Martial Arts Lessons, Baseball, Football, or Soccer?

As a boy, my parents took me to try out all the typical sports. As a an adult, I am now able to reflect back on all those activities --and I have an opinion about sports that might help you (parents), if you too are considering something athletic for your own child.

The martial arts lessons I took, hands down, left me with the most powerful memories, usable resources, and the richest experiences of all the sports I participated in. Just this morning for example, I was recalling something one of my teachers used to say, “If you can’t, then you must --and if you must, then you will.”

Even now as an adult, as I continue my training and the lessons learned continue to be valuable, as they reinforce the principles of Black Belt. like courage, honor, integrity, compassion, perseverance and respect. I am forever training to become a master and I will always explore areas of self defense that include more than just kicking and punching, like Diabetes awareness, obesity, body image, anger management, environmental self defense and community service.

My life is my dojo and my training has become a way of life, which it does eventually for many of my students.

Martial arts lessons will stick with your child. I’m more confident today, more capable, and better when the pressure is on -- and I attribute a lot of that to my martial arts training.

Parents, invest in lessons. They’re worth it!

Sensei Chris Feldt

Samurai Karate Studio

803-462-9425
samuraikarate@bellsouth.net

The Great Bell Chant

One of our challenges, as members of the Ultimate Black Belt Test, is to meditate every day and work on developing what Thich Nhat Hahn calls "MINDFULLNESS". Learning how to meditate has been more difficult than I expected. Not that it's hard to sit, it's hard to "unclutter" my mind and to focus on nothing but my breathing.

The below video, offers breath taking images as well as beautiful chanting to music and bells.

Take a moment to watch it and see if it helps to bring yourself to a place of mindfulness?

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
803-462-9425
samuraikarate@bellsouth.net

Intelligent Curriculum

I’m involved in a rather revolutionary project involving a change in the what, when, why, and how of teaching people of all ages about self-defense.  The project has been launched by my martial arts teacher’s association, The One Hundred (The 100),  and involves a concept coined Intelligent Curriculum. Intelligent Curriculum is a process where web-technology is applied to teaching people about the depth and scope of self-defense as it applies to today’s world. For example, there isn’t a kick, punch, block, arm-bar, leg lock, or other martial arts maneuver on or anywhere close to a list of top 10 killers of men, women, or children in the Western world. But Diabetes is on the list. With Intelligent Curriculum the martial arts teacher brings a Diabetes disease primer into his or her curriculum, using the Internet, so that the student doesn’t go through years of “self-defense” training without addressing the topic. That’s an intelligent direction for the way we should be addressing self-defense in a world where Diabetes affects more than 25% of all Americans.

Some of the other issues Intelligent Curriculum is seeking to address include the media; bullying; anger; emergency situations; diet; care for the environment; and community involvement.  While all of these issues may not, at first glance, obviously relate to self-defense, they will in martial arts schools of the future. From a teacher’s perspective and from someone who has more than just a passing interest in self-defense, I find the approach to be refreshing and valuable.   There isn't a school in the Columbia area, that offers the curriculum that I do!  I don't say this to brag, but clearly to demonstrate that my school believes self defense is more than just kicking and punching.  My school is focused on fostering change and personal development, skills that will last a life time!

For more information on how I’m implementing Intelligent Curriculum in my school and in our community, contact me here;  Sensei Chris Feldt, Samurai Karate Studio, 2000 Clemson Road, Suite # 9, Columbia, SC 29229, 803-462-9425, samuraikarate@bellsouth.net.

Benefits of Taking Martial Arts Lessons

There are some obvious benefits that young and old alike garner from studying the martial arts. The first one is in the exercise involved. Exercise, if it’s tailored for the age and ability of the participant, is good for the body, the mind, and, yes, often good for the spirit too.

A not-so-obvious benefit of studying the martial arts is the often unspoken requirement to “be present” in the practice. “When you’re dealing with kicks, punches, and arm-bars,” says veteran martial arts teacher Tom Callos of Hilo, Hawaii, “you simply have to stay ‘in the moment’ to keep from getting socked in the nose. Awareness of what I call, ‘The here and now,” is something you can instantly take off of the mat and put to work in your everyday life.”

With exercise and mindfulness comes a third component that is not a benefit you’ll find in every martial arts school, but it’s something we are deeply involved with. It’s about food and its connection to fitness and health. The Diet Chronicles is a project where a group of martial arts teachers are starting to document, on video, what they eat and how it’s prepared –in an effort to eat more mindfully.

Some of the video journals are being posted to an on-line community based around the book Savor (www.SavorTheBook.com). Savor is co-written by Harvard nutritionist Dr. Lilian Cheung and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

To see one of the Diet Chronicle videos, click this link: Diet Chronicles

“What we consume is as important and relevant to self-defense in today’s world,” says Callos, “as any kind of martial arts technique.”

For more information on using the martial arts to improve the body, mind, and diet, contact Sensei Chris Feldt, owner/chief instructor of Samurai Karate Studio at 803-462-9425 or email me at samuraikarate@bellsouth.net.