December 2006 Newsletter

Because of the holidays we will be closed December 25th and January 1st. Look at your schedules and plan to make up classes.

THE 3RD FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH THERE ARE SPECIAL CLASSES SPECIFIC FOR SKILLS YOU NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS & ADVANCE ABILITIES IN KATA, KUMITE & WEAPONS -- COST - $5.00 PER SESSION

•  6:00 P.M. to 6:55 P.M. – JUNIOR PURPLE AND BROWN BELTS
•  7:00 P.M. to 8:15 P. M. – TOURNAMENT PRACTICE
•  7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. – ADULT BROWN AND BLACK BELTS

It is each student’s responsibility to let Kyoshi know if he or she will be attending.

HOWEVER, THERE WILL BE NO TEAM, PURPLE, BROWN AND BLACK BELT PRACTICE IN DECEMBER - - - HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY AND WE WILL START AGAIN IN JANUARY.

CONGRATULATIONS

The following people who earned promotions since our last newsletter.

•   Chris & Cameron Ellis, - - Junior Yellow Belt
•   Andy Durante, Gwen & Dayne Cakerri, - - Junior Orange Belt
•   Trevor Silva -- Junior Green Belt #1
•   Don Dixon - - Senior Green Belt
•   Roger Pollina, Kelvin Lee - - Senior Brown Belt #3
•   Natalie Montone - - Senior Brown Belt #1

EVERY CLASS EACH STUDENT IS CHECKED FOR PROGRESS AND PREPARATION FOR NEW MATERIAL AND PROMOTION. IT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PRACTICE & BE READY!

UPCOMING TOURNAMENT

AN UPCOMING TOURNAMENT IN WASHINGTON, NJ, HOSTED BY THE GOLDEN RULE KARATE SCHOOL IS SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2007 AT WARREN HILLS HIGH SCHOOL. THIS IS A NICE EVENT. PLAN TO ATTEND. IT WILL HELP YOU GET READY FOR OUR BENEFIT TOURNAMENT IN APRIL AND THE WORLD EVENT IN JUNE. REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE MONEY. SEE KYOSHI FOR DETAILS.

MONTHLY DOJO FEES EFFECTIVE OCT. 06

If paying monthly with more than one student per family - - additional student is a $10 reduction / month

Dues should be paid the first week of the month.

ANY PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS - - SEE KYOSHI

PLEASE PUT NAMES IN CHILDREN’S JACKETS AND COATS SO WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE RETURNED WHEN LEFT AT THE DOJO.

Hope

Hope, as related by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, is an emotional belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances within one's personal life. Hope implies a certain amount of perseverance — i.e. believing that a positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary. Beyond the basic definition, usage of the term hope follows some basic patterns which distinguish its usage from related terms:

Hope is more emotional and less intellectual than optimism, which refers to a positive attitude based in rationality. But hope and optimism both can be based in unrealistic belief, or fantasy.

Hope is subordinate to faith, in that while hope is emotional, faith carries a divinely-inspired and informed form of positive belief. Hope is typically contrasted with despair, but despair may also refer to a crisis of faith, or otherwise an ignorance thereof. Hence, when used in religious context, hope carries a connotation being aware of spiritual truth. (In some religions, despair itself is considered to be a sin; see Hope (virtue)).

Hope is distinct from positive thinking, which refers to a therapeutic or systematic process used in psychology for reversing pessimism.

The term false hope refers to a hope based entirely around a fantasy or an extremely unlikely outcome.

Examples of hopes include hoping to get rich, hoping for someone to be cured of a disease, hoping to be done with a term paper, or hoping that a person has reciprocal feelings of love. An example of false hope would be hoping for the ability to fly.

Hope was personified in Greek mythology as Elpis. When Pandora opened Pandora's Box, she let out all the evils except one: Hope. Apparently the Greeks considered Hope to be as dangerous as all the world's evils. But without hope to accompany all their troubles, humanity was filled with despair. It was a great relief when Pandora revisited her box and let out hope as well. It may be worthy to note that in the story, Hope is represented as weakly leaving the box but is in effect far more potent than any of the major evils.

Hope is passive in the sense of a wish or a prayer - or active as a plan or idea, often against popular belief, with persistent, personal action to execute the plan or prove the idea. Consider a prisoner of war who never gives up hope for escape and, against the odds, plans and accomplishes this. By contrast another who simply wishes or prays for freedom, or another who give up all hope of freedom.

During the holiday seasons this year, think about the word hope in a positive way. Become the symbolic star on the tree, shining with the luster of hope. Take time to have and share a positive thought for the safety of our troops in foreign counties. Take time to reflect positively on how lucky you are to have the love of family and friends. Take time to think about what you can do and give to others, rather that what you want for yourself. Take time to begin to make positive goals for yourself for 2007 . . . before 2007.

Remember - - If the weather is questionable, listen to WRNJ Radio 1510 for closings. Classes missed may be made up at your convenience. SAFETY FIRST! Also, if you are going to miss a class, please call and let us know and you may schedule a make up class. If you do not call, you may not be able to make up the missed class.

For the holidays surprise a student with one of Master Duessel's DVD's, Books or Bo Posters, also training equipment or a gi is also appropriate.