kyoshi Words of wisdom
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
December 28, 2011 | 
Author This holiday season brings a welcome opportunity to say how much we appreciate all of my students at Zen-Shin . May the year ahead bring you health, happiness and continued success.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
from Kyoshi John Richards. Oss
Finding Your Inner Spirit
We all have our strengths and weaknesses, every one of us is unique and what some find easy, others may find more challenging or difficult.
One thing we all have is our ‘Inner Spirit’ but finding it takes focus and commitment.
Life can throw all sorts of challenges at us and throughout our lives we have to make decisions, often difficult ones and sometimes we will make mistakes. The way we deal with life’s challenges and how we handle situations, is more often than not, something we can influence and control.
How we apply ourselves to school and work, how we treat our families, friends or strangers. The values we hold and that instinct of what’s right or wrong is something we all have within us.
As I look around the Dojo, I see my students as individuals and I know their strengths and weaknesses. I can see when someone isn’t making an effort and likewise those who are. Concentration, effort and focus on what we’re learning are all part of it, but putting it all together, clearing your mind and being totally focused on every little detail, always looking to improve, perfect, become faster, more powerful and accurate is when you’ve found the Inner Spirit.
Striving towards excellence is what makes champions. In just over a year’s time, London will be hosting the greatest sporting event on the planet. Thousands of athletes taking part in hundreds of events and everyone of those competitors has at some time or other needed to dig deep and find their inner spirit. Training hard, making personal sacrifices and staying truly focused on that ultimate goal of an Olympic Gold, is what pushes them on. That winning determination and mentality is what sets them apart.
Natural talent is obviously a factor in becoming a World Champion, but if we apply the right attitude and mindset to everything we do in life including our karate, only then can we achieve our true potential.
“One life, live it well”
Kyoshi John Richards
How I wish I’d started Karate & Martial Arts training earlier in life!
I have honestly lost count of the times I’ve heard these words. Not just from some of my own students but from martial artists everywhere.
There are many who start training at a very young age and continue to train as adults making Karate & Martial Arts part of their lives, helping to keep the mind sharp, the body fit and the not to mention the social aspect of belonging to a club like The Zen-Shin Martial Arts Academy.
You’re never too old to start training
We have members who have started training in their 70’s and continue to train on a regular basis and will happily tell others of the health benefits they’ve gained from training.
Likewise we have the very young who have just started to come along our Little Ninja’s classes and will hopefully continue for years to come.
We have members with various disabilities and some with learning difficulties, all are made welcome!
Is there a club near me?
We have classes taking place all over Birmingham, not just at our own Centres in Hockley and Digbeth but also at venues in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Harbourne, Saltley and Kingstanding.
Going back to my original point. With any sport, the younger we get involved the better, but it’s not too late and what I want to get across to anyone considering taking up Karate more than anything is, please don’t put it off any longer!
Don’t just keep thinking about it, take the first step and give me a call today on 0121 233 2577.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kyoshi John Richards
Fighting Fat or Fighting Fit!
Could Karate and Martial Arts be the ultimate weapon in fighting Obesity?
Obesity is something we sadly hear about all too often. This seems to be becoming a particularly problem amongst young people.
I think if we’re honest with ourselves most of us eat too much at times and then gain a few pounds, but so long as we’re conscious of this and keep it under control, then it doesn’t have to become an issue.
One of the biggest factors in becoming overweight, aside from eating too much or eating the wrong foods, is lack of exercise.
A Waste of Time & Money
Some recent research showed that huge amounts of money are wasted each year on gym memberships where after just a few visits, people stop actually going to the gym but then continue to pay their memberships fees for several months to come!
So what makes people quit?
Motivation
I suspect it’s more to do with motivation and the overall experience of going to a gym. This can often be, intimidating at first to say the least and also quite a lonely and even a boring way to try and loose weight and get into shape.
The Dojo
Literally means ‘place of the way’ but basically refers to the place of training whether it’s a school hall, a Church hall or other. I remember hearing this word ‘Dojo’ for the first time, and thinking how it conjured up images of a place where only the very brave would fear to tread. And we’ve all seen on television and film where of the victim of bullying enters the Dojo for the first time, only to find those responsible for his plight are already there practising their evil craft!
The Reality
You’ll find the total opposite to the above Dojo scenario. The Japanese culture is probably the most polite and considerate in the world. These ethical principals of respect are a huge and important part of any decent Karate School and The Zen-Shin Academy is certainly no exception.
This is a great alternative to the gym where you can not only loose weight and get into shape but also learn some potentially life saving self defence skills.
One of the main differences between coming along to a Karate class and dragging yourself off to the gym is the social aspect. We have loads of really good friends we’ve made as a family through Karate; we look forward to each training session and catching up with friends just as much as we do the actual training.
The Health Benefits
No one training session is ever the same, but one thing you can always be sure of is that you’ll be properly and gently warmed up at the beginning of class then get a good cardio vascular exercise workout and then stretch off and warm down at the end of class.
Kyoshi Richards is confident that he can help those who want to help themselves loose weight and get into shape.
Karate can also help you regain or increase your self confidence and self esteem as well as teaching you some vital self defence skills.
Most of us train for a minimum of twice a week with each session lasting for roughly one hour.
All the Zen-Shin Instructors are properly qualified; CRB checked and understand each individual’s needs and abilities.
But Don’t Just Take My Word For It!
Why not contact Kyoshi John Richards now, you’ll find him very friendly, approachable and happy to discuss your individual needs.
If you’d like to try Karate for any of the reasons mentioned above, we’d love to hear from you.
I guarantee you’ll get a very warm welcome, just as we did, regardless of your age, sex or ability.
You could be literally Fighting Fit in no time.
You can learn more about The Zen-Shin Academy by visiting zen-shin.co.uk
Alternatively contact Kyoshi John Richards directly on: 0121 233 2577
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Tags: birmingham karate and weight loss, get fit with karate, how to loose weight and get fit with karate, karate for weight loss, martial arts for weight loss, sutton coldfield weight loss and karate, weight loss and self defence classes
Keeping Tradition Alive
Those of us fortunate enough to know and train with Kyoshi John Richards, already know how passionate he is about The Zen-Shin Academy and Shotokan Karate.
Recently I took the opportunity to ask Kyoshi Richards a few questions about how he sees the importance of keeping the traditional styles such as Shotokan alive.
Below is what Kyoshi Richards had to say.
It’s important we don’t allow our standards to slip. It’s easy to want a full Dojo, particularly when it’s your business and livelihood you obviously want to have plenty of students training, however your reputation will soon be destroyed if you allow your standards to drop and ignore the watering down of Shotokan or any of the traditional styles of Karate for that matter!
We try to make training sessions enjoyable, but I also believe we should try to teach Shotokan in the way it’s been taught for generations. All the elements we teach are important. Kata, Kumite, Ipon and Combinations are all necessary parts of the learning process.
Kata is an excellent example of traditional Shotokan. Powerful and exaggerated stances can be practiced and perfected and in truly understanding how all these elements fit together is what makes a good martial artist.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been asked by someone, “how quickly can I become a Black Belt”. There’s nothing wrong in having aspirations to achieve Black Belt status and anyone seriously practicing Karate should have this as their ultimate goal. However it doesn’t matter how often you train and how good you are, getting to black belt with the Zen-Shin Academy will take a minimum of 4 to 5 years training.
Some go away and don’t like what they hear, but I find in general most people respect your honesty and know that by training with Zen-Shin, they can be sure of getting the real thing.
To me it all comes back to the standards and reputation I referred to earlier.
I want Zen-Shin and all those who achieve Black Belts with the Academy to be proud of that achievement and to know that they’ve earned it, deserved it and can wear it feeling the same pride as I did upon receiving my first Black Belt.
In training classes I often remind my students about the importance of challenging yourself. I firmly believe in the benefits of taking part in competition, it’s not just an opportunity to win a nice medal or trophy, but more importantly it’s about facing your anxieties and any self doubt you may have, putting what we learn in class to the test and being able to perform under pressure.
Zen-Shin means everything to me. The Academy and Shotokan Karate are a huge part of my life. Being able to pass on what I have learnt to others is what I love doing and seeing my students progress through the various belts and become capable martial artists is the ultimate reward.
Kyoshi John Richards
If you’re interested in learning more about The Zen-Shin Academy please contact Kyoshi John Richards on 0121 233 2577 or follow this link zen-shin.co.uk
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manage your time
If you want to get the most from life you need to manage your time
correctly. If you do you will get more done in less time, feel
happier, less stressed and get more from life and these tips are
simple ones that you can apply in your work or home life.
Mark Victor Hansen
formula for failure
How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy. Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities.
If this is true, why don’t more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple:
They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn’t seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow. But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road?
by Jim Rohn
Cheep Talk
Talk is cheap people are judged by deeds.