The Dojo of Karate

Greetings!

It seems like Summer has cruised right by us.  It’s amazing how quickly this Summer has gone by, as we approach the new academic school year.

With that said, it should be very exciting.  Students are entering new grades or going to different schools, which is a big leap for many kids.

In addition, now that many families are finally settling down from their Summer vacations, we will be able to finalize the 2nd half of our activities, as we did during the beginning of the year.

But, before we go into that, let’s just give you guys an update on everything.

Wado Karate Seminar

As many of you know, Sensei Bob Nash came to our dojo on August 7th and 8th to teach the essence of Wado Karate.  In addition, he brought along one of his top students, Sensei Peter Stoddart from Vancouver, Canada.  He is widely recognized as one of the best Wado Karate children instructors.

All of the kids that participated had a blast, which was great to see.  They learned how important it is to have solid basics, as well as be very explosive in their training.

As for Sensei Nash, he was able to make every student fine tune their techniques, stances, and overall approach to training.

I, too trained with Sensei Nash on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — and it was a very fun experience.  He helped me fine tune many of my basics, as well as take my personal training to the next level.

We just want to say thanks to Sensei Nash, Sensei Peter, and Sensei David for helping our students grow and improve their quest to becoming a Black Belt.

1st Annual Summer Potluck

Our potluck on July 31st was a HUGE success!  We had a ton of families drop by and bring their friends and relatives.  We BBQ-ed some hot dogs, while everyone brought a dish to share with the rest.

It was also nice for me to finally have some 1-to-1 conversations with parents and get to know each other more, since those opportunities don’t always present themselves.

If you missed out on this Potluck, don’t worry, we plan on having another one during the Holidays in December.  This time, though, it may be at a different location, since last year we all barely fit in the dojo.

Class Schedule Update

We are making a slight update to our class schedule for our Lil’ Ninjas and Kids Beginners.  All other classes will remain the same.

The Lil’ Ninjas -  Beginners group classes will be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM, while the Lil’ Ninjas – Advanced group will be going from 4:00 PM to 4:30 PM.

As for the Beginners Karate classes, these will now be available 4 days per week, Monday through Thursday from 5:30 PM to 6:15 PM.  And, we are removing the Beginners Karate classes on Fridays due to a lack of attendance from most families.

Students in the Beginners Karate Program will still be required to attend between 2 and 3 classes per week, and make up any missed classes.  If that can’t be done, then students may need to wait an additional month before testing for their next belt rank.

Referral Contest

We are having a referral contest starting August 23rd and going through September 17th, 2010.  This contest will consist of who can invite the most students to the dojo and tryout Karate classes.

Please keep in mind if you refer someone, it is highly recommended that you attend the Beginners Karate Program with them, so they feel comfortable.  This way, you can help them gain some new skills, and they get to learn cool techniques.

There will be prizes handed out every week, over the course of 4 weeks.  The prize will be a Karate gear bag, where students can store their training equipment, uniform, and belt.

In addition, if your friend or family member decides to enroll in one of our programs, the referring student will also receive a free $25 gift card to the store of their choice.  This is our way of saying thank you for the referral!

Broomfield Days

The Dojo of Karate, once again, plans on going to Broomfield’s largest community event, Broomfield Days — hosted on September 18th from 9am to 5pm.

Our booth is in a better location this year, so hopefully many of you will come by and say hi.

We also plan on having a spin wheel where participants can win free prizes, ranging from official dojo t-shirts to free VIP lessons, and birthday parties.  Tell all of your friends about this, so they have a chance to win some cool prizes.

We are looking for adults that would like to assist during Broomfield Days. This will give you a chance to learn more about our various programs, and help others learn about The Dojo of Karate.

We will have a signup sheet at the front desk, where you can assist for 1 to 2 hour blocks.

The busiest times will be from 11am to 3pm, so we may need two extra bodies to help assist with the influx.

The only requirement we ask is that you wear a Dojo of Karate t-shirt (if you don’t have one, we’ll give you one!), show up about 10 minutes early, and stick around until your block is over.

We will also need assistance in helping breakdown the booth, which should be very quick (I hope).

All assistants will get a helpful guide on what to expect and what to discuss.  But, don’t worry, you are not selling our program, simply informing people about what we teach and who we are.  VERY big difference.  The consumer makes the buying decision and we like it that way.

Inner School Karate Tournament

By popular demand, we will be hosting two Inner School Karate Tournaments per year.  This way it will give every student an opportunity to participate in a Karate tournament, instead of attending an Open Karate tournament, where various styles are accepted.

So, mark your calendar, the next Inner School Karate tournament will be hosted on Saturday, October 2nd.

We may need to rent out a facility this year because in February we had over 50 competitors, and nearly 150 people in our dojo.  It was a great turnout, but we were VERY cramped.  So, if you know of a place where we can rent out a facility, please let us know.

Once we get closer to the date, we will have more information about the location, times, and rules.

Keep in mind, EVERY martial arts student at The Dojo of Karate will have an opportunity to participate in this event.  So, if you are a white belt, you can participate.

And, EVERY student that participates will walk out with a medal.  We will have 1st through 3rd places, but also include finalists.

Tournaments are a great way to build confidence, learn some new skills, and apply your training in sport environment.  We highly encourage kids to compete in our Inner School Karate Tournament.

Summer Fistival Karate Championship

Speaking of Karate tournaments, this past weekend, we had 7 students participate at the Summer Fistival Karate Championship.  All of them showed their courage and heart by stepping into a ring and putting their skills on the line against other competitors.

Below are the following competitors and how they placed.

Andrew S. – Finalist in Forms, 4th Place in Sparring

Andrew Y. – Finalist in Forms, 4th Place in Sparring

Kim S. – 3rd Place in Forms, 3rd Place in Sparring

Adam B. – Finalist in Forms, Finalist in Sparring

Sam V. – Finalist in Forms, Finalist in Sparring

Madeline P. – 2nd Place in Forms, 4th Place in Sparring

Luana L. – Finalist in Forms, Finalist in Weapons, 4th Place in Sparring

Make sure when you see these guys, you congratulate them for their spectacular performance.

Oh, and one final note.  Madeline P. is currently ranked as the number 1 form competitor in her division by CKA (Colorado Karate Association).  If she places either 1st or 2nd in the next two tournaments she potentially has an opportunity to win a Colorado State title in Traditional Forms for 11 year old Intermediate Forms.

That’s a great accomplishment for an individual that just started training in Karate 2 years ago!

Let’s cheer her on over these next two tournaments!

Boot Camp and Adult Self Defense Promotions

Sometime in September we will be running an adult only promotion for our Fitness Boot Camps and Adult Self-Defense.

We will have more details on this shortly, but to give you an idea, the promo essentially is a 2 for 1 deal.  Two participants for the price of one.

Fitness Boot Camp Contest

We are running a contest for our current Fitness Boot Camp participants.

It’s a 6 week contest that requires all boot camp athletes to follow and document their eating habits by following our nutrition guide, attending 3 workouts at our facility and training an additional 2-3 days on their own.

The person that loses the most Body Fat Percentage wins.

All participants will need to put in a $10 buy-in and follow the rules mentioned above.  The Dojo of Karate and Fitness will than match whatever is in the pot, so if we have $100 in, than it doubles to $200.

The winner will take their winnings and hopefully go on a shopping spree!

Supporting Local Businesses

The Dojo of Karate and Fitness tries to create various partnerships with local businesses in the community, as a way to help each other grow.

For those of you that enjoy pizza, Double D’s Sourdough Pizza has a special event going on every Wednesday night, called Family Day in their Westminster location.  They are off 120th Ave and Sheridan Blvd.

This is your chance, as a family, to learn how to make pizza at Double D’s.  If you haven’t had a chance to try them out, you should…  It’s amazing!

Also, from our understanding, the candle shop next to our school, Cinter’s Aromatherapy is extending their hours due to parents dropping by and asking when they close.  They are going to try and match our business hours.

If you mention that you are a student at The Dojo of Karate, they will give you a 10% on candles and inscents.

2 Year Anniversary

As some of you may know, The Dojo of Karate and Fitness is celebrating our 2 year anniversary operating as a full time martial arts and fitness school.

This is a huge accomplishment for any business owner to successfully operate a commercial business that caters to both kids and adults.

Typically, the success rates of a business declines rapidly within the 1st two years of operations, and our school is far from becoming a statistic.

I simply want to thank everyone that is or has been a member of our martial arts and fitness school.  Without your support and business, this would have been a much more difficult journey.

And, we hope to continue to grow and allow other people experience the joys of Karate and how it can help shape the lives of so many.

Regards,

Sensei Lozano