---

Student News and Accomplishments —

Mr. Al Fix will be running in the 23rd Annual Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday, October 3, at 8am. Projected pace time is 4 hours 30 minutes. This is a 26.2 mile run that winds from downtown Minneapolis to downtown Saint Paul, ending at the Capitol Building grounds. Route maps and spectator info is at http://www.twincitiesmarathon.org/exec/twincities/marathon.cfm?publicationID=39

Congratulations to those people who tested in August:
Thor Bloom – Orange
Leonardo Young Jr. – Orange
Matt Etten – Orange
Cliff Bloom – Orange
Maya Hamilton Etten – Brown
Aubrey Nielsen – Red/Black Stripe
Linda Ramsay – 1st Dan Black Belt
Vivian Juneau – 1st Dan Black Belt

The Outstanding Tester award was presented to Matt, Maya, and Aubrey for exceptional performances.

September/October Birthdays
Travis Coyne – Sep 7th
Shannon Ryan – Sep 14th
Valerie Clintsman – Oct 1st
Manuel Oroemendia – Oct 6th
Josh Pietrs – Oct 14th
Jennifer Doyle – Oct 16th
Jessalin Ramsay – Oct 24th
Jeff Lindmeyer – Oct 28th

---

Martial Arts Empowers The Mind —

By Joseph Galea (PPS)

The benefits of martial arts training are innumerable. Whether you are six or sixty, a 9th degree black belt or a novice white belt, the physical benefits are widely publicized and accepted; increased cardiovascular fitness, reduced risk of many diseases, weight control, increased flexibility, enhanced functioning of the metabolic, endocrine and immune systems, and many others. But does martial arts training provide us with psychological benefits also?

Many of the physical benefits of martial arts training have carry-over psychological effects. For example, by improving your health, martial arts increases your “sense” of well-being. Martial arts students are likely to report reduced tension or stress. The physical nature of martial arts can lower the risk of depression and increase self-esteem! Martial arts training is also an excellent avenue to release aggression in a controlled environment, giving students an increased feeling of power and self-control. Martial arts requires the physical movement of the entire body which helps develop self-awareness and an understanding of one’s own mind.

Probably the biggest psychological benefit of martial arts training stems from the fact that it is a form of self-defense. The knowledge that you can physically defend yourself increases self confidence. Self confidence is contagious and will spread to all areas of life. This is an empowering mental benefit that enables you to focus on challenges that come your way instead of allowing self doubt to rule your life.

Another interesting psychological benefit of martial arts training is the social element. Being engaged socially is well documented to be extremely beneficial to both physical and psychological well being. Martial arts offers the opportunity to meet and interact with others in a positive atmosphere with a common goal.

Martial arts training impacts the mind, body and spirit. These aspects are interconnected in a very complex way. Martial arts can pierce through our vulnerbilities and strengthen our mental character to make us feel our best. Think of martial arts training as your total mind and body workout!

---

HealthKick: What Are You Eating? —

by Jennifer G. Galea, MS, RD

What are most adults eating these days? I can tell you only one thing for sure: most Americans are consuming too much unhealthy food. According to a recent study by the University of California, Berkley, nearly one-third of calories consumed by adults is derived from sweets, chips and sugary sodas! Almost twenty-five percent could be attributed to desserts, sweets, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages only. Sugar-sweetened sodas alone were responsible for seven percent of these damaging empty calories. But the truly bad news is that healthful foods, such as vegetables and fruits, compose only ten percent of the calories consumed in the average diet.

Now I understand that vegetables and fruits are low calories in general, so as a percentage of calories they would naturally appear lower. But calories are still calories, and so there are valuable insights to be gained from this study.

The first is to eliminate sugar-sweetened sodas. They contain an exorbitant number of calories with absolutely no nutritional benefits. If you want to drink sweetened beverages without using artificial sweeteners, possible alternatives are diluted fruit juice or iced tea that you sweeten yourself with table sugar.

The second food “group” to tackle is “sweets” and desserts. Here the goal is to obtain nutritional value from your choices, as well as to control the volume and frequency of consumption. Fruits make wonderful choices for sweet “treats.” Try fresh, dried, and even canned (in their own juices). Even a fruit-based traditional dessert (such as a cobbler or fruit pie) has far more nutritional benefit than most other dessert choices.

The last food type to decrease, or even eliminate, is “salty snacks,” such as potato chips. A healthy alternative is a whole grain fat-free pretzel or air popped popcorn.

And of course, the most important dietary change needed, as indicated by this study, is to include more fruits and vegetables. The current recommendation for fruits and vegetables is five servings per day. Evaluate your daily diet. Are you eating this many servings each and every day? As martial artists, our overall eating habits will impact our training progress and our ulitimate potential. Next month we’ll discuss the fruits and vegetables that pack the most punch!

---

Culled from the Internet —

(Note: No disrespect is intended or implied to any practitioners of these martial arts!)

Martial Arts Terms:

Aikido: A martial art, which allows you to defeat your enemy without hurting him. Unless of course your enemy does not know how to block properly, in which case he has his wrist broken in about 20 places.

Arnis: "Harness of the hand." A Filipino martial art, also known as Eskrima and Kali, centering on stick, blade and empty hand combat. Mispronunciation of the art’s name guarantees a quick demonstration of the art itself.

Dan: A term used in the martial arts for anyone who has achieved the rank of at least first-degree black belt. Not to be confused with “Darn” a term used by the wearer of a Dan when theyrealize that they will now get hit harder and more frequently during training.

Hapkido: Think of it as “origami with people”.

Hakama: A skirt sometimes worn in the Martial Arts but we don't really like to talk about it.

Judo: "Gentle way." A Japanese art where grown men roll around cuddling each other without apparently doing any damage.

Jujitsu: A lot like judo expect that these boys like to inflict slightly more damage. Tend to get very angry when accused of being Hakama wearers.

Karate: "Empty hand" or "China hand." The primary purpose of this art is the destruction of wood and other natural products. Most Karate styles have a placing on Green Peace's most wanted list. Karate people enjoy pain, this is shown by their habit of fighting with their fists on their hips.

Kendo: A strange and unusual past-time involving hitting each other with sticks and making in-human sounds, and trying to keep people from comparing them to Jedi Knights.

Kung Fu: A generic term for a majority of the Chinese martial arts. Many of these arts involve the emulation of animals. Many students of Praying Mantis spend years attempting to obtain the other 4 legs while students of Monkey Kung-fu tend to find themselves being carted off by men in white lab coats.

Master: A title awarded on a martial artist who has attained advanced rank after long years of study, or self-bestowed when he has started his own style after achieving colored grades in at least 4 arts, or has completed the "Become a Master by Video" course available for only 19.95 per month.

Ninja: A rather confused individual who likes sneaking around at night in his pajamas.

Ninjutsu: The art of being confused and sneaking around in your pajamas.

Tae Kwon Do: An unusual martial art that relies on its followers to have the flexibility of a professional ballet dancer.

Tai Chi Chuan: Another unusual art that promises ultimate power from moving very slowly for many years. The drawbacks being that by the time you develop the ultimate power you are close to death anyway.

---

Welcome to Kid's Korner... If you score: 9 or more = Grandmaster 7 or 8 = a Master 6 = Advanced Student 5 = Intermediate Student 4 = Beginner Student 3 = do 10 sit-ups 2 = do 10 push-ups 1 = do 10 sit-ups and 10 push-ups Good luck!!!

Martial Arts Word Scramble:
How it works – Unscramble the letters to create a word describing a martial arts training benefit. Write your answer to the immediate right.

Bonus: Take all the letters that are in the boxes and descramble to find a famous martial arts actor.

Example:

A T I A L M R

T R A S

Solution:

M A R T I A L

A R T S

1.	X L E B I I I F Y T L __ [__] __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
2.	R E N T S G H T __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
3.	D E P S E __ __ [__] __ __
4.	W O P E R __ __ __ __ [__]
5.	C O F U S __ __ __ [__] __
6.	S N E F I T S __ __ __ __ [__] __ __
7.	A L A N E B C [__] __ __ __ __ __ __
8.	S E E N F E D __ [__] __ __ __ __ __
9.	A T H C R E R C A __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
10.	F N C E N O I D E N [__] __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Bonus Letters (from [___] above) ______________________________

Bonus: Famous Martial Arts Actor ______________________________
(First & Last Name)

Answers: 1. Flexibility, 2. Strength, 3. Speed, 4. Power, 5. Focus, 6. Fitness, 7. Balance, 8. Defense, 9. Character, 10. Confidence, Bonus: Bruce Lee