This Christmas we will be doing a peanut butter and jelly drive as well as that of gifts for those in need during the holiday season. We have all been blessed at one time or another and this is our opportunity to share some of those blessing with others as we give.
When you come in and see the Christmas Tree please consider bringing an item that can be placed under it to assist those of our community that are in need. Be mindful of children of all ages. For example, teenage girls might be thrilled to get some makeup or other such items.
As we do this I am certain that our own spirits will abound as we participate in bringing “Holiday Cheer” to others.
Our after school transportation karate service is now in session.
Being a school that has a lot of great families we make a strong effort to make our schedule work for our members. However, one request that has come up quite a bit lately is that of picking up our younger students after school lets out and bringing them here to Karate Quest where they can gain those valuable skills and attributes that are every bit as important as their academic training. The students have fun, get fit and learn valuable self-defense skills that could save their life someday. This allows mom and dad to finish up their work day without having to make the mad rush to pick their child up after school.
It is here and we are building our enrollments in this special “After School” program. Of course mom and dad can rest easy while their children are enjoying the best of leadership development through the martial arts while developing their attributes of Focus, Discipline, Confidence, Respect and Teamwork along with many others.
Our highly qualified staff has Eagle Scout Candidates, Black Belts, Top Academics and numerous competitive wins among them. With just over two years of service at our present location, we see our students excelling in these areas as well. You can tell a quality program by the great students.
What makes us different? In part it is our individual testing. Students are not automatically awarded a new rank just for showing up. The testing process is not just a test it is a high powered private lesson that helps the student to take it to the next level. Every student is helped along the path to personal mastery while learning valid real world self-defense as well as a lot of things that are just Fun! When they achieve a new rank they feel great about it because they truly earned it.
Stop by or call today so that you can ensure your child’s spot in this exciting opportunity.
School is back in session and schedules are starting to get back to normal. That said, many kids can benefit in their academic endeavors from the attributes of Concentration, Focus, Discipline, Confidence, Teamwork and Family Values that we teach at Karate Quest.
We had great weather and combined with some great classes this summer. We launched a series of summer camps that were enjoyed by all that attended. What made these camps great is that they were not simply a drop off babysitting with a few art projects thrown in. The participants practiced and learned Karate, got in the best shape that they have been in for some time, and had a lot of fun.
It was not just pure sweat. They enjoyed the occasional movie, trips to area parks and swimming at the Arnie Hanna Aquatic Center. Oh did I mention that all of the Summer Camps had pizza every Friday?
Make plans for next summer to be a part of the most exciting and best summer camps ever. They are skill based camps featuring the Martial Arts which is an added value over and above other Whatcom County Camps.
This was a great event with a lot of public excitement. What a great community we live in. Birch Bay Square is the newly remodeled outlet mall just off I-5 at Birch Bay Lynden Road.
The performers had fun too! Thank you to all the school members that came to see the show as well. Let us know what you thought in the comments below.
Back in early 2003 I had a few minutes of free time and went by the Physical Education Health and Recreation (PEHR) Department at Western Washington University (WWU) to check out what they offered in terms of Martial Arts classes. This interested me greatly due to my personal history with the Martial Arts. You see, although I had been associated with the Martial Arts from an early age (7 years old) with some of the basics that my father shared from the perspective of a Marine Corp Veteran and spent many years training in traditional and non traditional arts my first start to finish teaching occurred when I was in University myself. I was charged with teaching a PE Sports Karate Class and taking individuals from complete novice to a basic proficiency during the term. Of course with the perspective of my family the Self-Defense was a greater emphasis than the sport aspects and this empowered many of the students, good people who had not been in fights, with a greater understanding of how to manage conflict.
Post university with degree in hand I found myself drawn into the law enforcement community where the physical skill I had developed were a valuable asset for myself as a Deputy, Detective and later as a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent. I also enjoyed numerous opportunities as a Defensive Tactics Instructor to share those skill with others in the law enforcement community and that tradition continues today.
Now back to the University. When I stopped into WWU to check out what they had I learned that they had introductory classes for Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, etc. However the program director advised me that they wanted a class that addressed the topic of Self-Defense directly. Having conducted many Citizen Self-Defense Academies in the past I offered to outline a program to cover the basics, but I would not be able to teach the program due to my commitment at that time with Uncle Sam and the Secret Service. There was just know way to insure that I would be in the area the next day or even that night. Little lone the next week. However, the outline of the basics I could commit to do and I did.
Of course those basic involve many things from environmental awareness, victimology and how to avoid looking like the prey for the predators out there to verbal control and descalation of an incident with posture and demeanor to the “Fight or Flight” syndrome and gross motors skills to natural weapons and multiple attackers and what to do immediately before during and after an incident has occurred. Throw in some classic situational training along with many other cool things to numerous to mention in this blog and you have the recipe for a great class geared for that group of people who may not have all the street smarts and want to be law abiding citizens, but not be taken advantage of by those who choose to follow a lessor path.
Well a few years passed and I had the opportunity to make a change from the Secret Service to a Dot.Com company which provided me a somewhat more stable schedule. I learned that WWU had approved the class that I drafted, but they had not found any qualified instructors in our community to teach it. I spoke to my then current employer and he graciously provided the flexibility for me to begin teaching that class at WWU. Now nearly three and a half years have passed with approximately 300 plus WWU students having completed the course. I have to say, it is a wonderful time to see these student have the light go off in there heads and comprehend that they have more ability than they recognize.
We always end the class with a practical training scenario with a suited attacker working through various scenarios which allows the students to apply their newly found or newly awakened skills in as close to a real life situation as possible. They fight through that situation and show that they can survive and don’t need to play the role of the victim, but can be the predator when absolutely necessary. Of course they are taught to avoid those potentially volatile situation beforehand. However, when you can’t a little preparation can help advert a disastrous experience.
Now the class is among the most popularly requested in the PEHR Department. They also have a class that I recommend to my students in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (taught by the only genuine certified Gracie -Barra Black Belt in our area who also happens to be a retired Law Enforcement Professional and personal friend). There are a lot of people out there who profess to do a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, but lack the true credentials to back it up from a credible source or hide behind the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) title as an excuse for an anything I want to throw out there attitude. The trouble is that they can teach techniques that might work in the ring or might not, but there is no room for compromise when it comes to your personal security and the safety of your loved ones.
The best thing about teaching the WWU students is getting the feed back from them of how they feel safer, more empowered, aware, and occasionally how they negotiated their way out of a situation with the verbal skill learned. I encourage the students to continue learning and growing in their skill and abilities. Even if they can only find the local Tae Kwon Do school that is better than nothing for they can get a good work out learn some things, but apply the Self-Defense principles that they have learned in my class as a litmus test of what works and what doesn’t when the going gets tough. Rarely do I hear about them having to apply their physical skill on an aggressor. The nice thing is that when I do hear back from them that they applied the techniques the training paid off, and that is success.
I had the opportunity to attend the Boys and Girls Club Auction in Ferndale last Saturday evening. It was an excellent event with the purpose of raising funds to support the clubs on going activities as well as to accumulate funds to build a new building. The building the club had used for many years was the old Ferndale skating rink located at Pioneer Park.
That building had a lot of history. I actually skated there a time or two when I was a kid growing up in Whatcom County. Many years later, I ran a small martial arts club out of that building which by then had become the Ferndale Boys and Girls Club. I was working full time as a Detective for the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office at the time which allowed for me to dedicate a certain number of hours to the club.
Regrettably, I had to revert to offering only private instruction when I was recruited away for a Federal position. What is nice is that some of the people that I trained during those early days are still training with me today. However, the Boys and Girls Club building that we spoke of was struck with a fire that basically destroyed the building. Thus the auction has an even greater purpose.
That being said, the food was phenomenal and the bidders were generous. I’m not positive how much money was generated, but It had to be more than a quarter million dollars. Why do I think this is important? Because the Boys and Girls Club provides an economical service for those kids who get out of school and have a few hours to go before their parents arrive home. What a great thing that is to have a positive place and a safe environment.
I feel very similarly about the opportunity that we provide to youth and families here at Karate Quest. Of course it comes with the added purpose and benefit of learning the martial arts in a safe and positive environment that fosters leadership, integrity, and goal setting. The kids have tons of fun and what they learn may just help them to save their own life or the life of another someday, though we hope they learn to recognize and avoid conflict before it happens.
Karate Quest was invited to assist with the Cub Scout Twilight Camp for the second year in a row. The camp is held each year at Hovander Park in Ferndale, Washington and serves the Bellingham and Whatcom County area.
Adam Jolly, a fellow Boy Scout member, highly accomplished weapons competitor and a very capable Karate Quest Instructor, led the training for the young scouts. This is a fantastic demonstration of how the leadership taught in the martial arts and scouting go hand in hand. The 2008 theme was none other than CSI: Cub Scout Investigators. Adam learned to dust and lift his first set of prints when he was a Cub Scout. Probably not a big surprise as he grew up in a law enforcement family. However, his task was to teach some very basic self-defense to the 100 plus attendees. That was done smoothly and efficiently and the Cubs had a great time.
The highlight was at the end of the evening when Eli Jolly performed a bo-staff demonstration that he carried out flawlessly with the back-flips, butterfly kicks and many other cool techniques thrown in. Oh, did I tell you that Eli is a Cub Scout participating in the camp. What’s more is that Eli recently placed third in the underblet division of the Pacific Jewel Nationals. This was just another example of Karate Quest Excellence!
