IM BACK!!!

Hello team as you can probably tell i am finally back from my long ten day trip.And when i came back i had come up with a plan to becoming not only more fit but becoming more healthier so i can train better in doing so i am not playing a single electronic thing until the end of my blacl belt test and im running twice a week every week starting this week an i am completely cutting out glutten from my diet and eating more salads i hope that by doing this i can become more fit than i nwas before if you have any advice for me or any tips please just leave a response for me and i will accept it. THANK YOU FOR READING MY BLOG :D and its really good to be back again doing karate. sincerly, clark to: The black belt team

Monday Workout and Operation Shoebox

Steven Cason Forged 1st degree black belt candidate 2012

As usual I had lots of fun working out with the gang last night.  I learned quite a bit about proper execution of forms (not just Palgwe 4 which KJN detailed out with us).  I try to remember what works well in one form will also apply to all the other forms I am executing.  I try not to forget that.

I was tickled when I was prepping the group to start working on our Operation Shoebox project when Antonio let me know he is already working on collecting old cell phones to allow calling cards to be provided to the soldiers overseas.  If Antonio is willing I would love to see an Operation Shoe Box cell phone collection performed at the studio much like a food drive.  I would love to see Antonio make a pitch to BKJN Dan and KJN Jeremy to do that.  Meanwhile everyone see if you have any old unused cell phones at home so they can be donated for this good cause.  ALSO DO NOT FORGET TO WIPE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION YOU HAVE ON ANY PHONE DONATED FOR THIS.

I will meet with our group on Wednesday at 7 to talk about how the rest of the group will be able to participate in this project.

Steven Cason

Urgent News about Training tomorrow!

Hey team I just found out through CGN Jenalyn that there IS NO FORGED TRAINING TOMORROW planned due to the Camping Trip. I am sorry that this is last minute and couldn't contact each of you individually. Ironically, I decided to get everyone's phone # and/or email on Saturday just in case this kind of thing happened. You probably won't see this message until you come back from AHAMA. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience but this was the only way to inform you about this situation. I will get everyone's email and/or phone # on Monday.

Junior Black Belts (Please read)

After last night, my dad and I have been talking about it, and we started to come up with ways to support our opinion (letting kids test for their black belt, no matter what age). The end result sounded like this: "I think kids should be able to test for their black belt because kids have the ability to train just like adults. They may not be able to do the same things in some cases, but can push just as hard and put the same amount of effort as an adult would. If the argument is not being able to fulfill certain requirements due to age restrictions, would that mean older people couldn't test for their black belt either? Both age groups have the ability to PUSH as hard as an adult tester would. To me, it's not about doing each specific requirement, but is about putting the same amount of effort into it if you can't do the same exact requirments."

Please post your thoughts on this topic because I have a feeling we are going to have to support our opinion and I would like to hear everyone's ideas to make 1 big presentation about this.

Adventures in Hawaii #2: Sparring

On my second and final day, we had sparring class.  The bad news was that I didn't bring my sparring gear from home. The good news was that a nice instructor their let me borrow his gear, which was a little to big for me, but not uncomfortably big. I was matched up with kids who were close to my age. One was Brown (I believe that is the second to last belt before black belt there), one was a green belt, but both were 13.  The do a 3 point system, which means 3 points to win.  They also have a different partnering system.  Other than that, the rules are the same as if you were at a tournament.  My first sparring round was with the brown belt. I noticed that they have many techniques of sparring, (I think that's interesting) and they seem to be they kind of people who wait for you to come to them before they attack. I got 3 points, the other boy got 2 points. Then, I started sparring the second guy. I actually lost that one because we were both tied and he snuck in a point while I was attacking.  I learned that an important thing to remember while sparring is blocking yourself as much as possible, even if you are attacking. After that, my dad and I went to talk to the instructor, Sifu Iverson, to trade our forms.

Wait for my next Kajukenbo story in "Adventures in Hawaii #3: Sharing Forms"!

RFKC

Last week I went out to Royal Family Kids Camp and helped the kids get ready and dressed for a fancy dinner and dance. What an amazing organization!!! I heard about the camp from BSBN John Leitner and from Jean Edwards the founder of the company I work for. She is such an amazing person and a true role model for me. I am looking forward to speaking with her as one of my interview projects. Jean is the camp director and has done many things to help these children. They had dresses, shoes and purses that the girls got to pick out and wear and the boys wore tuxedos. The girls had their hair done, their nails done and some makeup. You could tell that for many of them this was something they had never experienced other than at camp. Not only did it help to build their confidence, they got to keep the dress and purse that they picked out. Many of the children are in foster  homes and have been moved around many times throughout their lives. They have a one on one mentor/camp counselor who they spend time with throughout the week of camp that they build a rapport with and for many this becomes one of the few positive relationships that they have had with an adult. Our instructors also spent some time down there teaching the kids martial arts, there was also swimming, horseback riding, dress up, arts and crafts, woodwork and other camp activities. You could see the excitement and appreciation that the kids had for the experience. It was a great reminder to appreciate the supportive childhood I had. I have such a great respect for the children who I encountered while I was there. I could see the strength in their spirits and the ability to have fun despite the rough circumstances and backgrounds that they had come from.

Fun with Master Callos and Essential Tremors

Steven Cason Forged 1st Degree Black Belt Candidate 2012

I just wanted to comment on how much I enjoyed my time with Master Callos tonight.  We all had a great time in the Adult class practicing payload delivery (where we strike the pad and run through our opponent covering our face as we spin and turn).

I can see a lot of similarity between his teaching style and KJN and BKJN's.  In other words I can see where their roots are.

I also enjoyed our time together with the Forged team. Especially when he was talking about Empathy.

This brings me to the second section of my blog this week.

I work with a person who has a disease called Essential Tremors which is a dysfunction in which the person will be subject to uncontrollable shaking.  He has always enjoyed working with his hands but it was painful to watch him as he was trying to install a circuit board in a PC or tighten a screw.  He always struggled with it and was able to get the job done but it just took a lot of concentration and will power.  I have always admired him for being able to keep a good attitude and deal with his condition.

Recently his medications lost their effectiveness in controlling the shaking so he opted to have a surgical procedure done in which he had two metal rods inserted into his brain and then wires were run from the rods to a device similar to a pace maker.  After his surgery was completed he then went to his doctor and they turned the device on.  He said after a couple of hours of tuning the system up his shaking has disappeared.  He demonstrated for me earlier this week at work and his hands are rock solid steady.

I am just amazed at what medical science can accomplish now.  And how courageous this man is to allow a complete stranger drill two holes in his head and run rods into the base of his brain.

Moral of the story is don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

Steven Cason

im back!

Hello again team im back and i kind of wanted to talk about last mornings satuday training when we went running that running had hurt me so bad i came with no preparing when i ran i felt like giving up but i have come up with a plan so since the running had made feel bad i decided that if i can pace myself and do more running then i can acheive my goal into becoming a better runner i know i cant give up i am given the choice to but i always say no i wont stop until i am forced to so thats my plan and by the time the next saturday morning training comes ill be ready. oh by the way quick updater on my schedule i am going to be missing 3 classes because i am going on a trip to Chicago yyyaaaaaayyyyyy! but that means that today is my last class and im going to give it my all have a great day! sincerly,clark ahrendt p.s: im really sorry that i havent blogged in a long time but dont worry im going to be blogging more often now.

Adventures in Hawaii #1: Forms

              Hey team! I just came back from my trip in Hawaii yesterday, and I am happy to share some of the things I have done there. I'm sorry I couldn't blog before, but the WiFi wasn't working well or wasn't free there. Let the stories begin!

              When I first walked into the place I trained at, Kajukenbo, I was amazed. It looked like a gym, had 2 bathrooms on one side, along with a fountain, and on the other end was this massive stage to put your gear. For practicing, I was put in the back with the white belts. I noticed some things that were different compared to Aim High right off the bat. First of all, they don't sound off. The second thing I noticed is that their Ready Position for forms are different, and they call their forms their Kata. They have black squares on the floor to tell the students where and how to line up. Before class started, the head teacher, Sifu Erica, introduced me to the class. Apparentley, they have students come from the Mainland to train at their school all the time! After that, we did warm ups and then forms. During forms, I learned Kata #1, their first form. (It took a lot of practice afterwards, but I eventually got it). At the end of class, we bowed to the picture of the founder (passed away), bowed to the instructors, and bowed to the other students. Kajukenbo is awesome!        

Saturday Training and Ear infections

Steven Cason Forged 1st degree Black Belt Candidate

The last couple of weeks have been pretty hard for me.  I have had constant head aches and eye and tooth pain at work it just didn't want to go away.

I finally went to the doctor on Friday turns out I have an Ear infection.  The pain is still there but hopefully when the antibiotics kick in it will go away.  It is always surprising to me how something like this can impact both attitude and performance.

Just so everyone knows I will be in training on Monday but will be on a family camping trip Tuesday through Friday this week.  I will be at special training on Sat the 14th.

I want to thank both Jenalyn and Jonathon for putting together an interesting work out on Saturday morning.  The work stations were good for me and the kick boxing drills were very good for me.  I was able to rep some of the techniques BSBN John Wright had worked on with us a couple of weeks ago.

I would also like to express my special thanks to CGN Holly for spending the time with me in forms class last Thursday to spec out the X stance and break down Palgwe 6 with me in detail much appreciated.

Time to get ready for the camping trip!

Steven Cason

Empathy

Hey team I am writing just to say how excited I am for us all to be back to routine, I am hoping that I will be able to be at special training in the morning. I am currently sitting in the emergency room and am having  a feeling it is going to be a late night. I am working with a client who has dementia and is very confused. She has been screaming for the last 3 hours and I am feeling bad because I am not able to comfort her. I have tried everything from singing, teddy bears, talking to her and holding her hand.This for me is not specifically my empathy training but that is what comes to mind. She is in a strange place with strange people and unable to say what is upsetting her. This makes me appreciate my ability to communicate and also makes me empathize with the staff who work with her regularly and part of their job is to try and comfort her. It has been especially difficult because a little over a year ago, I used to manage the house that she lives in. When I was there she could make her own lunch and do most daily tasks on her own. This is such a drastic change from who she used to be and I feel very bad for her. It reminds me to appreciate every moment and everything that I am capable of, you never know when you may be unable to do those.things anymore. Hopefully I will see you guys in the morning, but if not please understand that I am with you in spirit!

Saturday Workout Steven Cason

Steven Cason Forged 1st Degree Black Belt Candidate.

I just wanted to thank Jenalyn and Jonathon for organizing these Saturday workouts and keeping them going.  Also CGN Devon and Holly Phillips for donating their Saturday morning for our cause.

Ann Marie and Clark you guys did great gutting out the run to Sunset High and back.

All in all it was fun and as everyone knows we can always use more aerobic workouts.

Thanks to all who participated.

Steven