[Eddy Smiles]

Yesterday, I ventured out of the house for the first time in a month or so and stopped by the the dojo to discover that they needed some awards to be given for the student "STAR" program. This is a monthly program where our martial arts students are given a handout to take home and complete a simple assignment. Monthly themes and activities are provided to help encourage them to act responsibly at home and school. "STAR" stands for "STOP", "THINK", "ACT", and "REVIEW"! For completing the assignments the students are entered in a monthly drawing. I didn't have much time for this project so I just used the basic kanji symbols for "karate"... simple but striking against the natural wood! The symbols are first wood burned and then back painted with acrylics. The entire project is finished with two coats of WB Gloss Poly. The karate hangers serve a dual purpose in that they also teach the students to take care of their uniforms and hard earned belts.

[Claude]

Very nice, Eddy!

Claude

[Gear Dog]

I like the way these came out. Makes me want to practice my forms.

[BobD]

I've got a bunch of pieces of pine that are crying out for that! Not much you can do with the boards you break except use them as kindling! At least the boards are a bit more useful than the walkway stones I break!

What kind of tasks do the kids perform, Eddy? I think the concept is great! I'd like to suggest it to my Sensi--he prefers Sensi to Master, even though we study mainly Tae Kwon Do. He's always looking for character building exercises!

Bob

[BobD]

By the way, Eddy...Wait until you see the Chris Pye article in the issue we just sent to the printer.

It's a letter carving exercise featuring the Kanji Characters for MuShin (empty mind). It's the Zen concept of clearing your mind to put yourself in the proper state to learn (or fill it with information).

I plan on carving one for my dojo.

[Eddy Smiles]

BobD...

The original STAR program was developed by the the Jefferson Center for Character Education, a nonprofit, charitable organization, started in 1963, that develops character education programs for public schools. "STAR" (STOP< THINK< ACT<REVIEW) or it's alternate, (Success Through Accepting Responsibility) was originally developed for the public school system where it was to be touched on 5-days a week but about 15-years or so ago the Educational Funding Company (EFC) a Martial Arts Consulting Firm picked up on it from one of their member schools as a way to increase student retention and school profits and it was distributed through their network. In the begining there were twelve original theme words such as honor, integrity, love, responsibility...etc.. but over the years our school has added new words as circumstances and social conditions have dictated. An example might be to introduce the theme of "Bullying". The requirments of the homework assignments are kept simple and fun knowing that the kids generally already have enough homework load from school. Also, we want this to be the kid's work, not the parents. One month the requirement might be to make a simple list of people who have special meaning in their lives... another month's assignment might be to make a get well card to a family member or friend in need.... another month might be to make a poster or draw a picture illustrating the theme word. Each student's work is
displayed during the following month and during the theme month the theme word is discussed by the instructors in class. If a student attends at least 8 classes during the month then he or she has had exposure positive reinforcement to the theme at least that many times during the month.

The "STAR" program has been in use for so long that I'm not sure how many schools are still using it but we find that it's very popular with our parents, especially in our beginning classes. If your Sensei thinks that this is something that he might be interested in send me a PM and I'll see if I can dig up some more specific information for you.

Also, your Sensei sounds like a good guy. I've been in the martial arts for over 25-years and get really nervous about all the "masters" that are running around. To me a Master means that you've learned just about all there is to learn but a Sensei merely means that you're just someone who has come before which means you're still learning....

As far as the Tae Kwon Do goes I won't hold that against you.... Our style head once summed up the martial arts as traveling around the world. He said that if all the styles started in one place (beginners) and headed in all different directions, they'd eventually ended up in the same spot on the opposite side of the world.... In other words we have more in common than we do in differences!

[Eddy Smiles]

BobD... I'm looking forward to it!

Although it does not
mindfully keep guard,
In the small mountain fields
the scarecrow
does not stand in vain.

Bukkoku,c. 17th Century

[BobD]

Also, your Sensei sounds like a good guy. I've been in the martial arts for over 25-years and get really nervous about all the "masters" that are running around. To me a Master means that you've learned just about all there is to learn but a Sensei merely means that you're just someone who has come before which means you're still learning....

Very true, Eddy...Very True. I've been studying off and on for 13 years. My first Sensi was a hack...Just in it for the money. I had a great teacher in college, and Sensi Redman is wonderful. He's been teaching for 30+ years at the YMCA in his area...and loves it. He comes from a wealthy family, and doesn't need to work...but he continues to teach out of love!

My wife, who also studies martial arts, was at an event at the elementary school she works in today that infuriated her. The demonstrator, complete with a brand new Adidis Gi (with Adidis ALLLLL over it) and fancy gold stripes on his belt was letting the elementary school kids break "boards," but he didn't even teach them how to punch. Some kids had their fingers wrapped around their thumbs! She was furious!!! It was so irresponsible! If you want to give kids confidance by letting them break the boards (flexing them us course to make it simple to break) at least teach them to punch correctly!

Bob

[Pyrographer]

Very nice Eddy

Nedra

[Eddy Smiles]

Thanks Nedra.... Just hack work compared to your artistic endeavors but I do enjoy doing them.