THERE AIN'T NO FREE LUNCH

Many years ago a wise old king called the most intelligent men in his kingdom together and gave them an assignment. He wanted them to compile the wisdom of the ages and put it in book form to leave it for posterity.

The wise men worked for a long period of time, then finally returned with twelve volumes they proclaimed held the wisdom of the ages. The king looked at the twelve volumes and, concerned that no one would want to read such a lengthy collection, asked the wise men to condense it. The wise men again went off and worked for a long time to condense it, finally returning with one volume. The king, however, knew that it was still too long, so he told them to further condense their work.

The wise men reduced the volume to a chapter, and then to a page, then to a paragraph, and finally to a sentence. When the king saw the sentence, he was absolutely thrilled and said, “Gentlemen, this is truly the wisdom of the ages, and as soon as all men everywhere learn this truth, then most of our problems will be solved.” The sentence simply said, “There is no free lunch.”

Many times the reason we become disappointed or discouraged when trying to reach a goal is because we have unrealistic expectations. You can’t eat whatever you want and exercise only when you feel like it and expect to lose weight. You can’t skate by doing the bare minimum at work and expect a promotion. You have to work for everything that you want.

Hard work can sometimes seem like a dirty word, and there are those who avoid it like the plague, but when you get down to it good old hard work is usually the best answer for how to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

Some goals can seem dauntingly large. Breaking it down can help it seem more manageable. Create a schedule for yourself in which you work towards your goal a certain amount of time everyday. Take classes, attend seminars, read books. Do all that you can to prepare yourself for success and create the right mindset for what you want to achieve.

You as an adult know that no one is going to hand you things just because you want or ask for them, so why treat your children that way? It’s tough saying no sometimes, but you are the parent and have to think about the lessons you are teaching you kids when you give in to their demands.

You’ve probably been in this situation before: you’re in the store and your child is insisting that he must have a toy. Your instinct is to quiet your child immediately by whatever means, especially if he’s crossed over into tantrum mode.

Instead of handing over the goods, make your child work for the things he wants. For young children, create a system by which they can earn a special treat by doing chores or being extra nice to their siblings. If they are older, you can let them buy it themselves once they have earned the money through chores or a part-time job. This can teach them a great sense of responsibility. That way when they are out on their own they won’t expect the world handed to them—they’ll know there’s no free lunch.

Contributed by Solomon Brenner Author of Black Belt Parenting and Master Instructor for Action Karate

WHAT FLEAS CAN TEACH YOU

Ever wonder how people train fleas for a flea circus? Probably not, but the flea trainers actually have an important lesson to teach us about reaching our full potential.

You train fleas by putting them in a jar with a lid on top of it. Fleas jump, so initially they will jump and hit the lid of the jar over and over again. Eventually, they will stop hitting the lid. They adjust the height at which they jump to prevent themselves from hitting the hard surface. You can then take the lid off the jar and the fleas won’t jump out. They have conditioned themselves to jump to a certain height, so they won’t ever jump higher than that.

People are the same way. When we first start going after our goals or ambitions, life seems limitless. Along the way we hit roadblocks, fall down and drag ourselves back up again. We are susceptible to the negative influence of other people. Eventually we stop trying to jump quite so high. The realm of possibility seems much smaller.

A great example of this is Roger Bannister. In 1954, the thought of a runner doing a four-minute mile was unheard of. Everyone, trainers and doctors alike, agreed that it could not be done. Roger Bannister didn’t let this lid keep him down. In 1954 he ran the first four-minute mile. Less than six weeks later another runner broke the barrier. Soon athletes the world over started running four-minute miles.

So what happened in those six weeks? People didn’t suddenly become physically faster. The barrier was mental, not physical. People were breaking it because someone had shown them it was possible.

Creating these mental blocks for yourself (or letting them be created by others) cheats you of your true potential. The second you think, “I can’t,” it becomes true. If you don’t believe you can do something, there’s no way you’re even going to try, let alone succeed.

For example, let’s say you want to start your own business, but then tell yourself there’s just no way you’ll ever be able to afford the initial investment you need. You’ve just officially given up on your goal. You will never open your business because you’ve told yourself that it’s impossible.

Instead of saying, “I can’t,” start thinking, “how can I?” You open yourself up to a whole new world of possibilities. Maybe you couldn’t afford the investment by yourself, but by changing the terms of your thinking you might find another way to attain outside investors. Always explore more than one avenue. The mind is like a parachute: it only works if it’s open. With the right mindset, you can jump out of the jar.

Contributed by Solomon Brenner Author of Black belt Parenting and Master Instructor for Action Karate.

APRIL NEWSLETTER

We were thrilled to see so many of you at the AK5K yesterday. It was a beautiful day for the event! Coming up next is the Action Karate Invitational. Hope to see you there. ASAH!

REMEMBERING MARK HOWIE

Last week we lost a very wonderful assistant instructor, Mr. Mark Howie. In his memory, his friend Mr. Joe Collins wanted to share these kind words. 

MARCH NEWSLETTER

Check out the March edition of the Action Karate Newtown monthly newsletter. We have some great events coming up. Hope to see you there. ASAH!

Post-Promotion Humility

After a big week of Promotion nights, I take a few minutes every Friday and reflect on the past weeks events, and if any changes could have been made. “Tweaking”, we call it. We often learn that things we thought would work didn’t, and things we were worried about, went very well. Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but we can always strive to make it even more awesome for the next time.
We now know that we may need to block out more time, have more available seating, and resolve a small parking issue. Nothing earth shattering. Over the years we have streamlined the promotion process, and I have to admit, I was very pleased with how efficient the nights were!

I love my job. When someone asks me what I do for a living, I say I have fun working with my kids. My kids. Not my students, not the yellow belts. My kids. I try my best to take the time out of every class to chat with a few of them. Find out how they are doing, how school is going, what they ate for lunch. It does not matter to me if they are shy, nervous, bold, brave, disabled, blind or outgoing. I want to learn everything about them. It helps me stay grounded, and gives me humility when I think I have it all covered. Promotion nights to me are the times when families come together to watch their child promote, succeed, and overcome challenges. I have seen parents cry, laugh, cheer, and wave banners. It can get a little crazy in the parent seating area sometimes! 

We work very hard to make it a “different” type of fun. When the week is over, complete and utter exhaustion sets in right around 12:00 on Saturday. Our brains are mush. Our bodies are hurting. We are looking for a nice sunny vacation. But then, on Sunday night we remember why we do what we do and pick ourselves up and set up a brand new rotation for the following Monday. New forms, katas, kicks, punches and drills. Exciting stuff! Games, goals, sparring drills, and ASAH Shark silliness. We set our yearly calendars to promotion weeks. It is a goal for us, just like it is for the kids. And for the adults also!

Last week something wonderful happened at one of the promotion nights. One of my kids was very nervous about performing an advanced kata called Tiger. This young woman has been through a lot since the day she came into this world. Over the last five years I have watched her grow and blossom into a lovely, smart, caring, BRAVE person. A front kick five inches off the floor was a huge challenge for her when she first walked into my studio. She never gave up, always tried harder; she sets goals for herself and achieves every one. She earned her Junior Black Belt alongside the rest of her class with zero complaints. With a smile on her face the entire time. Now, if you have tested for your Black Belt, you understand how tough it can be. She pushed the other kids to keep going when they wanted to give up!
Last night, she admitted to me that Tiger kata can be intimidating. I agree! She felt she needed a guide next to her for balance issues. I have to admit, I was nervous, I haven’t performed Tiger in front of a large group in a long time. When it was her turn to perform, I stood right next to her, we did the kata together. And when it was all over, I felt my heart burst out of my chest. I have never been so humbled to the point of tears. I am so incredibly proud of this young lady. A standing ovation, cheers, cow bells were ringing - it was overwhelming. One simple phrase “Thank you Miss Anne” and a HUGE smile on her face made it the best night ever. That was more than enough.
Jenna, you are my inspiration. Thank you for grounding me this week, helping me overcome my personal challenges, and making promotion night at 7:00 Thursday, February 21st the most inspirational night of the year. You ROCK! I wish you success in everything you do in your life. Thank you for being a part of my fun job, and my life. You made me remember why I do what I do and why I love it.

P.S. Tiger kata ROCKS! Chhhh……

Miss Anne
Instructor, Action Karate Newtown

EYE ON THE PRIZE

The air on the Santa Monica pier is usually alive with the emissions of countless biological organisms, giving it that fresh, faintly fish-smelling sourness that lets you know that you're in the midst of life. And this despite the fact that tons of raw sewage are dumped there into the Pacific every day. So, it was a natural choice a few Saturdays ago to head down to the sea for some lunch and some air.

As I got toward the end of the pier, I noticed a large barrel by the door of one of the restaurants. As I got closer I could see that the barrel was full of live crabs, clawing, clanking, crawling all over each other. I looked around and saw no one near the barrel and I thought to myself how could anyone leave a barrel full of crabs outside? Wouldn't more than one of them with aspirations of sweet freedom crawl out and take a headlong dive a la Greg Louganis into the deep blue? This was bad business practice I said and I went inside to tell the manager I thought so.

I found the honcho and began laying it down. What were you thinking? A bucket full of live crabs near the water? I told him he was a fool for leaving so much of his business to chance, and at the sound of these words, the man perked up and began to fire back.

"You're the fool," he told me calmly. "Go outside and watch those crabs!"

I wondered what he was talking about. Perhaps there was someone outside watching the beasts to make sure they wouldn't crawl away; some young teenager perhaps in need of a summer job to pay for his martial arts classes. Or perhaps there was a clear lid on top of the barrel I had missed in my earlier observation.

But as I got outside, I looked and there was no one watching and no lid over them. But what I did see was remarkable. In the orgiastic clambering, if one of the animals attempted to crawl over the side of the barrel, the others around it would latch on and pull it back down into the abyss of crab Hades. None of the crabs could get out because the others made sure to it; it's in their nature.

There was a lesson to be learned there on that pier. There are crab equivalents in my life, I thought. There are those around me that try to pull me back down when I have my eye on the prize; the kind of people who, not always intentionally, draw me away from the goals I've set for myself.

We all want out of the bucket; in fact we go through great lengths to make sure that someday we will. But we all have crabs around us; boyfriend or girlfriend crabs, mother, father crabs, best friend crabs; the people who call us up to go out to a movie when it's time to train. And maybe it's in people's nature as well, after all, no one wants to go to a movie alone.

Then I realized there isn't much I can do to minimize my contact with some of those people around me because they're so close to me, but what I can do is keep my eye on the prize, stay focused on my vision and stick to the flight plan like I talked about before. The crabs may get their claws on my body, but if my mind can escape their grip, then the body will soon follow.

The grip of prying claws may not be easy to escape, but there are great rewards beyond the boundaries of the confining barrel. If you are able to identify those who are keeping you back, and free yourself from the allure of slacking off, you will find a vast ocean waiting for you to escape into as well.