AKS Quarterly Newsletter

"The Punchline"

Editorial – December 2012

As I sit in my home office composing my December comments to the membership, it's two days before Thanksgiving.   We are entering the holiday season where the majority of us look forward to good home-cooked meals, fun with the kids and grandkids, and meaningful time with our loved ones.   I know we're all aware of this to one degree or another, however, we must also reflect on those who don't share the same blessings for any number of reasons.   As we give thanks I would ask each of you to remember those who can't be with us.   They may be ill, they may be serving in the military, or no longer with us.   Regardless of the reason, part of our thanksgiving should revolve around what they mean or meant to us.  If at all possible, we should call or visit them, just to let them know they're in our hearts and minds.

The Fall training seminar in West Virginia was yet another successfully run and enjoyable get together.  The training benefited all who attended in various ways.  This training session, we were especially blessed to have a guest instructor from the area who was introduced to us by Sensei Jude Gore.  Sensei Bill King has multiple black belts and is a gifted teacher. The simplicity and grace of his movements gave each of us true insight into his mastery and skill.  His explanations were easily understood and his patience with those of us who required a little extra time to learn the moves was evidence of his years of experience.  It is our hope he will join us again at a future AKS seminar.

One last thing I would like to address.  I know we all have busy schedules and families that keep us occupied to the point we wonder where we'll find the time to do much else.  Those of us at the senior ranks have spent the lion's share of our lives training, studying, and teaching others.  For us, and many of the younger black belts, there is a true love of the arts that drives us to continue our involvement.  The three times we've set aside each year for our training seminars should be looked at as family reunions, coupled with great opportunities to train and enjoy the fellowship of true friends.  I know some feel getting together once a year was sufficient and that meeting three times a year is a challenge to their family and leisure time.  It saddens me that we don't all share the same level of joy in our mutual training regardless of the venue or the time of year.  My wish is that everyone would give this serious thought and examine what we have been able to accomplish since Mr. Lieb was so tragically taken from us.  He relished those times during the summer when we would all travel to Muskegon to meet, train, and enjoy each other's company and friendship.   As the chosen weekend drew closer, he became more excited and anxious.  I know he would also be disappointed in the knowledge some don't share the same sentiments or enthusiasm.

I hope when you've read this editorial your Thanksgiving was restful and enjoyably spent in the presence of loved ones.  I also hope you are looking forward to Christmas time to once again join with family and friends to share in the blessings we've all received in one form or another.  By blessings I don't mean materialistic things.  I mean good health, the love of family, and the fellowship of friends.  I mean the ability to choose those things you love to be involved in, as opposed to things you may be forced to do for any number of reasons.  Be appreciative of what you have.  Don't lament that which you don't have.  There are tens of thousands who would gladly change places with you.  Having traveled and lived overseas for more than a decade, I know this to be true for I've seen it firsthand.

Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season.  Celebrate his life and sacrifice for the salvation of our souls.

Mike Sullenger, 9th Dan
Chief Instructor

Where, How, and Why?

Where is Clarksburg, West Virginia, and why do I want to go there?  Safely tucked away in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia is the Gore Alternative Learning Center.  A place for young and old to come together, to learn and to grow; to be a part of something much larger than twice a week training sessions at their home club.

Some rode in cars for eight hours in the pouring rain, a few hopped a plane, where others had only a five minute ride just up the road.

In usual AKS fashion, registration is at 9 a.m. sharp!  Bow in at 9:30…or is it 10:00?  The excitement and anticipation is heightened, and the adrenaline rush on the floor is something even the non-participants can feel and appreciate as the class is snapped to attention.

We have all wondered and asked the same questions.  Are we going to learn anything new?  Is it worth it to ride eight to ten hours one way to train with the same people and the same instructors.  After all, two of those instructors live only ten minutes away from me, and one of them is my sensei.  Why do we do this?

The AKS was founded on many different styles, blended and refined to become the American Karate System as we know it today.  It was trial and error.  The goal was to find out what works.  To find out what the best possible techniques and teaching styles are for our students.  It didn't happen overnight.  It took hard work, patience, and perseverance; and we continue to evolve as a style today.

How?  Community.  The AKS is a family.  This family is comprised of young and old; seasoned martial artists with over forty years experience; those wonderful young wide-eyed beginners, eager to learn and experience all that those seasoned martial artists have to offer.  How do we learn and continue to grow as an individual, as a club, and as an organization?

We broaden our vision and our focus to see the bigger picture…the AKS community.  We travel eight hours in the pouring rain to train and to come together as one; to experience the significance of something bigger than ourselves.

The handshake of an old friend, the stories of the past, well-fought tournaments, the living history on the floor to the newly promoted yellow belts.

We spend eight hours on the gym floor learning, teaching, and growing as a community.  Growing The American Karate System.  Why?

Why indeed.

WV Fall Seminar 2012

This year’s Fall Seminar was held on October 27, 2012 in Clarksburg, WV, and was the largest to date. It was co-hosted by Salem Karate Club under the direction of John Folsom, and Mountaineer Karate Club under the direction of Brian Greynolds and Jude Gore. There were 34 in attendance, including AKS Chief Instructor Mike Sullenger from Texas, Assistant Chief Instructors Fred Reinecke and Dave Thomas from Michigan, special guest instructors William King, Tom Twining and David Hayes, as well as members from Michigan and West Virginia. A local Cub Scout pack from Lumberport and Salem, WV attended a Stranger Danger class given by Tom Twining.

After bowing in, the first order of business was to announce the West Virginia Student of the Year Award.  William Way (Bill), 4th Grade Green Belt from the Mountaineer Karate Club, was this year's recipient.  Bill has studied with MKC for 2 years, and is truly well deserving of this award.

The morning session began with Dave Thomas leading a quick warm-up and some basics.  We then broke into groups according to rank, focusing on various self defense techniques for attacks listed in our handbooks.

Fred Reinecke taught defense techniques against wrist, lapel, and neck grabs from different angles, as well as defense for being pinned up against a wall.  Dave Thomas continued the list of techniques for self defense against bear hugs, head locks, and shoving.  On the mats was Mike Sullenger instructing the proper technique for break falls from the front, rear, and side.  David Hayes along with Jude Gore finished up the list by working on front and rear rolls as well as throws for the more advanced belts.

The afternoon session was conducted by our guest instructor Sensei William King.  Sensei King is a Black Belt in Chong Shin Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, Jujitsu, Judo and Iaido and is one of Shihan Roger Jarrett's top black belt instructors in the USA Martial Arts Federation.   Sensei King demonstrated and taught self-defense against knife and sword attacks using Aikido techniques.

Sensei Bill King / Jude Gore (Uke)

After a day full of valuable training and expert instruction, the seminar concluded with a social gathering at the Gore home.  We are extremely fortunate to have such good friends with whom we are able to share something we all love to do.  Thanks to everyone for traveling to West Virginia to help make the 2012 WV Fall Seminar an outstanding success.

Kristyn Reinecke	David Hayes, John Folsom, Dave Thomas, Mike Sullenger, Fred Reinecke, Jude Gore, Tom Twining
Dave Thomas	Rub-a-dub-dub!
Social Time	Relaxing

The King Group

Hurry up!!! . . . And wait …

As some of you may know, these last few months have been excruciatingly painful and boring for me.  During the early part of this year, I initially thought I had simply pulled an inner-thigh muscle during a training session with my sons and other AKS students.  After a couple of months of constant stretching and R.I.C.E (rest, ice, compression, elevation) treatment, I noticed the injury wasn't as "simple" as I originally thought.  After some poking and prodding, my doctor walked into the examination room and said, "It looks like you have a torn groin muscle, Roy. We'll need to get you to an orthopedic surgeon and see what options are available."    Needless to say, it's been almost nine months and I'm still waiting for an appointment.   During my down time, I've missed the opportunity to test for my 4th Dan, along with participating in some local tournaments.

As my instructor and great friend, Mike Sullenger-AKS Chief Instructor, always reminds me; "Take the time to train your mind whenever you can't train your body."    This also goes along with his other sage-worthy sayings of, "stretch those tree trunks and lose weight!!!!!"    Ha Ha!!

So, while I've been waiting for my orthopedic appointment to magically appear, I've been looking over some of the latest trends of self-defense and mixed martial arts (MMA).   While some styles have simply regurgitated the same rhetoric over the last few years, I ran across a system/style that I have not heard or seen until now.

I first noticed the S.P.E.A.R system (Spontaneous, Protection, Enabling, Accelerated, Response) while surfing the YouTube website.   I quickly took notice of the founder's use of scientific findings to back up the system he's founded.   According to the Blauer Tactical System's website, the founder, Tony Blauer, first came across this type of training in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Canada.   "In 1982, eleven years before the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the popularity of no-holds-barred events shook the martial arts world, Tony Blauer had created the PANIC ATTACK SYSTEM™.   The first no-holds-barred scenario based contact simulation system where role-playing, scenarios and tactics converge to help the student understand what really happens during a street attack."    While his claim may be disputed, it brought to mind the teachings of our founder, Mr. Ernest H. Lieb.   Mr. Lieb was always at the forefront of pioneering new techniques which not only made sense, but were easy to learn and utilize.   When listening to an interview of Tony Blauer, he mentions something that we in the AKS have always preached. . . "Chu Fen Do is basically an eclectic, hybrid system where you're going to draw from different systems."    Wow, that sounds eerily familiar.

Please don’t get the impression that I am trying to dispel Tony Blauer's system as fake or unoriginal.   As a matter of fact, I use this information to further solidify the AKS as a leader of taking techniques from all styles and utilizing them in our arsenal of weapons.

What I particularly want to point out about Tony Blauer's style of teaching is his ability to back up his style and teachings with scientific proof.   During one of Tony Blauer's lectures captured in YouTube, he is giving a class to law enforcement officials that really impressed me, especially his use of science to back up his teachings.   During one segment, he refers to Hick's Law.   According to Wikipedia, "The response time is longer when a stimulus belongs to a large set rather than a smaller set of stimuli."    Tony Blauer breaks this scientific finding into layman's terms.   He states, "The more self-defense techniques we try to choose from when defending one-self, the longer the reaction will be when attacked."    This holds true especially when faced with a surprise attack.   Over the last 16 years of studying with our Chief Instructor, Mr. Sullenger has always said the same thing: "Keep it Simple!"  This is especially important when facing life and death situations.

When one looks back at the amount of training, it's interesting to wonder what one technique will come to the front when a gun is pulled out and pointed at our face.   Will it be a front kick to the groin?    A side-step and deflect technique?    A drop into horse stance and high block?    It seems, according to Hick's Law, that the more choices we have to choose from, the longer our reaction time will be.   If this holds true, it would make sense to concentrate on using one technique to disarm an assailant.   For example, one could focus on using the side-step and deflect with a palm strike to the face as the technique of choice.

While I can go on and on about the differences and similarities of systems, I want to leave you with this question:  What are you doing to expand your arsenal, yet keeping it simple?    It seems like I'm asking a paradoxical question.   How can I learn more, yet not use it?    Whatever you decide to learn, remember this:

Do You Have a Question?

We invite you to send in your questions regarding karate and the A.K.S. so that we may respond here in our newsletter. If you have a concern, question or suggestion, please let us know and we will address it here in the Punchline.

If you don't want your name published, please let us know and we will be happy to withhold that information from print. However, please be respectful when submitting your queries or suggestions to us by including your name so that we may understand your questions and/or circumstances.

Please send your questions to Laura Werner, and I will forward them to the person who can provide the appropriate response.

We look forward to hearing from you!

PROMOTIONS!!

This is the 7th in a series of articles by Sensei George Kirby. Sensei Kirby is a 10th Dan in Budoshin Ju-Jitsu Yudanshakai and has become friends with Sensei Mike Sullenger. Mr. Sullenger has had an article that he wrote published on the Budoshin website. Feel free to browse  this site  to become more familiar with who George Kirby is and his style.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU . . .TRUST |  [BJJY KOKORO 10/12]

Note: A couple of sensei have asked me to start a series on how to improve teaching skills and student learning—as it applies to the dojo. So I’ve decided to launch this idea, with the hope of seeing it become a regular item in future issues of Kokoro.

Ask any student in any school, college, or dojo who their favorite teachers were and their response will usually be - the one[s] who got to know me.

Yes, teachers who are competent in their subject matter and have the ability to involve their students score high, but not as high as a teacher who also took the time to allow for some humanity in their classroom [or dojo].

Usually the two characteristics are combined because the teacher feels comfortable enough with the subject matter he/she is teaching to involve the students in the process - even though that's taking a risk.

Here's an eye-opener.  Students will not take risks unless they trust you.  Trust is defined as no harm will come to them if they do what you ask them to do.  Trust can be a very hard characteristic to secure.

Here's a second eye-opener.  To be trustworthy, you do NOT need to know everything there is to know about your subject.  You have to be willing to learn along with your students!

Here's a third eye-opener.  Developing trust does not mean being their friend.  It means being a fair, truthful and honest teacher.  So how do you achieve this - trust?  There is no single answer.  Being consistent in your standards and expectations [as long as they're reasonable] is an important precondition.  Also, students need to be treated with respect - the same respect you would ask them to extend to you.  Students need to know that they are on - safe ground - in your classroom/dojo in your presence.   Some students will come into your class/dojo with enough confidence to initially trust you.  That's good because they will follow your instructions with no harm coming to them, and less trusting students may then also take the -risk- usually finding out for themselves that you can be trusted.

Another part of securing a student's trust is to get to know them and having them feel that they are important.  Greet them as they come into your dojo.   Ask them how they are.  If they look like they're unhappy about something, ask them if they're OK.   They're not really looking for you to solve their problem, just to recognize that they're human.  Compliment them on their work if they do well or show improvement.

More importantly, be willing to take the time in class to give them that extra attention to help them be more successful.  If they're having a problem doing a technique [answering a question in an academic class] don't just give them a fix or answer.  Take the time to ask them what they think the problem is, if you have the time.   Not only does this help them see the problem - and maybe even the solution on their own, but it will help you zero-in to help them solve the problem if they can't come up with their own - fix.

Once students [in any subject] realize that you're there, not to just teach, but to help them learn, they will open up to you and they will trust you.   You have shown them that you will work with them towards a common goal - and that process is more important than the goal itself.  This works because you have personally involved the student in the learning process.   You have helped them develop the tools necessary for success.   No, they may not get an - A or B - on an assignment or a high score on a belt exam, but they will know that they can trust you to help them do the best they can.   It's called self-confidence.

Sometimes, when students trust you, they may even make suggestions on how to teach or help them learn something better or more effectively.   As a public school teacher, I got some of my best teaching ideas from my kids.  [This can be really scary for some teachers, regardless of whether it's in a public school classroom or in your dojo because now you're being asked to trust your students.]

If I think it's a workable idea, I've told my students that we'll try it.   If it works, fine.   If it doesn't, no one will suffer [get marked down, not pass a belt test, etc.].  We try it.   If it works, GREAT!   If my students saw that I trusted in their judgment, whether or not their idea worked, our mutual learning environment has taken a huge step forward.   We now have greater trust in each other.

This works in the dojo too.   Teaching uke othoshi used to be a really difficult task until three of my junior-high brown belts came up with an alternative method - which worked so beautifully that I'm still using it 30+ years later.  This year's summer camp instruction was another positive experience, not only because of the topics covered, but how they were covered.   I was really worried that, because of the strong personalities teaching and the fact that I didn't know the details of what/how they'd be teaching, I had some serious worries about conflicting approaches.   Much to my surprise, not only did a lot of the material segway into each of the other instructor's topics, but we constantly reinforced each others teachings.   I had to trust that this year's training sessions would work well together and they did, beyond my expectations.

Also, keep in mind, trust is easier to lose than to secure.   Don't abuse your students' trust in you, for you now have a responsibility to them: to be the teacher - to be their sensei - and most importantly, to be their guide.  With mutual trust, the process is much easier and the positive results more assured.

A.K.S. News . . . 2012 Fall Seminar This past October brought together various members of the AKS family in Clarksburg, West Virginia for the annual Fall Regional Training Seminar.  This makes the third of these events the West Virginia AKS leadership has conducted as the usual event in Ohio was skipped until next May. Sensei John Folsom should be proud of the wonderful work both Jude and Sandy Gore have done in bringing off yet another successful and enjoyable weekend of training and fellowship.  For those who made the effort to take time out of their schedules to spend the weekend in Clarksburg, I thank you.  I was especially pleased with the great turnout by the students of the various West Virginia schools.  We had a great group of white, yellow, green and brown belts in attendance.  This gave Senseis Dave Thomas, Fred Reinecke, and I a wonderful opportunity to get to know and train with them.  I'm hoping our summer camp next year will be able to boast of the same kind of attendance from the several schools we have in and around Michigan. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season that will soon be upon us.  Be sure to spend time with your family and loved ones.  Also, always remember the reason for the season. Blessing to all, Mike Sullenger Black Belt Membership Dues All A.K.S. members should now be thinking about renewing their 2013 membership dues.   Deadline for updating is February 1, 2013.  Please contact your instructor for forms or check the bottom of the - Calendar of Events Page - for fee information and the "Membership Application" form that needs to be sent in along with your payment. Recognition Page Please take a moment to view our website and visit the   A.K.S. Recognitions  page.   We are proud of all of our A.K.S. members who have been honored and recognized for their accomplishments and dedication to the American Karate System. It is only fitting that we honor them and thank them for their dedication and service to our organization. Ernie would be proud! PLEASE VISIT OUR "A.K.S. MESSAGE BOARD" at AKS Forum . . . . we would appreciate your thoughts and comments. If you are interested in becoming a "Moderator," please contact  David Eric Thomas Wondering what to buy for a Christmas gift?   Here's a great idea!! Please visit our A.K.S. Online Store We have jackets, fleece, wind breakers, vests, shirts, sweatshirts, caps and more.  There is also an embroidery service to have the AKS Logo embroiderd on your item. We would like to thank all those who have purchased AKS apparel through our on-line store.   The AKS receives a portion of the purchase price on every item sold.  Thank you for your continued support. Visit HERE!

We want to wish you, and all your families,
a very Merry and Blessed Christmas,
and a safe and Happy New Year!

A.K.S. Web Address(es)

Our "Official" web address is now:  www.aks-usa.com

We also own:   www.aks-usa.org  and  www.aks-usa.net  which will direct you to our website as well.

Our original:   www.americankaratesystem.org  is no longer in service.

You can also type in    www.aks-usa.info   and you will be taken directly to our "About Us" web page.   Please check us out!!