EELITE KARATE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2020

Welcome to our New Year Newsletter for what will be a special year for our Academy which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

This email newsletter will hopefully keep you up to date with all you need to know about what’s going on in Elite Karate Academy over the coming months of 2020.  Please feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends, I hope you find it informative.  Feel free to comment on our Facebook page with comments and be sure to like our page while you’re there.  Or follow us in Instagram here.

News – Updates – Events At A Glance

• Elite Karate Academy Expo on Sunday April 5th, 2-6pm, Clayton Hotel, Liffey Valley.  All students including beginners will be taking part on the day, with either/both gradings and demonstrations.  See below for more details.

• Sparring Competition in March more details next month

• St Patricks Day Parade.  Come walk with us.  Find out more below.

• Raffle & Cake Bake Sale.  Can you donate a prize?  Bake something?

• Academy 10th Birthday Party in September

Elite Karate Academy Expo

Our 10th Elite Karate Academy Expo will take place on Sunday 5th of April between 2pm-6pm, in the Clayton Hotel. Liffey Valley.  Doors open at 1.30pm. All students will be taking part, those not grading will be involved in demonstrations.  All students must wear their karate uniform.  The aim of the Expo, as always, is to allowing students demonstrate their skills and abilities to their family and friends, whilst educating parents about the aims and ethos of Elite Karate Academy, in a relaxed fun environment.  This event is open to anyone, so extended family and friends are welcome, this year’s Expo will include;

• Grading (students will be informed closer to the date)

• Club Sparring Competition (semi-finals and finals only)

• Demonstrations (Instructor & Students)

• Award Ceremony (Grading, Competition, and Special Awards, including Student of the Year)

• Unveiling of Elite Karate Academy’s 1st Junior Black Belt?

• Bake & Cake Sale. Why not bake something to bring on the day?

• Raffle (asking parents to donate a price if they can, donations can be brought to the dojo)

Grading

For those few students who were unwell and missed their Christmas Grading or those that are eligible to Grade. The next grading will take place within class the week of 27th January 2020.

Finn Murphy, Amelia O’Reilly, Sean Power, Courtey Gorman, Niko Popardowski, Gloria & Adonai Vey, Marco Li, Eva Kelly, Aleksander Samatyja, Fares Okasha, Douglas & Zack Martin, Amberleigh Dowman, Oscar McNeive, Alberto Cimpoesu, Ronan Beech, Markas \Koskus.  If your child’s name is not and the list and you think they are eligible, please contact Sensei.

Sparring Competition

The early rounds of this non-contact 3 points-wins tournament will take places within your child’s normal classes and is completely voluntary.  With the semi-finals and finals taking place at this year’s Expo.  All students must have their own sparring gloves & boots,  which can be bought in the dojo, this is for your child’s safety. Only students who have graded Yellow belt or higher, may take part in this tournament.  All details will be given out in February

St Patrick’s Day Parade

Once again this year the Academy will be walking in this year’s Clondalkin Parade.  Students, families, and their friends are all invited to join us on the day.  So put it in your

Character Education Program

Once again, we are running our Word of the Week program in class.  Our specially designed word of the week program teaches 14 core values to your child in a 5 minute ‘mat chat’ within their normal class. Your child will grow as people not just stronger and fitter.  No other club offers this type of program.

Our 14 words are: Courtesy, Growth, Honesty, Obedience, Courage, Sincerity, Humility, Perseverance, Honour, Loyalty, Self-Control, Knowledge, Respect, Integrity.

Each week these lessons will be posted on our Facebook page or the full course can be viewed here in our blog section of our website.  I strongly urge parents to get involved with their child’s learning by reading these posts or discussing after each class what they learnt.

Website

Check out our blogs on our website.  Click the link to read about them

Dojo Kun Programme – Most club’s dojo rules consist of no shouting, no chewing gum etc. Our Dojo Kun program teaches your child 25 rules of life. These rules teach your child how to follow and make their dreams come true, through hard work, passion, and dedication.

Elite Mental Training – This program teaches students the mental strategy of fighting, topics introduced can be used in all areas of life, reducing stress, and increasing mental wellbeing. Read some lessons covered in our blog section below.

Anti-Bullying Programme – We teach your child how to deal with bullying in a non-aggressive way without having to resort to violence. A great program for boosting confidence and self-belief. 

Online Self-Defence Course – Information on realistic self-defence, mentally, tactically, psychologically.

Newer material will be shared weekly on our Facebook page, much will be of interest even to those who don’t train.

Coming later in the Year

Other events coming up this year after the Expo, will be our 10th anniversary Summer Birthday Party in September.

Testimonials Request

That so many of you praise our Academy is huge source of pride to me.  Please write a review/testimonial here.  They will then be added to our website.  Student / parents or both may write a review and you may write a new one if you wrote one before.

Zen Tip

Thoughts Are Not Facts

You are walking down the road. When you see your friend on the other side. Unable to cross the road, you wave and call their name. Your friend continues to walk on. How do you react? Many people have different reactions when told this story. Some accept that their friend simple did not see them and thus continue their day. And if they remember they may mention to their friend that they saw them, the next time they speak. Other people feel slighted and ignored. Wondering what they did to their friend to deserve being ignored.

Convinced their friend is not talking to them. They race off upset, determined to phone their friend and find out what they did. Thoughts are not facts. That you think something does not make it true or real. Put emotions, feeling, rationale, and assigning motivations to people without the full facts, makes you react to situations that are not happening. Recognize that thoughts are not facts and learn to respond rather than react for a calmer heathier life.