Shoka Magazine June 2023

June 1, 2023

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.” - John F. Kennedy 35th President of the United States Parents, families, students and friends,

Our Spring 2023 Award Ceremony, held at the Finley Center on Saturday, May 6th 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 encourage them on their Great Journey to Black Belt and Beyond and in the process making themselves valuable. All in attendance left with sore hands and hoarse voices from clapping and cheering. The food was delicious and our Samurai Sword was put to good use cutting our congratulatory carrot cake Our Fall 2023 Award Ceremony will be on Saturday, November 4th at the Finley Center. So, mark your calendars now because you won’t want to miss it.

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

• Shoka News (our newsletter)

• Chief Instructor Award Ceremony Remarks

• It’s a Wild World Thanks in Part to You, Karen!

• Calgary Karate Summer Camp Poster, come join us!

• Recommended Reading: Nothing Left but Dust, by Melissa Geissinger, Apollo’s mom and author

• 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse Antidotes

• A Handsome Fellow came knocking at our door! He wants to train with us. Do we let him in!

• Responsibility: Leadership Trait, Definition, and Quotes

• Father’s Day... providing the necessary male essence to their sons and being the main person, their daughters look up to.

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy Self Defeating Rules 11 to 14 out of 14

• Chris Gunn: Eulogy for a former student who had an Indomitable Spirit

We’ve been out in the community recently, making our presence known and attracting more good people such as yourselves. We will continue to do this throughout the summer and fall as long as the weather cooperates. We were at the Monster Truck Show, the Human Race and we’ll be at the Wednesday Night Market throughout the summer. We generally have a booth and spinning wheel and give away free lessons, t-shirts, uniforms, and karate and pizza parties. If you know of a big event with lots of people we’d love to be there if we can make it work.

Yours truly,

Shotokan Karate Leadership School®

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

Shoka News

Shotokan Karate Leadership School® Newsletter

June 1, 2023

A BIG Welcome to our newest students!

v Elliot Zapadinsky, Juliann Finn, Avery Finn, Liam Finn, Patrick Finn, Ed Estrada, Jagger Espy, Nolan Hettich, Daniel Fajardo, Lumen Ares, Aiden Gardiner, Apache Greenberg, Elijah Lawson, Erick Diaz, Apollo Geissinger, Jason Zapadinsky, Tyler Thygesen, Alina Reyes, Norah Reyes, Ares Skaife

Upcoming Events and Activities

Ø Monday, May 29th Memorial Day – CLOSED... in case you read this before 5.29

Ø Wednesday Night Market – Starting May 3 for 15 weeks. We’ll be there. Stop by. See us. Say hi. Spin the wheel. Win prizes. Have FUN!

Ø Summer activities... we’re planning several different things but we’re not yet ready to announce them. They will probably include training and potluck lunch in the park, training and potluck lunch at the beach, Parent Night Out/Movie Night/Pizza Night! We’ll let you know day, dates, and times once we hammer out the details.

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.

Our Covid Policy

Covid is again rearing its ugly head so please wear a mask if you are unvaccinated. Decide for yourself if you are vaccinated. We will never ask you to do anything that will put you or your family at risk. You always have the opportunity to opt-out of any activity or event that you deem is unsafe.

Pay the price to become valuable

May 6, 2023 Award Ceremony

“Your life is going to be hard. It will be hard because you decided not to pay the price to become valuable and you’re left with limited options. Or it will be hard because you paid the price to become valuable. Paying the price is hard but then your options become unlimited.”

The young people here tonight are the future. We’re here for them. They have a long hard road in front of them and our job is to prepare them in the best way possible. They are on a Great Journey to become valuable. Through their hard work they are paying the price to become valuable.

At some point, your child will be deciding what direction they want their life to take. They might attend college, develop a technical skill, go directly into the workforce, become an entrepreneur, start their own business, or go on a great adventure. Whatever it might be they will meet other people who will want to know who they are, what they are like, how they handle everyday things, how they handle themselves in a crisis, and more. These people, whether they be college admissions officers, employers, venture capitalists or whoever, will be taking on chance on them, and they want to choose wisely.

Seeing that your child has earned a black belt will show them that they have developed mastery of something that requires perseverance over a long period of time. That they have done this on their own. That their mom didn’t do it. That their dad didn’t do it. That they did it. These people will be even more impressed when they discover that your child has leadership skills and has mentored and helped others.

In seeing this, they will know that your child won’t take NO for an answer. That their attitude is that they will find a way or they will make a way. That if there’s one chance then there’s a chance. That when they lead, they will give credit to their team when things go right and they will take the blame when things go wrong. They will know that your child will learn from their mistakes, and behave in private the same way they behave in public. They will know that your child will keep high standards and stay confident and self-assured no matter how hard things get. They will know that your child understands that the worst thing they can do is try to be something for everyone. They will know that your child is not just interested in winning but more importantly that they are interested in giving people hope And in the end, they know that your child will make them proud and be someone they can brag about.

Your child’s Great Journey to Black Belt is not going to be easy. They will be many times along the way when giving up seems to be the best option. Your child may want to give up and you don’t know what to say to them, so you let them. Or it might be that you want to give up and your child senses this, and knows that this is an opportunity to get out of doing the hard work of making themselves valuable and so they tell you they want to give up, and feeling relieved... you let them. We know how hard parenting is. Part of your own great journey to make yourself valuable, is to raise a child who will become valuable. This is a noble effort and, in time, your child will thank you for it. We’ve helped thousands of parents navigate this terrain. We can help you. Talk to us.

It’s a Wild World, Karen!

Thanks in part to you.

“Ooh baby baby, it's a wild world It's hard to get by just upon a smile You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do, and it's breaking my heart in two because I never want to see you sad girl.”

Karens, if you don’t know, are generally middle-aged white women who use their privilege as a weapon to belittle others who they deem are not living up to their expectations. She’s often entitled, ignorant and racist. A 9-year-old black girl was reported to the police as a suspicious person putting her at risk as she worked to eradicate her town of invasive insects. A neighbor called the police on a mom for allowing her under 12 aged child to walk to school alone. She’s now looking at jail time. These are often minor or even fictitious infringements on social conventions, but they can have serious and life changing impacts on the person who is being reported on. Well, I just had a mother tell me that I abuse children. I understand how a person unfamiliar with what we do may think that training a child in the martial arts is abuse. But, why don’t they ask questions and try to understand.

The highest purpose of our art is to develop character. And we use the platform of Shotokan Karate, an Art of Self Defense, to do it. I’m not sure what that mother was thinking. There is nothing sweet and cuddly about defending yourself when your life is in danger Some kids are highly aggressive from birth, other kids are gentle and caring. The only way these aggressive kids are going to be able to function in a free society is if they learn self-control. Which can be done and is best done early. If you wait until the child is a pre-teen or older, you’re going to have a much harder time. Studies show that kids who don’t learn self-control, turn into adults with poor health, suffer from substance abuse, have financial troubles and who have a criminal record by the time they reach age 32. To avoid this future these kids, need a strong, competent, and compassionate teacher

The student-teacher relationship with the wild child often begins with the child challenging the teacher to combat You see this portrayed in movies all the time where the young warrior challenges the master to a duel. In these portrayals if the master deems the young challenger worthy, he will accept the challenge and proceed to defeat the challenger without seriously hurting them. When this happens, the student recognizes defeat and that they have something they can learn from the teacher. This process is very exciting for the wild child. We use foam noodles, leg sweeps, kicks, throws, take downs, holds, chokes, etc. to playfully overpower the child. If the child isn’t enjoying it, we don’t do it. The teacher has to win the child over with play. To the overprotective parent this can look and sound like abuse, but to the child, it is great fun. This is a scenario that has been played out in thousands of martial art settings over hundreds of years in cultures all around the world.

So, to the mother who thinks what we do is child abuse I would say study warriors. Study who they are and how they are trained. Study character development. Study personality traits. Then when you know more of what you’re talking about come back to us and we’ll see if we can help your child. And, just to avoid any further misunderstanding, we only do this with highly aggressive kids, not the sweet ones.

CSKA SUMMER CAMP

“World Class Shotokan Training Sessions” With Instructors

John Hanratty, 8th Dan || Edmund Otis, 8th Dan || Kevin Warner, 7th Dan

Marty Callahan, 8th Dan || Sean Meehan, 5th Dan

Ahmad Kabalan, Master Champion in Jujitsu, 4th Dan

Full Camp: $150, Per individual Session: $50

Melissa recently enrolled her young son Apollo in our school. She’s an author and has donated a copy of her book to us. My wife, Connie, and I looked it over and both want to read it. Connie claimed it before I had a chance and is already deep into the first couple of chapters. She’s loving it. You might want to get a copy of your own. It’s available on Amazon, Copperfield’s and most major book stores.

NOTHING LEFT BUT DUST is a powerful tale of love, loss, and hope set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Jo and Otto must fight for survival and love as they navigate the burning ruins of the city in search of answers to a dark family secret. An edge-of-your-seat coming-of-age survival story that will leave you inspired by the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

Author: Melissa Geissinger is descended from survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and is herself a Tubbs fire survivor. A neurodivergent optimist, Melissa is predisposed to following her dreams as well as every shiny side quest along the way. She lives in Santa Rosa with her partner, her five-year-old heart warrior son, and a menagerie of fur kids. She enjoys the outdoors, soaking up knowledge, and connecting with other passionate creators. Nothing Left But Dust is her first novel. You can follow her writing at melissageissinger.com

This handsome fellow came knocking at our door. He wants to train with us.

Should we let him in?

RESPONSIBILITY LEADERSHIP TRAIT DEFINITION & EXAMPLES

Elementary: Being accountable in actions and words

Secondary: Having a sense of duty to fulfill tasks with reliability and dependability

Related Words

Trustworthy Dependable Missiondriven

Accountable Reliable Job

Quotes about Responsibility:

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession a duty. ~John

You may not be responsible for being down, but you must be responsible for getting up. ~Jesse

The world is a dangerous place; not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else. ~Les

Remember the three R‘s- Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions. ~Unknown

Accountability breeds responsibility.

You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self -esteem and personal satisfaction. ~Margaret

Responsibility Words and Actions

Ways to Improve Personal Responsibility

By practicing the following six behaviors, you will earn the reputation as a responsible, go-to person who gets things done.

1. Do what you agree to do; follow through on tasks. If you let people down, they‘ll stop believing in you. When you follow through on your commitments, people take you seriously.

2. Be accountable for your own actions. Don’t make excuses or blame others for what you do. By taking responsibility for your actions, you say, I am the one who’s in charge of my life.

3. Take care of your own schedule and activities. Don’t rely on an adult to remind you of when and where you are to be at a certain time and what you are to take with you. Use some type of planner and calendar, whether written or electronic, to keep activities organized.

4. Make sure people can trust you. If you borrow something, return it in the same condition that it was borrowed. If you are taking care of something for someone, take good care of it. If people know that they can depend on you, it is more likely that you will be able to depend on them.

5. Think before you act. Make sure you have all the information before making a decision. By using good judgment, you will make good choices and your friends and family will know that they can trust you.

6. Complete your work on time and in advance when possible. Completing work on time shows that you have control of your life. Emergencies can happen at the last minute that can keep you from getting it done; therefore, advance planning is a key to success.

Happy Father’s Day Sunday, June

18th

Dad’s often don’t get the attention mom’s get, and that’s okay.

If they’re doing their job, they don’t need the recognition.

Seeing their child grow into the man or woman they are meant to be, is enough for them.

The Fight of a Lifetime

2 womyn like Sisters brought together through Wings of Love

Have you ever known the secret thrill of fighting for another? To know that sweet inner victory that comes from using one’s power to truly help make a difference for another? We live in a world where sadly many bad things happen to good people. The world more than ever before is in great need true strong brave Warriors to stand up for that that is Right, to Protect and Defend our innocent, and our vulnerable.

I was deeply blessed to meet a truly Amazing lady named Michele Pipkin. She taught me what it is to fight for another! My life was transformed through the great Grace of meeting this special womyn.

I remember that day quite clearly! It was a day I found myself sadly weeping on my pity pot of woes and questioning the meaning of my life. It all begins with a prayer in my heart, that I might be of use to another fellow human being. At about the same time I was saying my heart’s prayer, a lovely lady named Michele Pipkin was saying her Heart’s prayer also, which was that amidst her terrible ordeal of suffering, that someone out there believe in herself, help give her a loan to help fix her car that would help herself to be once more independent, hopefully a warm safe home to live in

I soon found her Letter of Hope on Nextdoor, and I learned Michele had been living in her car for eight months and with great health challenges. I didn’t know that I could offer much, but I thought I could at least bring some home baked banana bread by.

The gas station attendant helped me to find her, “KNOCK KNOCK” on her car window which I understood to be her front door “Who is there?” sung out Michele. Can you imagine

what it is like living in a car for 8 months? Michele and I proceeded to have the loveliest time visiting! I recognized a fellow sister of the heart. She shared all about her Hopes, her Dreams including her dream of helping others that are homeless like herself. I felt her sweetness, and her Love shine into my heart. I'd like everybody to meet this Great Lady who is living in her car. I feel it is a real SHAME that a Great Giver and Beautiful Soul like herself has so very much to give, and yet she is surrounded by pain, frustration, and despair all of what comes from not being properly helped. I feel that is a very great shame. What I came to understand from Michele is that she had in her words “Fallen through the cracks”. Michele Pipkin’s fight is every Womyn’s fight to be Seen, to be Heard In a society that is patriarchal and where 1 in 3 women get abused. And she is every good man’s fight to protect, defend, and safeguard the sacred Feminine form in life.

Michele was deeply grateful and said I was an answer to her prayers! In the meantime, I felt like I had won the lottery! Soon I begin to champion and fight for Michele’s cause. I bless my karate classes for helping me to learn not only what it is to stand up for oneself but to take a great stand for another as well! This womyn is an Amazing survivor and deserves to be fully Honored by our Community. Michele’s cry is “Please don’t place me last on the bus!”

Please join me dear Shoka Community in joining the Great fight to help Michele Pipkin, help her to know she is truly cared about, loved, that she comes first on the bus! Those needs as I understand include need for: Love, true Caring, Belief in Herself, Compliments, Hugs, to be Reassured everything will be okay, of great importance a Car that runs so that she can reach her Dream of being Independent, Her Dream most of all of being in a Cozy sweet Haven with a furry puppy love lapping at her face, and to feel her Faith, Love, Hope fully Restored to her. May Michele Pipkin be properly and truly helped.

Her Go fund me https://www.gofundme.com/f/hmlisgrlca?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow1&utm_content=undefined&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_term=un defined

Even five dollars makes a difference! If you feel moved to help dear Michele, please feel free to reach out to me. I am her advocate. All letters of caring and offers to help are most welcome! *Punch* *Kick* *Block* *kiiiiiaiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!

**Note: Womyn isn’t a misspelled word. I say Womyn out of Great respect for Womyn’s empowerment. As defined by Daily Dot dictionary “The word “woman” refers to “of man” implying that a woman’s identity is inherently reliant on man…In spelling womyn with a “Y,” we recognize that womyn have diverse and different identities and roles which are not all defined by a relationship to men (or dictionary). I’d like to share, for many womyn who have been abused, this is a way of creating Safety for Womyn. This isn’t to say we are against men but simply that we hold ourselves apart in all of our feminine power and glory.

You can reach Caroline at (707) 774-5294

Shotokan Karate Leadership School®

Chris Gunn, December, 2009

Eulogy: INDOMITALBE SPIRIT

Chris Gunn embodied what it means to possess an INDOMITABLE SPIRIT.

My name is Marty Callahan I teach karate at SRJC. Chris was my student for the past 2 years.

Last December he asked if his final exam could count as his brown belt test and I told him, NO. I told him that his technique was not yet at a brown belt level and since I was the one to decide if he passed or failed… I told him “You’re not ready.”

He accepted that and then went about preparing for his brown belt test as though I had no say in the matter.

And sure, enough I didn’t.

Yes, his technique was a little lacking… But his SPIRIT was far and away above what I would expect from a brown belt.

I had no choice but to pass him.

MR. Gunn, your SPIRIT, your ENTHUSIASM and your VITALITY will be greatly missed.

Rest in peace, my friend.

“I have learned to never lose my spirit.”