Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Have an Attitude of Gratitude for Thanksgiving!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

Melodie Beattie, Author and Journalist

Monday, November 10, 2008

Welcome Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Coach Paul Nava to Kaju AZ!


Kajukenbo Arizona is happy to announce that we have added to our staff! Coach Paul Nava will be teaching our grappling and our new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) class.

Coach Paul is a BJJ Nova Uniao Brown Belt and has been training for over 10 years. He is originally from San Jose and lives here with his wife of 10 years, Leslie. Coach Paul has 5 children! He also studied Muay Thai for 3 years. Coach firmly believes that hard work pays off and that students "are never too old to learn and experience new challenges." Some of his BJJ achievements include:

*2008 American Nationals, Gold (Middleweight) and Silver (Open Weight)
Medalist
*2008 California State, Gold Medalist
*2008 Pan American, Gold Medalist
*2007 Pan American, Bronze Medalist
*2006 American Nationals, Gold (Middleweight) and Bronze (Open weight)
Medalist
*2005 American International, Gold (Middleweight) Medalist
*2001 Copa Invitational, Bronze (Middleweight) Medalist

Coach Paul will be teaching from 8-9 pm on Monday nights, 7:30 - 9 pm on Wednesday nights. He will also be available for private lessons at a reduced rate for Kaju AZ Students. Our new schedule is available at www.kajuaz.com

Thank you for your support! We are excited to be adding to our curriculum and enthusiastically welcome Coach Paul!

Simou Jen

Sunday, November 2, 2008

One Team, One Dream

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it."
H.E. Luccock


While there are exceptions, it really does take a team to carry out a vision. Such was the theme at the Final Black Belt Test Dry Run for Lim Kenpo Karate on Saturday, November 1st.

I wrote about the prior Dry Run and remarked on how it was inspirational. Saturday’s event was even more so.

Kaju AZ students Cameron Corder and Thomas Maher were asked to participate and at the time, I did not understand exactly why Professor Lim did so. It was apparent as soon as the training started.

The workout was challenging to say the least. After a couple of hours of non-stop drills including pushups, springs, mountain climbers, kicks and so much more, you could see the physical and emotional pain on each face. In one case, I saw a teenage girl squat next to a younger student who was really trying to push through the pain…and literally pushed her up to complete the spring. She offered many words of encouragement and continued to help her physically until the next break. I saw this many times over throughout the day. It was inspirational on so many levels.


No one asked them to help their fellow students, they just did it. In my experience over the past 15 years in martial arts, I know this is a rare thing. Most schools encourage self-centered students by putting them on a pedestal or promoting them to black belt without possession of a black belt attitude. Ultimately, it not only hurts the student but the dojo as well. These schools aren’t families, just glorified gyms.

The participants were partnered during some of the exercises. One exercise required that they learn five things about their partner while running their self-defense. Another involved solving a problem together and then presenting their collective thoughts to the group.

Do you know five things about each person you train with? Do you know five things about your instructor? You should.

Sometimes we are so focused on getting to class on time, getting our material for our next promotion and then rushing out to move on to the next part of our day that we forget that we are a TEAM. We forget that although we are all at different levels, we are stronger as a TEAM. We forget that we will gain so much more…for our minds, bodies and spirits…if we work as a TEAM.

Cameron and Thomas certainly know each other. They train together regularly and really exemplify teamwork in and out of the dojo. Both of them train hard and never short-change the other by going too soft but exhibit self-control at all times. Both are willing the share their knowledge, not just with each other but also with everyone. Both show care and concern about their lives outside the dojo and their family members. At the recent Brick Breaking Event for MS, Cameron inspected each brick that Thomas was about to break. Thomas carefully set up the bricks that Cameron was planning to break. Each was standing close by during their breaks as a way of protection and concern. And each was the first person to high-five and extend congratulations.


Kaju AZ has never been nor never will be a school about individuals. It was never designed for selfish students. All of us are really working toward the same thing: Black Belt Excellence in every day in every way.

The people we train with should inspire us. They should support us. They should help us be better in all areas of our lives. Allowing them to practice techniques on us is just the beginning. Each student has so much to offer the entire group.

Being a Kaju AZ Black Belt is never going to be about having the hardest punches or the highest kicks. It is always going to be about a standard of performance of material and about becoming a better person through martial arts. A Black Belt has to be willing to be part of a team, at Kaju AZ, in our community, and in our world.

As we Train Strong to Remain Strong, remember that we are also One Team with One Dream.

Simou Jennifer Corder

Kajukenbo Motto: Train Strong to Remain Strong

Kajukenbo Arizona is a traditional martial arts school specializing in real self-defense through the art of Kajukenbo. Kajukenbo was founded in 1947 and is credited as being the first American martial art. Kajukenbo is a blend of five styles: Karate, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Kenpo and Kung Fu. Feel free to visit our school and see our programs for all ages! We also offer CrossPIT classes based on the world-famous Pit Conditioning System. Classes are 30-minutes of high-intensity old-school cardio. CrossPIT memberships available!