Monday, September 29, 2008

Here is some more info on the Stan Hywet Trip planned for Oct.

Dear Students & Families,

Here is some more info on the Stan Hywet Trip planned next month.

About
The Manor House

The Manor House is one of the finest examples of Tudor Revival architecture in America. The Seiberlings chose architect Charles S. Schneider to design the home for $150,000. Schneider and the Seiberlings travelled to England and visited well-known homes including Ockwell’s Manor in Berkshire, Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire and Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, influencing the design of Stan Hywet.

An enormous amount of detail went into building the Manor House, including 3,000 separate blueprints and architectural drawings for its design. The groundbreaking took place in early 1912. To facilitate the delivery of massive quantities of building supplies, a railroad spur was created for transport onto the property.

The Seiberlings also hired Boston landscape architect Warren H. Manning and New York interior decorator Hugo F. Huber. For the interior of the house, many furnishings and pieces of art were purchased by Huber in New York, with additional pieces purchased by Huber and the Seiberlings on a trip to England in 1915. For the external environment, Manning sought inspiration from the natural topography and wanted the landscape and house to complement each other. In addition, Manning worked with Schneider to ensure that the house would be built on a location that would provide for five different overlooks of the valley and that allees would extend to allow views of the lagoon and surrounding foliage.

Sincerely,

Scott Shoen

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Vocabulary for 10th & 9th Kyu (White and Orange Belts)

General Terms

Arigato..................Thank you
Dachi.....................Stance
Dai Sempai............Senior student
Dojo.......................Training hall
Geri........................Kick
Ippon......................One point
Karate.....................Empty hand
Karateka.................Karate practitioner
Kata........................Form
Kobayashi...............Little Forest Style
Matsubayashi.........Pine Forest Style
Rei..........................Bow
Sensei.....................Teacher
Shorin-ryu.............Little Forest Style
Uke........................Block

Commands

Kiotsuke................Attention!
Otigai ni rei...........Bow to each other
Otigai ni taishi......Face each other
Sensei ni rei..........Bow to the instructor
Sensei ni Taishi....Face instructor
Shomen ni rei.......Bow to the front
Shomen ni taishi...Face the front
Shugo.....................Line up!

Kicks

Mae geri.................Front kick

Blocks

Chudan uke...........Middle block
Gedan uke.............Low block
Jodan uke..............High block
Shuto uke...............Knife hand block
Soto uke..................Outside block

Punches, strikes

Gyaku zuki..............Reverse punch
Oi zuki.....................Lunge punch
Shuto.......................Knife hand
Kentsui....................Hammer fist

Stances

Kiba dachi...............Horse stance
Shiko dachi..............Square stance
Zenkutsu dachi........Front stance

Numbers

Ichi.........................One
Ni............................Two
San..........................Three
Shi...........................Four
Go...........................Five
Rokyu......................Six
Shichi......................Seven
Hachi.......................Eight
Ku............................Nine
Ju.............................Ten

CONTRIBUTION!

CONTRIBUTION!

This week’s message is about CONTRIBUTING!

Did you know that in life, your rewards, achievements, etc. are going to be equal to your ability to provide a valuable contribution?

Some people will always be doing just enough to get by, and then they don’t understand why they aren’t rewarded the way they would like to be! For example, if your parents give you a job to do, would you try to do just enough to get by, or would you be motivated to do a super job?
If you did just enough to get by, what would be your parent’s response? If you did a super job, what would the response be?

Many times, kids and adults will wish they had more rewards...and they never realize that they can change the level at which they are rewarded by changing the value of their contribution!

1. What are some of the ways that we can increase our ability to provide contribute?

2. How can our Martial Art training help?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Gina Capretta encourages her brother to become a Black Belt Leader too!

In case you didn't know the biggest source of new students for our Academy is referrals and family members who join too. So Gina is following in a long line of students who have finally convinced their family members how good karate is for you.

Nick will becoming in for his first two lessons to earn his white belt and start his journey towards Black Belt. Thank Gina you Rock! Nick, I know you are going to do awesome.

Sincerely Your Sensei,
Scott Shoen

P.S. Anyone who would like to refer or help their family members join is welcome to talk with me or pass along our information to their friends. Just remember karate is good for you!

P.P.S. I referred Sensei Kautzman to my old school in Chesterland many years ago and he is now an amazing instructor and role model. It only took like one hundred times of telling him that karate is good for you. Sometime it tuff to convince a person of how great karate is that why I like to ask them to come to a class with me so they can see for themselves.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Even Sensei Makes Mistakes!

Dear Students and Families,

One of the biggest challenges for our students seems to be making mistakes. Mistakes are a regular part of life and how we deal with them is key to being successful in life.

So I would like to share a little bit of how my day started on Saturday to show you that even Sensei makes mistakes.

While I started out my day as usually with some early morning training it went downhill from there. On my way to work my car started acting up and I barely made it to work. Then I had an appointment show up 30 mins early. We had some confusion about the scheduled time. I apologized for the mis-communication. Then I couldn't find my key to the school so we did the lesson outside! Just after the lesson I found my key in the car, of course. It had fallen out of by briefcase during my ride to the academy.

Boy was that challenging, but some how it all worked out and Mitchell (the boy who was here for his first lesson) did great.

I want to share that with the tools that my instructors have shared with me about mistakes and how to flow with them it all seemed to work out for the best. So students when you make a mistake or two or a hundred, I can relate it happens to the best of us and it's not if we make mistakes but how we handle them that matters!

Your Sensei,
Scott Shoen

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Boyer Family Earns Their Fourth Chevron!

Way to go Andy, Hannah, and Mr. Boyer. Really great work on your leadership skills. Working on the respect skills for two weeks is really challenging. Keep up the outstanding effort and training at home.

Your Sensei,
Scott Shoen

P.S. I look forward to see all our students at the sparring seminar this Saturday. Check out www.aurorakarate.com for all the details.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Anthony Romanini Earns his First Chevron and Moves Up to Advanced Brown Belt!

Anthony,

Way to go, Sir! We are all really proud of you so keep up the good work because black belt is just around the corner.

Sincerely,
Scott Shoen

P.S. Please congratulate Anthony on his accomplishment when you see him in class.