Perseverance

               

Each month we talk about a "Character Counts" word. Reminding the students that who they are matters more than any belt they can achieve. 

We are switching gears to- PERSEVERANCE - "never give up." 

It's easy to say: 

"I CAN'T do it" 

"I'll NEVER be able to do that"

"I'm not good at that"

But, just watch this video and check out what happens when you never give up.  

                                         

Student Highlight- Mr. Myles Murphy

Mr. Myles Murphy is a white belt at KiCK Martial Arts. Our school is going to Haiti to train with the children at the KiCK school there. In doing so, we have started gathering together items that the orphaned and abandoned children need. Things like: toothpaste, underwear, socks, clothes. All things that we may take for granted on a daily basis. 

Mr. Myles had his birthday party on Monday, February 23rd and instead of receiving gifts, he asked everyone to bring items to donate to Haiti. Here's why: because they needed things more than him. A 10 year old boy, gave up his birthday presents and put others first. Myles is a perfect example of a leader, but more than that, a humble leader. 

KiCK Martial Arts 

(816) 746-1417

kickint@gmail.com 

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Creating Leaders Locally and Globally

Missions for Children

KiCK Martial Arts - The GAME CHANGERS. 

We believe that children have the capacity to change the world. They just need some help and some guiding principles. We get these principles (self-control, compassion, integrity, humility, and perserverance) from God himself through the Bible. This promotes children to better themselves through character. Strong character development is a game changer in this world.

A huge part of character development happens through service. Serving others and putting them before yourself is a game changer in itself. KiCK is all about Kids (internationally) Changing Kids, but also helping through local missions. We like to do small missions on "Service Saturday's." The first Saturday of every month we take the kids to serve other people. This is eye opening for children and shows them different ways they can CHANGE THE WORLD.

Our first Service Saturday is- Saturday, December 6th, 2014. 

We're taking our class to a local church off 29th and Troost in Kansas City, MO. Our students at KiCK will be training alongside other children who have had struggling lives since they were born. Teaching kids to serve one another through their martial arts training.

Each month we take our service to different places. Stay tuned for January's Service location!

WE ARE......KiCK Martial Arts...... THE GAME CHANGERS 

Interacting With Children

                       

                     INTERACTING WITH CHILDREN

KiCK Martial Arts is involving children in big idea topics with a chalkboard wall! 

The kids love to write stuff before and after classes and we love seeing what they respond with! 

SO FUN!  

We've seen tons of answers to this question:

 HOW WOULD YOU CHANGE THE WORLD?

"Loving each other more" 

"Be Kind"

"Kid president"

"Help people who have cancer"

"Spread KiCK around the world"

"Help all others"

Children have great minds that are BIG. They have the capacity to change the world and love being involved. Finding little ways to let children explain their point of view makes them feel important. That's huge. We want all children to feel comfortable enough to talk to us, right? But maybe, adults have to spark the conversation first. It can happen through our...

 DAILY BEAD CEREMONY

At the end of our classes parents have the opportunity to honor their child in front of the whole class. A bead may be a small thing, but the bead is not the importance. They get your heart, mind, and honor - a life changing feeling for a child. 

BEAD COLORS:

Orange- displaying self- control (controlling my actions) 

Blue- displaying compassion (caring for others) 

White- Having integrity (doing the right thing when no one is watching)

Grey- Showing humility (putting others first)  

Black- Having perseverance (never giving up) 

Parents and kids are having meaningful conversations in front of everyone. This isn't something you have to do in front of everyone though, it can even be at home! 

You can drop off a message for us in our prayer jar. It's where you can tell us anything, good or bad. Explain how we can pray for you, or even how class was. We want to get to know our families and that sometimes means getting in the messy with you. We are okay with that! :)

Our next trip from Kansas City to Haiti is March 13th, 2014 

Call to reserve your spot! 816-746-1417

You have the opportunity to train with OLYMPIC athletes across the world! 

Building Self-Esteem

Many children and youth are unfamiliar with the word “self-esteem”. As the popularity of bully prevention continues to grow and generate awareness in school systems and communities, now is the time to educate children and remind adults of the importance of having high self-esteem!

Self-esteem is simple. It is how you feel about yourself and is generalized in two types of people: those with poor self-esteem, and those with good self-esteem. The CMHC at Texas University states “Your self-esteem, however, is something more fundamental than the normal ups and downs associated with situational changes. For people with good self-esteem, normal ups and downs may lead to temporary fluctuations in how they feel about themselves, but only to a limited extent. In contrast, for people with poor self-esteem, these ups and downs drastically impact the way they see themselves.”

It’s important to work towards maintaining good self-esteem in order to stand up to bullies and be confident enough in yourself to not let others’ words and actions dictate how you feel about yourself. At EMA we work hard to build a positive and challenging atmosphere that instills good self-esteem into students by showing them they can reach their goals and accomplish new things!

Here is another great article about self-esteem and more ways to improve self-esteem! http://cmhc.utexas.edu/selfesteem.html. For more information or questions contact empowermartialarts@gmail.com or (913)-754-6570.

 

September is Respect month

What comes to mind when you think of Tae Kwon Do or Martial Arts? For some it’s fighting, or self-defense, and for others it’s discipline, confidence, and respect. But how can kicking and punching teach you respect? And is it expected or actually taught during class?

Throughout each Tae Kwon Do class at Empower Martial Arts, respect is of the upmost importance. It is expected of each student to demonstrate respect by bowing correctly onto the workout floor, shaking hands correctly, saying “yes sir or ma’am” to higher ranks and instructors, bowing at the correct moments, and many more. EMA uses the simple phrase “treating others right” very similar to Courtesy. Many other sports require respect, but never teach it or reward it.

EMA takes a simple character development trait such as respect, and incorporates it into all types of drills and exercises throughout each class. The mission is for the student to develop respect for everyone, not just higher ranks and instructors, and to make an impact on the community. “Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.” Laurence Sterne.

 

July is The Month of Honor

Each month Empower Martial Arts focuses on a different character development trait and life skill. For the month of July we will be focusing on honor. What does it mean to honor someone and how can we honor ourselves?

“To hold in high esteem and respect,” is a simple definition of honor. It is a very strong word and is rarely used unless you have an ample amount of respect towards someone or something. At EMA we remind, encourage, and praise students when they demonstrate this life skill to reinforce not only good behavior but strong morals as well!

Make the effort to honor your promises, values, and rules that will lead you to success and don’t pass up any opportunity to gain respect by honoring others first.

Check out Empower Martial Arts today at www.empowermartialarts.org and our facebook page at facebook.com/Empower Martial Arts.

 

June Life Skill is Self-Control

 Self-control is one of the simplest concepts and yet is easily one of the biggest obstacles we will ever face. Self-control plays different roles in everyone’s lives from standing still to knowing when to put the fork down. Still, nothing will change unless you make a diligent change in your everyday life.

During Tae Kwon Do class we use a simple phrase to communicate self-control to our students. Clearly stated self-control means “controlling my actions.” For children to have a better understanding of what it means to have self-control, start by reinforcing this phrase and begin an ongoing dialog with your children at home about what their actions are and where they struggle with self-control. This will give them more confidence when they get to answer similar questions during class!

For adults and older kids, having a tangible way to track the areas in which they lack self-control and an accountability partner to hold them accountable are two of the most effective ways to finally making the simple changes in your lifestyle that you have always wanted to take control of. Don’t be ashamed to work on even the smallest areas of self-control from taking the trash out when it’s full to making your bed every morning. These small things speak volumes to others on how you respect yourself.

Take the steps toward achieving self-control today and celebrate the small victories every step of the way! For more information contact empowermartialarts@gmail.com or call (913)-754-6570.  If you can control your tongue, you can control your entire body.

Life-Skill for April Integrity

Integrity is simple. Choose right over wrong, make good choices, and stay true to yourself and family. Integrity defined is “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.”

There is no doubt that this Life Skill needs to be both an ongoing dialog and intentionally practiced to maintain your morals and ethics. At EMA we practice the phrase “choosing right over wrong” ALWAYS! Not some times, not when you want to, but choosing to do what you know is right even when no one is watching.

Integrity is hardly ever rewarded. It’s often overlooked, and is easy to skip out on because very few will notice. We challenge you to write down 3 times you showed integrity this week and send it to us. Taking pride in the small personal victories is what sets you apart from the rest and will strengthen your character.

Give integrity a try and share your experiences with us at empowermartialarts@gmail.com or (913)-754-6570.

 

 

Kicking on Purpose

Every day we walk through life completing tasks, eating food, reading the news, and maybe even working out. But all of these daily obligations have no meaning if you’re not doing them on purpose. What do you mean? Do you eat with the purpose of losing weight, or to satisfy taste buds? Do you workout to be social, or do you do workout to build muscle?

At EMA we not only train with a purpose but teach with a purpose as well.

When practicing kicking techniques, you are not just kicking the air hoping that someday it will save your life from an attacker.  Rather, you are kicking to understand body awareness and to strengthen the muscles and joints that will help you move and feel better. We also practice kicking techniques with the purpose of releasing stress, improving balance, coordination, increasing flexibility, and jump-starting the cardiovascular system to burn fat and increase the flow of blood and oxygen.

Although there are many benefits to gain from martial arts and Tae Kwon Do, it all starts with PRACTICING ON PURPOSE. Plain and simple you must practice on purpose to improve your kicks, eating habits, fitness, and wellbeing.

Take the next step on purpose today and call (913)-754-6570 to learn how you can acquire the many benefits Empower Martial Arts has to offer!

 

The Life Skill and Character Development trait for March is Loyalty

2013 is off to a great start and we are already in March with many great things ahead. This month we will be discussing loyalty. Loyalty is defined as,  “a strong feeling of support or alliance”. What are your reasons and motives for staying loyal?

Many people are loyal to certain insurance companies, churches, sports teams, mentors, and friends because they share a common value, or because they’re just cheaper. Loyalty can be rewarded, but loyalty normally comes from within. Most loyal people also know that there is ALWAYS something greater, but they aren’t very interested in looking. This is because loyalty makes us happy! Why else would you root for your favorite team? But loyalty isn’t forever, the world changes, and holding onto certain labels becomes impossible.

At Empower Martial Arts we are loyal to many different things, but our main loyalties lie in the morals and standards we have set for our instructors, volunteers, staff, and students. We believe that our core values described in our purpose statement should be upheld at all times. We want to see our vision for helping the community and equipping catalysts for change through dedication, commitment, and LOYALTY to empowering the lives of those around us!

For more information on how to get involved with EMA call (913)-754-6570 today! Or e-mail tj_holgerson@hotmail.com.