Do your children have everything they need for back to school #1

Do your children have everything they need for back to school? 

Going back to school means shopping for new clothes, maybe a backpack, school supplies and more.  However, preparing your child for September may take more preparation than a visit to the store.  Here are some of our top “Back to School” suggestions to keep your children healthy and safe. 

Teach your child the importance of exercise.  Getting sufficient exercise enhances mental function.  Moderately intense exercise increases your energy, stimulates a good mood, reduces anxiety and releases a chemical that rewires your brain to make better memory circuits.  It has to be a regular occurrence to maintain healthy brain function. 

Teach your children to get enough sleep.  We tell students about the importance of a restful night of sleep in order to have a strong body and strong mind. Muscles repair themselves when you are sleeping.  Many adults are sleep deprived too.  A good night's sleep will help enhance the learning and retention of the day's activities. 

Teach your children to eat a healthy breakfast.  Sending your child to school with fuel for the day is critical.  What would you feed your prize racehorse before sending them out to win a race?  Children who eat breakfast do better in school than children with an empty stomach.  Kids have different needs than adults when it comes time for cognitive work.  Between the constant stimulus of learning and the brain growing, children need more energy to function. 

Teach your children how to set a goal for excellence.  At Quest Martial Arts we say "We are a Black Belt school" using Black Belt as a metaphor for doing their best.  From the very first day a student enrolls we set the standard for high achievement and we expect to see improvements in class, at home and in school.  Our instructors always teach students that you don't need a Black Belt to have a Black Belt attitude, just try your best (although many children have not yet learned what their best is).  Give them some daily examples of excellence.    

Teach your children how to self-evaluate a performance.  A simple way to for kids to appraise their performance is to ask them to grade their effort on a scale of one to ten. One is stinky, rotten and not too good and level ten is a world class performance.  Which one do they want to be? 

The final lesson to get ready for school- (PPPPP)- perfect planning prevents poor performance. 

Master Mike Bogdanski has a Bachelor's degree in psychology and a Master's degree in school counseling.  He is a co-owner of Quest Martial Arts in Putnam with Master Kristin Duethorn, and are celebrating thirty years in business.   

Dan Inosanto -The Man

Dan Inosanto

Known to many as one if the greatest martial arts teachers of all time. He was one of Bruce Lee’s original students back in the sixties. He has black belts in dozens if martial arts and is a lifelong learner.  My don James has been training in phillippine martial arts for a few years now and has gotten very skilled.  I have slways been extremely close to him his entire life but this gives us some extra bonding.

While visiting him in California I had the pleasure of traing with his teacher Marie Claire who is a gifted and knowledgable teacher. She is impressive.  We also trained at the legendary Inosanto Academy with the legend himself.  We were in the pres ence of a master tescher. Not only his skills were evident but his knowledge and how he verbalized it was impressive.  I was very excited to take the class and especially to share it with my son.  It helps me realize I have to work harder to be as good a teacher as Guru Dan Inosanto.

Can’t wait until next time!

MB

Superman

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Not -“The Superman”

Superman, the roller coaster at Six Flags.  A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to ride this world class roller coaster. I like roller coasters, the speed, the excitement, it;s just fun.  This time I wanted to challenge myself to control my excitement and heart rate as if I were in a combat style encounter where my emotions would be challenged.

I had given it some thought.  I would do long slow breathing just like we do at the beginning and end of martial arts classes.  Muk nyum is a meditation state where you can bring your inner calmness into play as a way to feel centered and balanced.

Even though my nephew was screaming in my ear the entire ride I had a lot of success in managing the stress and elevation of emotions. This did not detract from the ride, I still loved it.  I was happy I was able to practice what I could preach.  This was a perfect situation about adrenaline stress management control.

Mike Bogdanski