Shoka Magazine October 2023

October 1, 2023

“The true purpose of karate is not the winning of fights or tournaments. The true purpose of karate is to perceive the truth of life through daily training, and to gain self-confidence and self-reliance.”

Sensei Kevin Warner is coming back in October and our Fall 2023 Award Ceremony is scheduled for the 1st Saturday of November at the beautiful Finley Center at the corner of College and Marlow Road. Our Spring 2023 Award Ceremony was a rousing event. Our students put their heart and soul into their onstage performances and it showed. We are tremendously proud of all of them and feel honored to have them as students and to see them making something valuable of themselves and they continue on their Great Journey to Black Belt and Beyond Our goal is to have all attendees leave with sore hands and hoarse voices from all the clapping and cheering they do. The food will be delicious, our Samurai Sword cake cutting will be a hit, and our Halloween Cackle Contest will be exciting. So, mom ’s practice your witch’s cackle so you’ll be well prepared! So, mark your calendars because you won’t want to miss it.

Here’s what’s in it this month’s Shoka Magazine:

• Shoka News

• The Return of Sensei Kevin Warner – you don’t want to miss him

• Award Ceremony Saturday, November 4th Finley Center 5:30 to 8p

• What colleges want in their applicants

• Top 10 characteristics of resilience

• Know your value

• Dang that guy is good!

Yours truly,

Shotokan Karate Leadership School®

3082 Marlow Road B1, Santa Rosa, CA 95403 707-575-1681

Shoka News

Shotokan Karate Leadership School® Newsletter

October 1, 2023

A BIG Welcome to our newest students!

v Harper Barahona, Enoch Peretz, Max Reyes, Marcus Westphal, Katana Nguyen, Aldo Gonzaga, Analilia Gonzaga, Sayd Ramirez, Mia Gonzalez, Cheri Askim, Kevin McQueeny, Aaron Garcia, Amethyst Gabriel, Lily Keller, Asher Schroeder, Vyom Garg, Santi Fernandez (from Spain)

Upcoming Events and Activities

Ø Saturday, Sept. 30th Santa Rosa Invitational Karate Tournament

Ø Mon. & Tues. Oct. 16 & 17 Performance Exams

Ø Fri. & Sat. Oct. 27 & 28 Sensei Kevin Warner Returns Classes and Black Belt exams

Ø Sat. Nov. 4th Fall 2023 Finley Center Award Ceremony and Potluck Dinner

The Hero’s Journey: Act I – The Separation: Is finally here. Please pick up your copy and grab a few extra to give to your friends. It’s an interesting read about the hero archetype that’s seen in all cultures around the world and is innate in our DNA. And how understand if you will be in a strong position to guide your child through their life and help them to accomplish great things. Sensei Callahan is in the process of writing Act II – The Initiation and Act III – The Return.

Sensei Kevin Warner: will be back Oct. 27 & 28th to teach and give a Black Belt exam.

Shoka Magazine: We’re mailing it to your house. We hope you’re getting it. If not let us know. It’s also coming by email in an electronic format called Issuu. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Santi Fernandez – One of our newest students: Santi has been practicing Shotokan Karate in Spain. He and his mom have moved back to Sonoma County after about 5 years in Spain. If you ever question why you or your child are practicing this Art of Self Defense, know that right now today karate is being practiced by more than 100 million people in more than 190 countries around the world. Spain is just one of them.

COVID-19 Information (Sonoma County Health Department)

Temporary COVID-19 mitigation measures put into place by the state and county have expired. Though no longer an emergency, the virus is still circulating, and health officials recommend keeping up to date on vaccines and testing when exposed or experiencing symptoms. If positive, isolate (for at least five days with improving symptoms), mask around others, and find out if you are eligible for treatment as soon as possible. You should also wear a mask if have been exposed or have conditions that make you more likely to get very sick from COVID-19.

The Return of Sensei Kevin Warner

7th Degree Black Belt!

We are excited to announce the return of Instructor Extraordinaire, Sensei Kevin Warner, 7th Degree Black Belt, on the Friday, October 27th and Saturday, October 28th. Sensei Warner is a former international competitor and a member of the Advisory Committee of Shotokan International Alliance. He will be here to teach classes and give a Black Belt Exam on Friday evening and classes on Saturday morning. He’s an extraordinary instructor and his classes are in high demand. Please sign up in advance. You don’t want to miss this.

Friday, October 27th

5p Shoka / BBSL All Ranks & All Ages

6p All Brown and Black Belts, All Ages

7p Black Belt Exam

Saturday, October 28th

9a Shoka / BBSL All Ranks Age 7 and up

10a All White, Yellow and Orange Belts, All Ages

10:30a Shoka / BBSL All Ranks, Ages 4 and up

Mark your calendars now!

Award Ceremony

Finley Community Center

6 pm Saturday, November 4th 2023

Student Performances

Award Ceremony

Potluck Dinner

Samurai Sword Cake Cutting

Halloween Cackle Contest

Family and Friends are Invited.

NOTE: All Shotokan Karate Leadership School® students are expected to attend. Attendance at this event will help your child achieve their goals and demonstrate the support they have for their dojo-mates and their school.

Your child will perform on stage. Please arrive by 5:30 pm to allow them time to prepare. This will be a great opportunity for your child to show you what they have learned to do and for you to let them know how proud you are of them. They will remember this event for many years to come.

Potluck: Please bring a dish of your choosing to share.

What Best Colleges Want from Their Applicants

“Sensei, my name is Dean. I was your student 15 years ago. I’m calling because I want to thank you for giving me the foundation for a wonderful life. The training I received from you has helped me in innumerable ways. I have a wonderful life and I don’t believe it would have turned out this way without the training that I received from you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Of course, we want your child to be able to defend themselves, but we’re just as much interested in what will happen to them later in life years after they have stopped training with us. The principle we have that speaks to this, is the first and most important principle of our school creed, ‘Seek Perfection of Character’. To us this means to strive for excellence in all you do, never stop learning, and never stop growing. So, we look to your child’s future and we know that their black belt training will provide them with an inner strength that will give them a foundation that they can build on their whole life.

After high school your child may enroll in a college, or university, or any of a number of professional training programs. The best schools and programs are highly selective in who they accept, because they know their program is grueling and they want students who will succeed through the many years it will take them. They want students who are resilient and who can make and keep long-term commitments.

In 2021 Stanford University received applications from 44,000 students but accepted only 2,000 or 5% of them. Your child would be well served by understanding what top-level educational institutions and training programs are looking for in an applicant, and then help your child gain those qualities.

It goes without saying that these institutions are looking at the curriculum and classes your child took, their GPA, if they took advanced placement classes, and their admission test scores. But they are also looking at the accomplishments your child has outside of school. They want to know who your child is as a whole person. They want to know if they have the wherewithal to make long-term commitments and follow through and complete them. They will want to know if your child has developed their leadership potential, if they have experience teaching and mentoring others, or if they have held internship positions in a company or educational institution. All of this information will give them a clearer view of who your child really is. They want students who can complete their program, earn a degree or certificate and go out into the world and make them proud, and make contributions to them after they have become successful. They don’t want students who will only be there for a short while and then drop out.

As a result, they look favorably upon students who have trained with us, earned a Black Belt and completed our leadership training program. They like the fact that our students have public speaking skills, stage presence, advance teaching skills, and have given back to their communities through public service work. If we accepted your child in our school, it is because we believe they have what it takes to do this. Our recommendation is for you to put your child in our leadership program and then don’t let them get distracted by some other activity that looks like it’s more fun, and most importantly – don’t let them quit.

My Karate Story Anonymous

I haven't taken much karate this semester because I have been sick, but I have taken some, and I have realized that in taking these few classes alone, I have gained a bit more confidence and assurance in myself that I didn't have before.

I used to be very frightened of men, and of the fourth floor in the library, because many times in my life men have scared me or touched me in a way that would not be desirable. On the fourth floor, one day I was assaulted by a male (he used to be a classmate.) He said, “hey, wanna be my bitch?”

I was shocked, and slightly frightened, and backed away, and said, “no thank you.”

He said “come on” and blocked me in a corner, and kept insisting. By this time, I had pretty much lost my voice, and could only shake my head, but he finally relented. He threw me to the floor and walked off, saying “fine your loss.”

That experience made me jumpy on the fourth floor, if I went there ever. Mostly I just blocked that floor from my mind.

Many of these kinds of things have happened in my life, I just don't like to talk about them. I mean, I am the happy, easy-going girl that seems like she hasn't a care or problem in the world. Why would I want to tell friends or family what really happens in my life? Have I also, maybe, been scared to tell anyone what would happen? I don't want people to get in trouble and I don't want anything really to change in my life because of these things.

But taking Karate as made me a lot more grown up, outspoken, and a little bit more confident. I mean, I am still not comfortable around males much, but I have learned to stay open minded, with a clear head, and I can judge peoples body language better now. I am also a little less clumsy than I used to be, and a little more sure-footed, as well as a bit happier, I think...

Maybe I will continue to take karate classes, and grow in discipline, and strength, and confidence. I really hope I can.

Know your value

A father said to his daughter “You have graduated with honors, here is a car I bought many years ago. It is pretty old now. But before I give it to you, take it to the used car lot downtown and tell them I want to sell it and see how much they offer you for it.”

The daughter went to the used car lot, returned to her father and said, “They offered me $1,000 because the said it looks pretty worn out.”

The father said, now “Take it to the pawn shop.” The daughter went to the pawn shop, returned to her father and said, “The pawn shop offered only $100 because it is an old car.”

The father asked his daughter to go to a car club now and show them the car. The daughter then took the car to the club, returned and told her father, “Some people in the club offered $100,000 for it because it’s a Nissan Skyline R34, it's an iconic car and sought by many collectors.”

Now the father said this to his daughter, “The right place values you the right way, If you are not valued, do not be angry, it means you are in the wrong place. Those who know your value are those who appreciate you......Never stay in a place where no one sees your value.”