Instructor Spotlight: Miss Kat

Miss Kat is AWESOME! 

She started out as one of our Little Warrior parents and is now a part of our team and beginning to train with her husband in our adult classes. Talk about a rock star momma!!!

Miss Kat strives to teach our Little Warriors:

"To be extremely grateful and respectful to others."

The kiddos love Miss Kat because:

1. She laughs at all their jokes (no matter how cheesy)
2. She is super sassy 24/7 and loves to have fun
3. She engages in their stories and loves hearing about all their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments

A few of Miss Kat's favorite things:

      Miss Kat loves everything in her bright, big world so she has trouble just choosing a favorite. She loves all bright, sparkly colors. This varied love of the rainbow shows in her unique and shimmery eye shadow choices that vary daily. If she had to choose a favorite of all time, however, it's gotta be lime green. Miss Kat is generous in her love no matter what the topic. In addition to loving all the colors she loves all animals too much to choose a favorite (although we finally got her to admit that ocean animals are pretty cool). This easy going, unconditionally loving attitude is one of the reasons our kiddos love interacting and spending time with Miss Kat. It's no surprise that her love for others and all the things led her to work as an LVN, and now working with children here at Warrior's Way.

A little bit more about Miss Kat:

      Miss Kat is a self proclaimed country bumpkin who grew up in nearby Seymour. No matter her country roots, Miss Kat is a busy bee. This married and working momma of 17 years is always on the go. She, her husband Brian, and son Quintyn (who is in our Little Warrior's programs and has been for the past year) are very active in their local church at FBC of Holliday and enjoy working with the youth by volunteering what little extra time they have to coach kid's soccer and baseball teams during the year. In between all of their volunteering activities this awesome momma still finds time to renovate their new home, and enjoy creative pastimes like painting and scrapbooking. Our super mom also finds time to chase around their three dogs (Rocky, Zuma, and Rubble- definitely a tribute to the popular Paw Patrol) and still finds time to practice martial arts with her son Quintyn. In fact, their household is usually practicing whatever he just learned in Black Belt Club or preparing for the next tournament that is coming up in our Academy. Overall Miss Kat works hard because she loves to play hard. If you're ever wondering whats next for this sweet family of three you can always count on Miss Kat to already be planning their next family vacation or unique new experience.

Miss Kat we are excited to have you with us. We love having your friendly and fun personality on our team, helping make Little Warrior's days brighter!

#RaiseAWarrior 

Keeping Bullies Out Of Your Child's Life

     We teach a child to get help when they are being bullied, hurt, or mistreated in any way. And that is what we've been teaching them for years. Authority is the answer. And it can be when society in't bogged down by excessive whistle blowing and a focus on being politically correct. So how do we prepare our child to handle being bullied? How can we prevent it in the first place? Is teaching our children to run to authority always the best answer? The school system and other organizations try to handle these and other issues to the best of their abilities, but it is easy to see how they are frequently overwhelmed.

     So what can we parents do to protect our children when they are outside the safety of our nest? Especially when we know that bullies are notorious for targeting kids that are isolated or have low self esteem. The answer is in our mission of raising a warrior. A warrior knows who they are and what they stand for. They know what is acceptable behavior and what will not be tolerated. They are willing to stand up for themselves and others. So where does this confidence come from? How do we teach our kids to recognize their inherent internal worth? Our sister school in Oklahoma has some great insight on the manner.

     Brandon Bennett is a long time friend and student of Tuhon Harley Elmore. He is the instructor who runs Relentless Martial Arts, up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He recognizes that our youth receives little or no positive affirmation from our culture about who they are and makes it his mission to regularly ask his student to "tell me who you are." The premise of this question seems simple. The things you say about yourself must all be positive. You cannot describe how you look. And you must give as many examples as you are years old. So a ten year old student, must list 10 things that describe who they are and positively fit the criteria presented. It is simple task, but not an easy one. Mr. Bennett uses this tool to constantly reaffirm the youth in his academy by revisiting the ever growing definition of who they are and steering their thoughts in a more positive direction. Society would have us associate positive meaning to how we look, but it should be so much more than that. We want our children to find positive meaning in their character and skills instead.

     Last time Guro Brandon was in our school he posed this simple question to some of our instructors. It was an eye opening exercise. So take some alone time to do this exercise on your own. See how it impacts your day. And then while you sit down to family meals or check in with your child one on one before bedtime take a moment to see what their response is. Maybe make this a monthly thing where you all answer the question "Who am I?." You might just be surprised at how this sense of self can quickly change with a little bit of positive affirmation.

     So use this tool to help steer your child's sense of self worth. As their confidence grows the likelihood that they will be targeted by bullies will continue to decrease. Because after all the best anti-bullying plan is having the confidence and self worth to not be seen as a potential target in the first place.

     To read more of Guro Brandon's thoughts on affirming the self confidence of our youth and why it's so pivotal to their development check out the full article at...

http://www.relentlessmartialarts.com/Blog---A-Relentless-Life.html

#RaiseAWarrior 

Instructor Spotlight: Mr. AJ

Mr. AJ is AWESOME! 

Mr AJ is one of our amazing Junior Black Belts who has moved up through the ranks of teens and into our adult program. He stays quite busy with school and his other job, but we love every second that he gets to come and help our Little Warriors out on the mat!

Mr. AJ strives to teach our Little Warriors:

"To always have a positive attitude."

The kiddos love Mr. AJ because:

1. He is a complete goof ball
2. He always focuses on the bright side 
3. He pumps up every achievement no matter the size

A few of Mr. AJ's favorite things:

      Mr. AJ likes to stay busy and because of that he is almost always running late for something. That being said, although this young man may have many things pulling on his time, he doesn't loose sight of his goals. Mr. AJ is a member of his high school band, enjoys archery, and is an avid gamer, all in addition to continuing his own training and working 1.5 jobs. To stay fueled while bouncing around all of those activities Mr AJ knows he can always count on his favorite food, fettuccine alfredo. He has a great sense of humor and doesn't mind making jokes about himself to make his friends and students smile. In fact one of his greatest wishes pokes fun at himself and his busy schedule. Mr AJ said if he could wish for any superpower he would wish to have super speed so he "wouldn't have to worry about being late anymore."

A little bit more about Mr. AJ:

      Mr. AJ started our program when he was FOUR years old as a Little Dragon! Since then the era of Little Dragons has come and gone, but he is one of the few student's left who has been through all of our programs and graduated into our adult classes. Mr. AJ loves working on Kali which is the weaponry system we teach. He has had many opportunities to show off his skills and make his instructors proud while training with the greats, like Guro Dan Inosanto. He is a sweet momma's boy who is always looking out for his family and we love that Mrs. Miller still loves to come in a bit early and watch her boys in action out on the mat. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to invest over a decade of time and effort into any activity or sport. When it comes to AJ and his brother Arron it definitely shows that the success of a Black Belt truly is a family affair.

Mr. AJ we are excited to have you on our team. Your fun loving attitude makes our team better.

Some throwback baby Warrior pics of Mr. AJ just for fun...

That's one fierce Little Dragon

AJ- A great big brother

AJ sparring during his Junior Black Belt Test

AJ- always smiling

Arron, AJ, and their dad at AJ's Black Belt Test

#RaiseAWarrior