TKC Newsletter
3/9/2010 10:36:31 PM

Happy Birthday To: Matthew M (1) Zak N (1) Gizelda P (1) Rodney M (1) Alexandria S (2) Reza T (3) Pedro F (3) Jonah R (3) Michael S (5) Savannah R (5) Daniel B (6) Yusef S (7) Julian S (8) Collin B (8) Camron M (9) Jacqueline M (11) Nicholas M (11) Patrick F (14) Nancy D (14) Sam H (15) Molly M (15) Kevin R (15) Michael G (15) David J (15) Victor P (15) Andrew D (16) Danielle Z (17) Adam L (17) Julien R (18) Justin S (18) Tobi T (18) Zachary S (18) Aidan R (18) Kari C (18) Andrea P (19) Pierce H (19) Arash G (21) Isaac F (21) Andrew C (21) Moremi A (22) Bella L (22) Roxana S (23) Shahene N (23) Terry K (23) Bryan V (23) Connor M (24) Alek S (24) Kyler R (24) Juan Luis F (25) Omid K (25) Lori S (25) Gabriel A (26) Hayden G (26) Isabella E (26) Shakiba M (27) Scott H (27) Jacob M (27) Nic O (28) Simeon V (28) Ron C (30) Sara S (31)

Upcoming Events:

3/14/2010	Sensei Nina Birthday (Happy Birthday Sensei Nina)
3/14/2010	Sensei Patrick Birthday (Happy Birthday Sensei Patrick)
3/14/2010	Daylight Savings Time Begins
3/17/2010	Happy St. Patricks Day
4/4/2010	Happy Easter
4/15/2010	Tax Day
4/17/2010	Tkc BDP (Amanda Solley)
4/17/2010	TKC BDP (Amanda Solley)
4/18/2010	TKC BDP (Amanda Solley)
4/22/2010	Earth Day

Happy Birthday Sensei Lance (Aug 1)

Happy Birthday Sensei Ash (Aug 4)

Happy Birthday Sensei Sally (Aug 11)

Sensei Benny talks to the 2009 Black Belt Candidates

Spreading the word

Basic form #4

a note from a student There's a bit of magic to writing. I have flushed out so many training frustrations in my journaling. I'm not sure what it is but it has truly made an amazing difference in my training. There must be something about connecting the mind with the body, with the will, with the action. I had let weeks go by without writing about anything. I was sluggish in my training and felt "uninspired" to write a word about it. But when I did put it down on "paper" it's almost as if my mind shifted. It was a cathartic moment of admitting where I was so I could move on to make different choices. Writing has made where I am more concrete and has moved my mind to want to figure out if that coincides with where I want to be headed. Kyoshi often talks about the mat being our "little life" and I can tell you that this sluggishness in training was a mirror of my motivation to attack other areas in my life that required attention and action. But if I hadn't written it down I'm not sure I would have really seen that the sluggishness was really fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of being or making a disaster and shallow attempts to busy myself with distractions that had little to do with my goals both on and off the mat.
While my daily worries haven"t changed I didn't have to drag them in on the mat because I chose to write them all down too in a more private forum. The fear was eliminated with action. No, the "things" haven't changed but today I was able to walk into class and put everything else going on around me aside to take action with my training fears. I was able to find motivation to try new things and feel great about the progress. I was able to hear certain things being said because the writing has cued my brain into what I'm looking for. Mr. Fariborz said one thing in particular that might not have hit me the same way except that I knew what I was struggling with in my training. He shared a lesson he learned. He was told he had no right to be frustrated in training until he had put the time into practicing it over and over. Once or twice and not getting it did NOT give us the right to be frustrated. Fifty times of the same thing then you may have earned the right to be frustrated. I cannot express how much that freed me to make mistakes and get better. Since I was wasting time beating myself up, I could see my errors and work to correct them. It was a much more satisfying session of training and WAY more productive.
You gotta love this stuff he keeps trying to pass on to us.
It really makes a wonderful difference.

Water damage at TKC

As you might have heard we had a HUGE water flood at TKC and we wanted to share some of the photos with you here!

a note from a old student

I feel as though it has been so long since I was in your studio as just a young child, learning techniques that I never knew how to understand their context. As a young child I remember learning the horse stance, stretching, and climbing up that dreaded rope. I never understood their purpose in the greater picture of what I was learning, but years later, it"s all beginning to make sense.
I hope you remember my mother, Shoaleh, and father, David, bringing me to classes. Things are a little bit different now to say the least. I just graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science, and hope to attend law school in the fall of 2010. While I am not throwing punches and side kicks like I did in your studio, I"ve seen how important the discipline is to master your punches and side kicks, is every bit as applicable now as it was back then.
I hope to come by the studio again, and sign up for classes. I"ll start from the beginning, back when I was in kindergarten, as a white belt, so that now with each technique I re-learn, I can apply it"s meaning into the context of my greater understanding, of not just karate, but the mental lessons of each. I"d like to consider myself a person who remains calm under pressure, but I know had I remained with the studio longer, my mental prowess in such lessons would be far stronger.
I look forward to seeing you again.
Thank You!

a note from Sensei Cecil Peoples

Mr. Fariborz,
I"m writing to talk you about your black belt testing last Sunday July 19th. I must tell you I"ve been to many of your testing as well as promotions, but last Sunday was so special to me. I want you to know I think you out did yourself. As you know I had to referee a fight the night before and I didn"t get home to 3 a.m., by the time I got in bed it was 4:30, when I got at 8 a.m. to come to the testing I was exhausted, but the minute I walk in your studio the energy from your student and your black belts just got in my soul and I came alive with strength and energy.
The other incredible thing was seeing Sensei Benny their, what a happy time it was for me to be their with Sensei Benny. As you know he and I both train together Grand Master Bill Ryusaki, but he was always a higher rank than I. After he made black belt he moved on and after some year I went on my way. But on occasions he would come back and teach at our school, he was and is such a great teacher I made sure I was in his class and made sure I was in the front of the class. So seeing him teach again both inspiring and energetic to me, I couldn"t wait to get out there and get started.
In resent year as you know my martial art life a changed some. I spend more time now teaching kickboxing, refereeing and judging mma (mixed martial arts), so I have kind of gotten away from my first love Karate. But, coming to your testing and watching your black belt canadates working so hard and giving all they had till they had nothing left to give, and then they gave some more. I was so happy to be back in karate again. I felt like I do when I go back home to Alabama. My soul need that, every ounce of my being needed that, it was like coming home. I felt like a new black belt again. But this is what I want to ask you Mr. Fariborz, did you insist on me coming to your black belt test because you could tell I need to be back in karate again? Could you tell my soul need to come in and work with karate students once more? Did you know it would inspire me and make me appreciate karate again? If so I sincerely thank you. I also want to thank you for inviting me and have me be a part of it. Seeing all the other guess black belt there was awesome. I hope your students realize what you did for them and years of experience that was there on the mat that day, and they got all that we had to give.
Sincerely,
Sensei Cecil Peoples

Black Belt Exam 2nd Pre-Test