Testing this week

Wow is it good to be back in routine! What a great and surprising way to come back, testing!!! It was nice to split it up and focus so much on sparring and grappling last night, those for me are the two most difficult things. I struggle with remembering to keep good technique when I am trying to think of what to do next in sparring, but even though it is hard I always enjoy the intensity of the workout. In grappling I really enjoy it but when it comes to free rolling I get confused. I will get all excited when I get a technique, like "yay! I got this person in half guard, I know what it is!!!.......now what ?!?" I am looking forward to more awesome Saturday workouts with Cgn Bo to improve my skills, what an awesome resource we have in him!

Environmental Act

Today we went to Aloha-Huber Park to do a clean-up.  We walked around the field and picked up bottles, cans, and plastic bags.  We also found half of a watermelon.  I was really disappointed to see so many things just lying around at a school field.  I know it's summer and school's out, but we should still treat the schools with respect.  Many families have picnics during the summer, which could cause an increase in litter.  As a black belt tester, it is our responsibility to take the initiative and clean these parks up.  Cleaning up the trash helps keep the environment healthy, as well as making the experience great for future visitors.

Clean Up

On the Sunday, the whole family went to Aloha-Huber elementary to play some basketball. When playing we noticed that the whole park was kind of in dissaray, there was trash everywhere. I noticed the single trash can was overflowing with garbarge. We could have tried to pick stuff up, but it wouldn't have made much difference since the wind would've blown it out of the trash can all over again. Instead, Jonathan and I went back ( with our own garbage bags) today to clean up  the remaining trash that we saw on the field and play area. There was even a half eaten watermelon! Though the trash can had been emptied and there was a new garbage bag in, people were ignoring the trash around them. It's sad to see a park in that state, and after picking up a garbage bag full of trash, the park became a lot cleaner.

Health

After over a week of feeling terrible, I have a lot of catching up to do.  I'm behind on some of my numbers, but I'm also exceeding others.  I'm not fully recovered yet, so I have a lot of work to do in order to get back on track.  On Monday during training, I wasn't performing at my best, and I felt bad.  Today during sparring, I hope to be feeling a little better, but there are no guarantees.  All I can do is give it all that I can, which is what our team needs to do for our test.  On grading day in October, it won't matter if you are sick, injured, or didn't get enough sleep.  Everyone will be giving it their all and fight through their pain.  What I can do right now to prepare myself is try to get better and give it my all in every class.

I started boot camp yesterday at the edge and it feels great. I hope to incorporate more of those classes in my training this summer.  As I was waiting for my dad at Aim High, Zoe and I were able to go over our open forms. She was able to give me tips and suggestions, which I was grateful for. Tomorrow, my siblings and I are planning on completing another environmental act at Aloha Huber Park. More details on that later!

Monday Steven Cason

Steven Cason Forged 1st Degree Black Belt Candidate

Well we all have another test past us!  For the 1st degree team we need to see how we did later this week.  Waiting drives me nuts.  I generally want immediate feedback (just my nature I guess).

When I was working last night I saw a big difference in my partners, with some our energy seemed to feed off of each other and it made us stronger with others it seemed hard to get moving.  All we can do now is wait and see how we have been evaluated.

Steven Cason

Monday ...

I know that some of us were caught off guard by today's test. In the end the instructors do that to make sure that everyday we are pushing ourselves to our limits. After class today BSBN John came up to me and told me some things that I can improve on my kicking. I have been spending extra time on forms and grappling lately,  I need to start focusing on other aspects of my curriculum as well.

On another note, today on Facebook I saw a video of my 2 year cousin Kira doing kicks and punches with Sam. It reminded me of Jordan when he was on the sidelines watching  Jonathan, Jae, and I do class. This past Saturday, when I asked Jordan what he was drawing, he said that he was writing down possible affirmations for himself. All jordan can think about is being a ninja. It's exciting to see kids who start so young and still continue in martial arts all the way to their black belt. It's hard to dedication from kids, and to see them commit themselves to this sport is awesome.

Monday

Today we went over everything we needed for our phase test thinking it was a review.  However, it was really our test.  Having these surprise tests allow us to check ourselves to make sure we are on top of our games every day.  Although we didn't know we were being tested, we still should have been performing at 110%.  I'm still not feeling 100%, and I know I struggled with my intensity a little.  I was able to bring it back up though, and I feel that everyone did a good job of bringing the intensity up at the end.  We are sparring on Wednesday, and I hope everyone is ready.

Motivational letter

Dear Chelsea,
I am glad that you are testing this year. Although I know it has been a challenge it will all be worth it in October. This experience is  something you will never forget. Continue to keep high energy even when it is hard and show the same committment to your teammates that they have shown you. Lead by example and  bring that leadership to class every time you train, but more than that bring it out of the dojo and  into the world. If you commit yourself to every life challenge the way you have committed to this test you will be successful. Face every challenge in life with a smile and know you are strong enough to get through it. ASPIRE TO INSPIRE!!

Sorry this is late!

Intensity in Trainings

We are about 3 months out from our test in October, so now it's time to step it up.  Everyone needs to be on top of their games in every training.  With phase testing coming up, we really need to step up the level that we train at.  We will not be able to perform at 110% if we don't train every time at 110%.  If everyone tries to be more intense than their partner, we'll have a great experience.  Healthy competition brings out the best in all of us, so we need to make sure we're pushing each other to our limits.  Phase testing is this week, so I can't wait to see what everybody's got!

Self -Motivational Letter

I'm glad that you have decided to take on this big commitment. You have pushed through the difficult and stressful times and you haven't quit. I'm glad that you pushed yourself this year in doing forms for a tournament; you can see improvement in your technique. The dedicate you put in what you do shows in your performance.
- this journal post was last week's topic.  I'm sorry it's a little late

Aim High's Curriculum

Aim High's fusin curriculum is a mixture of styles ranging from Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Western Style Kickboxing, Jui Jitsu, Filipino Escrima Stick Fighting and basic self defense. Learning these different styles allows you to be able to draw from different techniques when fighting or when you're trying to defend yourself. I'm glad that Aim High offers specialty classes like kickboxing, weapons,forms, etc. While the main curriculum helps you to be more well-rounded, those classes allows you to develop skills in a specific area. I use to participate in weapons class and really enjoyed it, but stopped due to scheduling. Hopefully I can get back into that this summer.

beach fun and a deep dune with a serious enviromental act of kindness

HELLO TEAM so i just wanna start off with saying wazzup team! :D i just got back from a long 1 week trip at the beach and boy am i excited to tell you what happened. thanks to my dad and the support of my family i was able to perform a mojor enviromental act of kindness and get it done so leme fill you in on what i did. so i went around to 4 beaches one was sunset bay we didnt get any garbage from that then the next one was strawberry hill we caught alot of garbage in that area there was tissue paper everwhere and broken glass so we picked up alot! after strawberry hill we found ourselves at another beach named neskowin beach wow that beach was a dream one we found absolutely no garbage on the beach! last but not least we have the all amazing cape kiwinda! it had so much garbage though we picked up trash socks bottles glass plastic bags agh! SO MUCH GARBAGE! overall i had a great time at all of these beaches. i think i really did help the invorment physicaly and mentally also at cape kiwanda there was a huge dune that was about 100ft tall! i climbed up and ran down it well actually i ran down it 3 times but ran up 2 times i think i might suggest this to bkjn daniel or kjn jeremy and then for training you would have to climb up it and stuff ya know! :D well i hope your having a great summer iand good luck on phase 3 have a great day night or evening! sincerly, clark.ahrendt

Back to routine

Got back today from Missouri and am feeling bittersweet about it, I am looking forward to being back in routine but am really missing my family already. I got back into it with healthy grocery shopping rows, sit ups and spending time reviewing for the testing requirements and where I should be. I had a major act of kindness and a major environmental act scheduled this last weekend but being out of town longer than expected means that I am one short on those at this point. At this point I am feeling overwhelmed and very drained. I am looking forward to class tomorrow and seeing everyone!

Saturday Training

At our training yesterday, the attendance was great! We had a lot more people show up than the previous training.  I was sick last week, so I was glad to be back.  During the training, we worked on review for phase testing.  We worked sticks first, and it was great having a larger group so we were able to switch partners often.  Later on, we did the adrenal circle as a big group.  That was very interesting, because we had people of all sizes.  Everyone did great, and it was fun to be able to work together.  After that, we worked with partners or individually on whatever we needed more review on for phase testing.  Overall, this training was great, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Ninja Warrior Camp

Last week was Ninja Warrior camp at the studio, and it was great!  Ninja Warrior is a TV show where competitors face some of the craziest obstacles imaginable.  I'm a big fan of Ninja Warrior, so I was excited to be able to work the camps.  Aim High summer camps are a great place for Aim High students to hang out, but this year we saw many new faces.  About half of all of the campers were kids who have never taken a class with us, so it was great to have them.  We had the kids do crazy obstacle courses just like the TV show, and we also made cool swords and ninja masks.  We even taught them some kicks and punches.  It was a great experience and I am looking forward to the Olympics camp in July.  For all of the other testers, this is a great opportunity to volunteer and get some experience working with kids, while still having some fun.  Hope to see some of you there!

Open Forms

With phase testing coming up this week, I have really tried to focus on my open form.  Second degree candidates need to have 3/4 of their open form.  Since the last phase test, I have changed my music several times and have also completely changed my routine.  I'm still having a hard time with transitioning between combos, but I feel like this form is a lot better than my previous one.  Timing is one of the biggest issues I have right now.  I don't always have my music with me, so some moves fit with it in my head but don't translate well when the music is actually playing.  Finding the perfect match between moves and music results in an epic open form.  I'm excited to see what my teammates have to offer, as well as my own form.

My Saturday

Today was a good day. I'm happy to say we got better attendance for special training today; I'm thankful that more people could make it. It was good to go over things that we would be tested over. It was a long day at work, but Jonathan and I were able to review knife disarms with KJN, which I needed to review before the test. Never be hesitant to ask if you don't know something, the instructors are always glad to help. I watched some of the testing for the kids today, and its always nice to see thier smiles afterwards. This evening I also got to hang out with my friend. Most of my friends are moving for college, and though I'll be able to see them if they can come back for holidays, we won't be hanging out constantly anymore. We talked about making summer count, since everyone would be leaving soon. Monday is the first day of college. I'm taking a summer course in Math. Work, school, hanging out in the sun with friends; I'm excited to get the rest of my summer started. :)

Good week of Ninja Warrior Camp

Hi guys! Yesterday marked the end of Ninja Warrior Camp. I was only there half days but it was still tiring. Kids need to be constantly entertained and you need to have a lot of games and crafts in store for them. What was suprising about this camp was that the majority of the kids were not Aim High students. They have either have been referred by friends or have seen our website, etc. By the end of the week though you had a couple parents asking about the teachers and classes and wanting to join which is exciting.

Traveling

Hey  everyone sorry I did not make it to training Saturday or Monday, I will be missing the rest of this week as well. I am in Missouri visiting my family, I was planning on only being here til yesterday but I changed my ticket when I found out that my Grandma is not doing very well. I have struggled keeping consistent with my training so far, I have been doing my pushups and situps and on Saturday I went on a 5mile run/walk at a nature park with my cousins. This week has been spent at the nursing home helping my Grandma and it is too hot and humid to be outside during the day, and the nursing home is not really the most appropriate place to do workouts. I will be back and hitting it hard soon though. I am also newly inspired. One of my cousins is training for a full ironman triathalon. He makes my workouts look like nothing. He gets up at fourforty five to run or swim for and hour and a half and in the evenings he rides his bike for three and a half hours or may run 20 miles. It is very intense and he is very good at what he is doing. In the training races he has done while working up to this he has been on the podium all but once. My running even for the half marathon would have really only been a warm up for him. He had some great training tips and I am looking forward to getting back in routine, but am truly enjoying the time spent here. One of my aunts and I were having a conversation and I was commenting that it was exciting to see everyone. She said "honey, life is exciting!" That has stuck with me every moment this week. Each smile, laugh and conversation with eachother is something that I am fully appreciating. I am so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life! Miss you all!

Saturday Workouts

Hey gang!

There has been a lot of press this week on the Saturday work outs so I thought I would give you my input on it as well.

First I want to thank Jenalyn, Jonathan, and Bo for being willing to invest their personal time on us and this test.  And also for their infinite patience with me as I train with them.  I don't know about the rest of you but my experience is a person's most valuable asset is their time.  Believe me I appreciate all the effort you are putting into this to make us feel welcome.

This is how I have decided to treat this.  Every Saturday (barring emergencies) is scheduled on my calendar for these workouts.  If I have other tasks I need to finish for testing I will figure out how to get them done after 8:30 when the training ends.

I would like to challenge everyone to pick a different person to pair up with each Saturday.  The only way to get to know someone is to do something with him.  There may be some practical limitations with this for example, Grayson and I may not be a good pairing for ground fighting (since I out weigh him approximately 3 to 1) but we can certainly work well together on forms, kicks, weapons, etc. and I am open to constructive criticism from anyone on our team.  We owe each other this criticism.

Remember as we do activities together we will grow closer.  We will learn each others strengths and weaknesses and hopefully become friends in the process.

See everyone on Saturday.

Steve

Self motivational post for Steven Cason

You have inspired me to continue with martial arts and pursue my black belt.  I have trained with you and you never quit, you just keep going and you helped me by doing that.  I can see the improvements you have made in technique as we have trained together and you are growing as a martial artist.  I enjoy your humor and dedication to the arts.  Keep on going you will succeed.

Silly as it may seem someone actually told me some of what I wrote above early in our training this year.  Not all but some.  I still think about that when I am feeling tired, depressed, or overwhelmed during this process and it helps.

Recap

It's been a busy couple of weeks, and i apologize for neglecting some of those journal entries. I have just recently graduated, and it feels weird. I have been at ACMA (my school) for 7 years and there is going to be new and exciting changes in the next couple of months. With the graduation and all, I have had a lot of family in town visitng. Jonathan and I weren't present last week in class so we can spend time with our family. Most of our family came from out of town, and they wanted to see new things and eat out at well-known resturaunts. From that week of going out, it's very hard to stay true to a black belt diet. Everybody would be ordering burgers and getting sodas, while you're the one ordering salad. Also when having everyone around, try to remember that moderation with food is key.

Saturday Training

This past Saturday was our second Forged group training.  Although we made the trainings optional, the hope was that we would see everybody there.  Training for your black belt is a big milestone, and if you aren't willing to make it to these trainings, this isn't the year.  I know it seems harsh, and I know some people had reasons for not making it, but we are just a few months away and I still feel like we have a lot of work to do.  That being  said, we still have time to really focus on our training as we come closer to the test.

The reason I was not present on Saturday was because I was sick.  Your health is a very important part to your test, and although we want to feel like we're pushing ourselves to the limit, we must watch our health.  It doesn't matter how many push ups and sit ups you've done, or how many acts of kindness or forms repetitions you've done if you're not in one piece in October.  If you are sick or injured, take a break and recover so you are back to 100% next class.  Coming back today, I still wasn't 100%, and I felt it.  However, it was very fun to come back to class to train with everyone!

my last blog for next week

HELLO TEAM this is clark and my 23/40 journal topic Dear clark you attitude is unbreakable you can do anything i feel that you have great capabilities inside of you you hold the key but you need to take that key and unleash your fury inside you when you do that anything you set your mind to can be accomplished this letter isnt a complement its a fact and everyone knows that it is i hope that this message reaches you not only reach your hands but touuch your thoughts have a great day. sincerly, clark to, clark hey guys thank you so much for reading my letter this means alot to me hey dont keep those opinoins inside of you share them with me comment on my letter and tell me what i could have done better . bye guys have a great day! :D sincerly, cklark.a by the way this is my last blog for a week im really sorry you guys well i see you all in 1 week bye!! :D

Saturday Training

Hey team I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the training on Saturday. My dad had overslept from working to hard and I set my alarm incorrectly, so we couldn't make it. If we left to go there, we would be late by the time we got there. It was both of our faults because both of us failed to set our alarms properly, by either setting our phones to vibrate, or setting alarm to PM instead of AM. I have already begun to make up for it by doing some cardio, sit ups, and push-ups. I plan to continue making up for it by jogging, doing pull ups/rows, more cardio, more push-ups, more sit-ups, and coming up with a Bo Staff routine. Again, I am sorry I couldn't make it, and Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

epic faces and cleanups! :D

HELLO TEAM!!! today i had a great but sad day the great day is because i did another one of my solve major enviromental acts again the bad part: i had to miss training that was the only rason why i had missed out on it but i would have loved to be there. so for my major enviromental act i did a fresh water muscle search and rescue. i had only found 3 because they blended in with the rocks in the creek that i was searching in but the foundation was called johnson creek so there was aton of preshwater muscles. i had such a great time at the search and rescue for fresh water muscles but again i had to miss out on training..... well thank you all so much for listening or reading my blog have a great day! sincerly, clark.ahrendt. :):):):):):):):):):) :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Talent Show II

Hey guys thanks for coming to my talent show on Tuesday. Everyone loved the act, and they were most surprised when we turned on our light sabers. My friend Cooper was trying to record it on his 3DS, but he told me later that he didn't have very good lighting. A few mistakes were made, like how I hit Jae Jae's foot in the beginning, how someone hit the curtains, how someone didn't Keyup. We also had a backstage catastrophe. A minute before it was time for us to go on, we grabbed the light sabers. Taylor and I have Bo Staff light sabers, and have 2 separate flash lights. When we got them, Taylor's 2 flashlights were stuck together. We were all panicking that we wouldn't make it on time. Eventually, we got it fixed. At the end, all of the performers went backstage and congratulated each other. I learned a few things about Tuesday's performance that I applied to Wednesday's performance. Too bad Wednesday was the last day of school...

Hello im responding to weekly journal # 22 yay! so i just kindof wanted to talk about how it feels to train in a karate studio with many others forms of karate not only do i learn more but i can appply myself to more things. some of the things ive learned are martial arts ju jitsu mma sparing all that stuff it is so great! thanks for listening to my blog allso i would love to share that if you guys would like to have any large enviromental acts come to to me we can arange a SOLVE event its a group thatr devotes a part of theyre life to cleaning oregon!

peace out black belt testers!   :D

have a great summer

sincerly, Clark Ahrendt

Kick a thon

I can't speak for anyone else but I had a good time Saturday at the Kick a thon.  It was a lot of fun.

My goal was 3000 and I made it to 3290 so I was pleased with my performance.  It wasn't the high count but non the less a good work out for an older guy I thought.  I thought this was a good test for our endurance and aerobic condition at this point.

Clark was a big help to me but he did tell me to rest a bit more than I thought he should have.  After the event he told me I was shaking (it must have been with excitement or anticipation - on second thought just cause I was a bit tired).  Thanks for the support Clark.

Steven Caosn

Kick-A-Thon

Hey team! Congratulations to those who took part of the Kick-A-Thon! At first, I didn't have a counter, but then a nice man got up and volunteered to count for me. I was going pretty fast doing a real set of kicks (kick,set down, kick, set down) instead of machine gun kicks. At one point, I reached 1,000 kicks. Before I knew it, I was at 1,500, and then 2,000! When I looked around, it looked like a couple of people were cheating. When they told us to do pop-up kicks, some people were jumping at all, and a lot of people were doing machine gun kicks even though I was sure you weren't supposed to. I got a total of exactly 2,900 kicks. There was this one person who did 94 more kicks than I did, and he/she was doing machine gun kicks. Another person who cheated did something like 3,914 kicks, and he/she took 3 water breaks. I saw that person do machine gun kicks, and yet that person still did more than 1,000 more than I did. Was I supposed to make them perfect, or just fast?

Talent Show Tomorrow (Read this)

Hey team I won't count this one but I was wondering if any of you would like to come to my school, Kinnaman Elementary, tomorrow at 6:00 PM for my talent show. It is based off the latest demo theme (Star Wars) and some of it is kind of copied, but modified from the demo. I understand that you may not be able to come because of your schedule, but it would be nice if you came to see Jordan, JD,       Jae Jae, Taylor and I perform at our school.  It is not required to do the background check, and keep in mind that the show will be 1-2 hours and we WILL be last (save the best for last!).  Please come and/or wish us luck!

P.S. Do you guys really read other people's blogs? 
P.S.S  I also have a qeustion; is getting 100% on a pre-test considered a WOW?

Mixed martial arts system

The blended system of martial arts that we learn at Aim High is a chance to learn basics and some advanced techniques in a variety of styles. The goal seems to be to create a well rounded martial artist and to be able to have enough knowledge in each area that we could defend ourselves effectively from a variety of attacks. For me it has been a great system because I like to learn and have the constant variety that our classes provide. As I have grown as a martial artist I am continually amazed and intrigued by the amount and variety of different styles of martial arts, and how complex the different systems can be. I have also appreciated it in understanding more about myself as a martial artist and what my strengths and weaknesses are physically and mentally. For example I really enjoy kickboxing and have spent more time outside of regular classes attending BSBN John's kickboxing classes. I enjoy it and look forward to it every week. I have learned that one of my strengths is being able to remember complicated combos and my basics in kickboxing have improved quite a bit. The area that I most struggle in is applying the techniques in a sparring situation. For me this is true of the tae kwan do sparring as well as the jiu jitsu system. This is motivating me to really focus on how to improve that and pay extra attention to application of techniques and not just memorizing them.  Our system of mixed martial arts at Aim High is a blend of muay thai kickboxing, jiu jitsu, tae kwan do, escrima, western boxing and street wise self defense. I am happy that we have had the opportunity to do so many different styles and have learned what styles I enjoy most. I am also looking forward to using this information that I have learned to create a more specific focus while at the same time continuing the variety and excitement that the mixed martial arts system provides.

Field Day

Hey team! Yesterday at school was this big yearly school event called field day. The 5th graders, like me, had to work this year because it's kind of how we pay back to the people who helped set it up when we were in 4th grade and below. Field Day is a day where people set up a bunch of attraction and games for students to play. They have about 50 stations, you spend 12 minutes with you class at each station, and Field Day is 8 hours long. The fun part about working at Field Day is that you get extra snow cones! I was working at the Standing Long Jump station, where you have to see how far you can jump. Every once in a while, we would get what we called a "Dead Round", because sometimes there wasn't a class during a 12 minute period. Usually, that's when most people sneak off to grab their snow cones, hoping no one comes while their gone. I was signed up to work in the morning, and play in the afternoon, but after lunch break, Mr.Leirman, our PE teacher, asked Mike, Prince, Tony and I to help work at other stations because there wasn't anyone there. I don't know how he pulled our names, but Tony and Mike ran Tether ball, and Prince and I worked at Badminton. It was annoying working with Prince because he's really imature, and he kept on complaining about how bored he was. He even walked up to me and asked "Can I go slack off?". So I told him "Why don't you go ask Mr.Leirman if you can go slack off!". I was getting annoyed by his constant wining. Then, he says "He'll probably say no." "What makes you think I would say 'yes' to you?" I said. He didn't have an answer, so he just walked away. :D. I had the best time of my life on Field Day. I worked with my friends, ate snow cones, and even "out talked" the most laziest kid in the school! The best part is that I get to run the bouncy house when I get older. *Epic Samurai face*

SOLVE enviromental events!

Hello team so you know why i wasn't at the kickathon early? its because i had just did a huge major environmental act of kindness i had helped a group named SOLVE do one of they're environmental acts.
SOLVE is a group of people who dedicate themselves to cleaning up Oregon and other things like streets cities oceans etc. So today i helped them clean by a local grocery store My job was to clean up 23rd and Thurman street both up and down it was so fun! I did this on June 9th throughout the cleanup i was very disappointed in my community out of a 10 pound bag of garbage that i put all my trash in about 75% of the bag was filled with cigarettes and ashes gum wrappers socks almost all the disgusting stuff you can imagine.
i loved the trip it had showed me the amount of garbage that is being polluted it really made me sad on the good part it has made me more active inviromentally. Hey also if you wanted to join one of SOLVES events search em up theyre really awsome they have a ton of events for you to do!


Thank you so much for reading my blog have a great day!

sincerly, Clark ahrendt

to: anyone who reads this!

What it means to study mixed martial arts

Steven Cason Forged 1st degree Black Belt Candidate June 7, 2012

The mixed style of martial arts we study at Aim High is a little bit of Tae Kwon Do, a smattering of American Boxing, a splash of Maui Tai Kickboxing, a dash of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, a smidgen of Escrima Stick fighting, and traditional Palgwe Pooms.

For me it is interesting to see the commonality between all the techniques we study.  For instance the importance of footwork in sport sparring, kickboxing, and stick techniques.  When studying self defense techniques all of the disciplines come into play for our techniques.  The individual techniques are used as building blocks to put together more advanced and complex activities.

I see advantages to studying a blend of martial arts styles because it gives everyone a bigger tool kit to draw from.  For example if you just study ground fighting then how will you react if you need to box?  Or vice versa if you just study boxing how will you react if you need to go to the ground?

Another advantage is each individual is a little bit different so studying a variety of techniques will allow a person to pick what works best for them. We also need to recognize that as we progress our styles may change as our skill levels improve and some of the techniques that didn't work early in our careers can be developed over time making us stronger martial artists.

I have also tried to follow this philosophy in my personal and professional life.  As I was talking to a co-worker today I mentioned I don't mind correcting mistakes so long as they are some other person's mistake to correct.  Meaning I don't like to make mistakes but if I make one I will admit it and correct it, but my goal is to be able to handle any assignment given to me correctly and also have the depth to clean up any mess that needs to be worked on.  Lets face it.  It is basic survival, no company wants to employ someone who does poor work.  Most companies do want to employ people who can walk into unknown situations and make them work if they weren't working to start with.

The way I have been able to do that professionally is to take assignments on that are slightly beyond my comfort zone.  When I first started work everything was outside of my comfort zone as I matured my confidence and other people's confidence in me grew and so did my ability to solve problems and bring change to organizations I worked for.  The same is true in martial arts.


Steven Cason

Camp Rivendale

Hey everyone! Yesterday all the 5th graders in my school got to go to Camp Rivendale to celebrate graduating from Elementary School!  It was absolutely CRAZY.  There were games all over the field such as Badminton, Horseshoe toss, Tennis, Croquet, and even Volleyball with I giant beach ball!  There were also a bunch of attractions, such as a pin-making booth, photo booth with Rock and Roll props, and a station where you could get bubbles and those boppy balloons.  At about 10:00 AM, the volunteers handed out lemonade.  One person had a really good idea, and it was to poke a hole in their bottle cap so they could just squirt lemonade into his mouth.  After lunch was over, I decided to grab a boppy balloon for my sister, but when the bus came by, I found out that we aren't allowed to bring balloons onto the bus, so I had to pop my balloon.  I even made sure no one messed with it because that was the last boppy balloon that was at the booth.  At least it didn't cost me any money!

sry if i havent responded in a while also a question to a campfire question!

Hello team so I'm very sorry if i haven't responded back in a bit of time i am going to be making up for that by blogging once every 2 days! ya! so today i kind of wanted to tell you guys and gals that remember when we were out by the campfire on the forged trip and he had asked us what is a martial artist? well i didn't get to answer that so now i can in front of the whole team so..... what i wanted to say is that: A martial artist is a person who devotes part of they're life to learning self discipline control and management over anger stress and will learn to control they're body physically and mentally. well thanks guys for listening to my blog about a question from the trip uh... please let me know if you think this answer is legit or not please comment on this and let me also know if you liked it or whats on Ur mind.

have a flabergastic day!

sincerly clark,

to: anyone thats reading this right now at this moment in time :D

task 5

Aim High has instilled in me the importance of Attitude. Most people don’t realize that martial arts isn’t just a physical sport. It’s also about your mentality and spirituality as well. Aim High teaches us that. I also realize I have a family there by the amount of support shown from people who have gained their belt before me. Everyone strives to lead by example, and people are always glad to help out and give advice to others. Not only did I establish a family, but being at Aim High has also made me a well-rounded person, which I am thankful for. I learned to sharpen ‘the blades of my life’. A mindset can change anything. One of the main reasons I like this sport is because it lets me channel my emotions into something. I have never dedicated my time or committed myself into something like this before and there is a reason why I keep going. Teamwork, physical activity and endurance, it helps me do it all. I need to improve. Aim High emphasizes while healthy competition can be a good thing, you should base your success on your previous actions and not those of others. Throughout my years at Aim High, our physical curriculum was always combined with some sort of knowledge base test. Just like in actual school, you can memorize answers of a test but never actually learn or understand the importance of that knowledge. For me, after being a part of something for so long, the information never really did sink in until I went for my 1st degree black belt. All those lessons about self-confidence, integrity, disciplined applied so well to the task at hand. But the whole point of going through this was to become well rounded and use this information to improve not just in this sport, but in my life as well. Aim High is different because it makes you be aware of the world around you, the effect a person has on others by doing acts of kindness and environmental acts. We're suppose to take what we learn 'out of the dojo and into the world.'

This weekend

This weekend was a great workout weekend, special training on Saturday followed by kickboxing and the Starlight Run, talk about kicking it back into gear! It was great to see the turnout for Saturday morning and Saturday night. Cgn Bo and I spent a couple hours after training doing a clean up at Tualatin Hills nature park as part of National Trails Day. It was pretty clean so we continued to clean up on 170th which was not so clean. We ran into a business owner who came over to thank us saying that he usually sees people throwing out garbage, not cleaning it up. It was really neat to see him so happy over something that was really not too strenuous for us. It is really more about the process of getting out there and doing our environmental acts and acts of kindness that seems to be the most difficult. Once out there I really enjoyed it and it was great to see the impact we made on someone.

Saturday "Special" Special Training

I just wanted to express my gratitude to Cgn Jenalyn, Cgn Johathan, and Cgn Bo for pulling our group together last Saturday for special training.  They all did a great job organizing and I thought it was a great workout.

It is this kind of dedication to what we are doing that keeps me coming back to Aim High.  I haven't met anyone in the advanced ranks who wants to do the minimum.  Everybody works hard here and it is a pleasure to be associated with good people like this.

I hope to see everyone at the Kick-a-thon on Saturday!

Weekly task

     Aim High different than most martial arts schools.  If you ask people what they want out of a martial arts school, chances are you will get a lot of people just hoping to learn how to fight.  At Aim High, you do learn combat skills, but also much more than that.  At the end of every class, we recite the purpose of Aim High, which is, "to develop ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually, with good character."  The combat part of martial arts is part of developing ourselves physically.  We also develop ourselves mentally and spiritually through everything else that we do.  An important part of this is a focus on giving back to the community.  Instead of just teaching students how to kick and punch, we really try to make them better members of the community.

     At the last belt test, students were required to do 3 acts of kindness prior to being awarded their belts.  This was a good way to show students early on that helping others is an important part of being a martial artist.  On our black belt test, we are required to do major acts of kindness, as well as major environmental acts.  This allows us to interact with our community instead of just focusing on our own circle.  

     As a beginner belt, you mainly focus on your ability to perform the techniques taught in class.  Once you get to the intermediate belts, thats when you begin to interact even more with your peers, and this turns into healthy competition.  An advanced belt focuses more on expanding their martial arts training out of the dojo.  They make it a habit to be mindful of their acts of kindness and realize what the acts of kindness mean.  

     Black belt testers must really understand what it truly means to give back to the community.  These major acts of kindness help us become aware of others in our community and it also helps us with our martial arts journey.  In the Warrior classes at Aim High, we teach the students to say "respect" when they bow.  This helps them understand that respect is a big part of martial arts.  Martial artists are taught to be respectful to their teachers, their parents, and their peers.  A part of showing respect to the community is by helping others.  Whether it's by picking up trash at a park, helping out at the food bank, or even holding a fundraiser to help those who are less fortunate, helping out the community is a big part of our black belt journey at Aim High.

     What makes Aim High different is not the fact that we are good at kicking, tricking, breaking, or forms.  It's not that we have lots of different colored mats, a big fan, or hundreds of students and a small parking lot.  What makes Aim High different is our focus on becoming not just a well-rounded martial artist, but also a better person.  We take our training and apply it to our lives not just in the dojo, but out of it too.  Earning a black belt at Aim High doesn't mean that you are the best kicker in the world.  What it means is that you understand that your training in the studio follows you even when you leave.  A well-rounded martial artist is one who "develops themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually, with good character."  That is what an Aim High Black Belt means.

Steven Cason what sets us apart?

Steven Cason Forged 1st Degree Black Belt Candidate.

I was talking to Master Null on Saturday shortly before the Edwards Center class started and was asking him a bit about what his perspectives were on the martial arts industry as a whole and how Aim High measures up.

He mentioned he has seen some schools award black belts to people for simply performing two forms, breaking a couple of plastic boards, and demonstrating some basic techniques.  This seems to be a lot different than what I am executing now.  And I think it is a good thing.

BSBN Kelly Dodge has told me similiar stories.

I am confident that I will not be awarded my Black Belt at Aim High unless I have earned it.

We do so many things here to build confidence  and promote good actions for society in all members of the community (from young kids to adults).  This is important.  The public today seems to want someone to help but very few people and organizations are willing to step up and dedicate their time and resource to executing.  We have a lot of arm chair quarter backs in the general populace today.  I don't see this at Aim High.  It is the main reason I have stuck with them the last four years.

No one at Aim High has insisted I be the best at anything I do here.  They do insist I do something better than I did before as I progress.  I appreciate that.

Steven Cason

Weekly task 5

There are many things about Aim High that set us apart. Aim High is a family and the roots of that family truly exemplify spiritually, mentally, and physically, well rounded individuals. The leaders lead by example and do not ask students to do things that they are not willing to do themselves. The non-profit status and scholarships that are provided for students who can't afford to train are examples of Aim High giving back to the community. As students we are encouraged and expected to give back to the community through leadership projects, acts of kindness and environmental acts.  Aim High values respect and tradition while at the same time encouraging us to explore different styles of martial arts. The concept of "out of the dojo and into the world" encourages respect for all relationships and interactions with others outside of the studio as well as to the different environments we are in everyday. Aim High encourages all of us to continue to improve our skills and to strive to be better. We need to be doing our personal best and not someone elses. At the same time we are improving ourselves physically there is also a mental component. It is important to have a good attitude and to remember that we are in charge of how we are feeling and thinking. We can push through physical challenges because we have the mental strength and attitude to do so. We are to treat our bodies with respect by eating healthy to fuel for our workouts and showing others how to do so. We are enouraged to create a sphere of influence through our major acts of kindness and environmental acts, our group project, and by encouraging those close to us to become part of our support team.  We are a part of a team, and together we push and influence eachother to become better martial artists and better people.