roland Winter (and his black belts) of Zen Do Kai Karate. 
It was a beautiful evening with everybody together at a great venue for a 3 course meal. There were no complaints, only compliments (too many emails and sms’s to reply to), so thanks to everybody if I missed out anyone. The speeches summed up what we were all about and saw selected students being presented with one of the extraordinary awards, however, those who did not receive one of these were given a special award instead because they, too deserved, recognition on the evening. There’s nothing better than a student walking up in front of guests, friends, instructors and families and accepting an award in this environment; it's also about the experience. The atmosphere was spellbinding.
Our entertainment was full of surprises with my son, Jonathan, taking the stage with his sister, Marcia, and keeping everyone attentive and amused (I just don’t know how they just come up with these things).
At one stage when we had a large number of students standing up front (see pic), I took a few steps back to have a look and told the crowd I just wanted to see what it looked like with so many students standing together. My final comment, on the night, was telling students to train till the very end of the year because that’s what we martial artists do.
GA