2010 – Success is a Living in a Constant State of “Have To”

2010, was an awesome year. As this year winds down the academy has gone through many changes, and I have grown a lot. The students have become better, faster than ever before, the amount of students has almost doubled, and for the first time in five years I can truly feel “the stars aligning.”

We finally moved to a new location this April after years of searching for a great location. Twice the space and more equipment has worked wonders in facilitating the forward movement of the school as a whole, and allowed us to do some things that were just not possible at the old, very small place.

Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of great memories in old building and lots of great friends that passed through those doors for years and PCS and some even PCS and came back for another tour.

2010 was great, but 2011 is going to be even better! There are always doubters and always those that are not into what we do here, that’s fine, I am looking for students who want to be here, who enjoy training, enjoy working hard towards goals, because there is no substitute for hard work, and there is nothing more passionate than a student who mentally moves from a I want to, or I’d like to state of mind to I HAVE TO.

And because we have so many I HAVE TO train students, it causes the staff and instructors to continuously better ourselves, the way we teach, to create better events and work extra hard!

What can I say, other than thank you to all of the students, parents, instructors, staff and visiting instructors and friends? You made 2010 great!

Important of Family Involvement

Have you been hearing a lot of talk about how the traditional family has gone out the window? I know I have. The main point everyone talks about is how families tend not to eat dinner together nearly as often due to an abundance of after-school activities and crazy schedules. This got me thinking. Is my school (as an after-school activity) taking families away from their dinner table? I took a closer look at how we operate and came up with the answer-yes- but so does every other after-school activity. But, then I looked even closer and I realized that we promote family values in so many other ways.

In fact, Capoeira Academy Okinawa is dedicated to encouraging traditional family values and togetherness. It is absolutely necessary to emphasize to our students the importance of respect as a part of their martial arts training. It is also essential to the dynamic of a family to know the importance of respect as it is one of the traditional core family values; respect for each other helps grow the bonds families have between members.

Furthermore, we advocate family involvement at every class, event and function held here at the school. We do this for several reasons. First, the martial arts is a sport that requires support. Students with the support of their families behind them are more likely to succeed and reach Capoeira Graduado or Black Belt than those going at it alone.

Therefore, involving the brothers, sisters, moms, dads and grandparents of students in activities such as Demonstrations, Tournaments, Picnics, Holiday Parties, etcetera is something that separates Capoeira Academy Okinawa from your average martial arts facility. We are trying to accomplish something here that goes beyond the instruction of martial arts. We are trying to help our students grow as people outside of the school as well.

Not to mention, it is so much more fun to involve the families of students in everything that we do. The more the merrier, right?!

In the end, after taking a look at what we are really doing here, I felt so much more at ease knowing that as a school owner, I am contributing to the bond made between family members instead of putting a strain on it. It made me realize the importance of what we are doing not only as a martial arts school, but as a place for families to gather and support one another.

It is true for any of us, no matter what our age, gender, or race. When a person decides to go above and beyond, success is always the result. It may not be measurable, it may not be totally visible to everyone; but to the person who went that extra mile, it is unmistakable.

Going the extra mile in school means doing his or her homework completely and correctly before handing it in, studying even when he or she does not have a test or staying after school to receive extra help from the teacher. These are simple things that everyone knows should be done, but can be overlooked easily.

Going the extra mile for a martial arts student could mean a number of things: practicing at home, attending an extra class when time permits, participating in activities that will better his or her training such as a specialized class, a camp or even an extra private help lesson, or purely taking his or her training seriously each and every day. These students become Capoeira Graduado or Black Belts in the true sense of the word.

These small ways of going the extra mile, of which I have only named a few, are examples of the things in life that build successful people. Those who walk around doing only what they need to in order to get by, do just that. Those who go the extra mile, succeed!

It is our mission each and every day at Capoeira Academy Okinawa to mold students to succeed!

Keeping Your Word

Keeping Your Word

In life you are only as good as your word. Some people are unable to keep their word. For example, it could be something as simple as committing to be somewhere and not showing up or being expected to be somewhere and then cannot be contacted.

One thing I have learned is there are only two types of people: those who keep their word and those who do not. What type of person are you? Are you the person that when your name comes up people say, “Who knows if he’ll show up. We can’t count on him.” Is that the type of person you want to be?

Today we are going to take a hard look at ourselves and be honest. If you are a person that keeps his word, great, keep doing it. But if you are the type of person that does not keep his word, make a change. The one thing I have noticed with people who do not keep their word is usually their entire life is chaos. Not to generalize, but from what I have seen, these people tend to lie which causes people to lose trust, and typically, they bounce around from job to job over the years and end up pushing 40 without having established themselves in a career.

Keeping your word has a lot more to do than just showing up on time. The principle we are teaching is integrity. People that do not keep their word often fool others by giving terrible excuses or using a false story to make others feel sorry for them. The sad thing is that people buy into their lies. In most cases, these people are nearing middle-aged and have very few family and friends because they burned most of their bridges. We only hope that you decide to be a person that keeps his word and when you come in contact with someone that does not, do not waste your time on them. Their patterns will more than likely never change and either you will be affected by their excuses, or you will move on and rise above.

Excuses.....

Very few people are able to go through a day without making an excuse. Most people do not want to admit when they make a mistake. After reading this post, we hope that you will take a different approach when it comes to why a task, assignment, or any type of project is not completed.

First, let’s start with the reason why people give excuses. People give excuses because they do not like to look stupid. People also give excuses because they just simply forgot to do something. People also give excuses because they have a hard time admitting they are not perfect. The problem is people do not understand that others have more respect for those that are honest.

If you can learn to admit your mistakes rather than give excuses, you will become more successful faster. Successful people admit when they make a mistake and try to learn so it will not happen again. This is the major difference between people that are successful and people that are close to forty and have nothing to show for it. So, how do we change? We are going to find out.

The first step is to start holding yourself accountable. Instead of making excuses or pointing fingers at other people, point the finger at yourself. More often than not, people will point the finger at someone else rather than take the blame. Don’t be that person.

King of the Cage Toryumon

King of the Cage Toryumon was a fantastic event. Our Yudansha Fighting System fighters really came away with a great experience points. Zach Hayden would win his fight 28 seconds into the first round with Mike Wimmer losing in the first round to the pro-veteran Shungo Oyama by a heel hook. Nevertheless the night was ours in so many ways. All of us plan on fighting this coming April at the first huge event for China, at the World China Hotel. It is going to be awesome event.

The End of 2009

Drawing down to the end of 2009.. what an interesting year. This year has been one of the most decisive victories or failures for some many people and organizations. Either you gave into the stress and pressure or you overcame, you just kept walking. Sometimes on that journey you were like the person traveling through the desert looking at mirage after mirage, but nevertheless, if you are still here and still standing you are a survivor.

2009 was tough, but tough times don't last, tough people do, so let's charge into 2010 with a great attitude.