Humility

Humility is simply a state of being humble. It is the outward projection you give of yourself to others as to who you are and that you are no more important nor no less important than the person next to you.  It also projects that you care about other people.  As you gain skills in the Martial Arts, it is incredibly important to remain humble. You learn techniques that have great potential to do harm. You must value life and avoid hurting others.  Humility is an asset for your self-improvement. By living a humble life, you can recognize the areas of your life that need improvement. It is an essential component for your wellbeing and leads to a path of becoming a better person. 

The question is just how do I do this? 

Discuss this with your parents or other important people in your life and record your answers 

  • How do I show my Humility in my life? (stop talking and listen, give others credit, admit when your wrong, ask for advice, praise others, give compliments)

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  • How can being humble help me in my life? (you become more tolerant of others, less defensive, you become more acceptable of people, people will see you in a different way)

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  • How can I improve my Humility in my life and why is this important?   

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  • Other thoughts and ideas regarding Humility? Does being humble mean you’re weak? 

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Student: __________________ Parent or Guardian: ____________________ Date: __________

Courage

Courage is not the absence of fear. It is learning how to do the right thing in the face of fear.
Courage is the ability to do something that is difficult or dangerous. There are different types of
courage: Moral courage, emotional courage, empathic courage, to mention a few. Moral
courage is to stand up for one’s belief’s in the face of overwhelming opposition. Emotional
courage is your ability to put your ego on the line in the face of fear, in relating to threats to your
comfortable beliefs, habits and past conditioning. It’s a willingness to step into the realm of
facing your own vulnerabilities and understanding yourself better. There are many more types of
courage that you will face in your life time. You may need courage to simply talk to someone, or
to take action when it may not be popular. Take a look at your life and those around you and see
when and how they applied courage. Then be ready to apply it in your life! Remember: courage
also includes restraint, one does not need courage to punch someone. It may mean you have the
courage to walk away. The question is just how do I do this?


Discuss this with your parents or other important people in your life and record your
answers
 How do I show my Courage in my life? Courage is all about action and how you apply it
in your life, there are those who how others are afraid to speak up or take action against
them.




 How can Courage help me in my life? Courage is about the development of your inner
spirit and being brave when others may not be, despite the dangers present.




 How can I improve my Courage in my life and why is this important?




 Other thoughts and ideas regarding Courage?




Student: _________________ Parent or Guardian: ________________ Date: ________

Fairness

Fairness is a quality in life that at times simply is not present with everyone regardless of age or
our position in life. When Fairness appears to have been applied equally, it could be in school,
at play, at work or even at home, a person feels more likely to be motivated to exert themselves
and try harder. When feel they have been treated unfairly, however, they tend to handle it
in other inappropriate ways. They may internalize it or they may lash out with other unethical
actions (bad language, or demonstration of temper). We should address our sense of
unfairness by being able to express (in a respectful manner) why you feel you were treated
unfairly. For example, ask again in a respectful manner why you were treated the way you were. Ask for the opportunity to voice your perspective and to provide reasonable, logical, and non-
emotional responses. Please keep in mind that there may be times when the person in authority
makes a quick decision without thinking it through, so be understanding and allow them the grace
to correct it with respect. You do not have to show that you were right and they were wrong. It may have
been a simple oversight. This could happen to you in the future. This is especially true during
an emergency and quick decisions must be made. Regardless of the circumstances, handle it and
other similar situations, with respect and dignity and always try to put yourself in the shoes of
the other person. Try and learn to see through their eyes. You too need to be fair in how you
handle it.


Discuss this with your parents or other important people in your life and record your
answers.


 How do I show my Fairness in my life? Where can I find examples of how to become
fair?



 How can being fair help me in my life? (See the situation through other persons eyes,
etc.)



 Why is this important to be a fair person now and in the future?



 Other thoughts and ideas regarding Fairness?




Manners   

Manners is a major aspect of learning and showing respect for one another. Manners, codes of behavior, decorum, and rules of etiquette are present in every culture. This is the quality that demonstrates and shows respect for one another.  Each culture has its own norms that are considered important to them. Manners is how we value each other. This is also important to remember even if you do not agree with them.  In our society, a person’s behavior may be viewed as a reflection of the person’s upbringing. However, as a person grows, he or she begins to take responsibility for their own actions and manners.  If a young person does not practice common courtesies when they are young, it becomes increasingly difficult to change as they grow into adulthood.   The manners you develop as a young person will follow you through life, in school, in sports, at work, with your family. Simply put, it will follow you in every aspect of your life. Learning to show compassion and learning how to accept others who are different is extremely important. Showing manners is demonstrated to them by being polite, opening doors, giving someone a seat when none are available, carrying items for someone and much more. Don’t be rude by talking loudly, being on your cell phone at inappropriate times, or by acting ugly to others. How do you want to be viewed and treated?

Discuss this with your parents or other important people in your life and record your answers 

  • How do I improve my manners to people in my life?

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  • How can I demonstrate / express manners to other people in my life? 

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  • Why is this important to have manners when others do not?   

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  • Other thoughts and ideas regarding manners. 

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Student: __________________ Parent or Guardian: ____________________ Date: __________

Gratitude                                         

All you have to do is simply look around and you will find a great deal to be thankful for, regardless of how bad you think you have it or how bad off you are.  Take a moment and ask yourself what you have to be grateful for: family, friends, a place to live, your health, the country you live in and the freedoms you have, just for starters.  You don’t have enough paper to list all the things you have to be grateful for.  As a martial artist, never take anyone or anything for granted.  You are truly blessed to have everything you have in this life. A person with gratitude is happier in life and people appreciate them much more. Take nothing for granted.  And as a martial artist, you are charged with showing your gratitude to those around you every day.  The question is how do you do this? 

Discuss this with your parents or other important people in your life and record your answers 

  • How do I show my gratitude to people for all the blessings I have in my life?

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  • How can I demonstrate / express my gratitude to the people in my life? 

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  • How can I improve gratitude and why is this important?   

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  • Other thoughts and ideas regarding gratitude

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Student: __________________ Parent or Guardian: ____________________ Date: __________

Attitude

It has been proven time and time again that people with a positive outlook are happier more successful, healthier, and have a greater satisfaction in life. 

  • Positive thinkers see possibilities in life 
  • Positive Thinkers transform their life
  • Gain courage from dealing with disappointments and failure (They learn to Fail Forward!)
  • You, and you alone, have the power to choose your attitude
  • They set patterns in their life to live by
  • Thinking like a victim or thinking like a winner: it’s up to you!
  • Despair ruins life…Choose Hope!
  • You are responsible for your choices and actions (or lack of actions)
  • You choose every day to be humble, be generous, show compassion, to persevere and to celebrate life and be happy
  • Negative thinking produces a poor self-image
  • Poor attitudes drive people away from you and prevent others from reaching out to you
  • Positive attitudes help you and others succeed
  • Practice the Golden rule. As a martial artist, you are expected to rise above negative attitudes of others.

Discuss this with your parents or other important people in your life and record your answers 

What are a few ways you can apply a positive attitude to your life?

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What will you do immediately to improve your attitude? 

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Other thoughts about your individual growth regarding your attitude

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 Student: __________________ Parent or Guardian: ____________________ Date: __________

Character & Reputation

Nova Defense Systems L.L.C.   

 

Character / Reputation

Your character and reputation are what defines you. These involve your qualities as a person, politeness, or lack of, your sense of gratitude and respect both positive and negative, etc.   This is what others think of you when they think or talk about you; it is what defines you as a person.  Your reputation is a quality that you build or destroy every day by the things you do or don’t do. This is what others define as your traits (kindness, honesty, morals, etc.). These are the observable actions that others see.  Our reputation is subjective, it’s tempting to think that we control our reputations, that we get to define what people think of us and how they respond. And that’s true, but only to a degree. We control one aspect of our reputation, but holistically, reputation is not just who we are or what we do; it’s what people think of who we are and do.  Reputations are qualitative and built on a person’s belief that may or may noy be true.  Every one of us has a reputation. 

Discuss this with your parents or other important people in your life and record your answers 

  • Why is my reputation important in life?

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  • Is my reputation completely set or can I affect any changes with it and why would I want to?

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  • How can I improve what others think of me and what will affect my character and reputation?   

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  • Other thoughts and ideas regarding character development and reputation? 

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Student: __________________ Parent or Guardian: ____________________ Date: __________

RESPOND

Sometimes people hurt us.  Sometimes it’s on purpose, and sometimes it’s on accident.  Either way, we have a choice.  We can respond or we can react.  What’s the difference?  Let’s think in terms of medicine.  When you react to a medicine, it’s typically thought to be negative.  You might get a rash or a fever after taking the medicine for an entirely different issue.  When you respond to medicine, the initial symptoms that were being treated start to improve and perhaps go away.  It’s positive.  Back to when someone hurts us…

What if a person or friend calls us a bad name?  You have a choice: react and call them a bad name back or respond and say that isn’t cool then walk away.  We always have the choice to either react or respond.

Are you ready to learn more?  Join us for class this week!  Here’s our schedule.  Go here to download and fill out our new student paperwork.  Please bring your form to your first class.  See you soon!

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Nova Defense Systems Kenpo Karate

POWER

POWER

We talk about control at class…a lot.  But why?  Why is it so important?  Because you have power.  I’m not talking about super strength like in the movies.  This is real.  Even the littlest of our martial artists has power.  What power do you have?  The power to hurt another human being.

You can break a knee or an elbow…or a neck.  We teach you to poke out an eye or traumatize a muscle, so an attacker doesn’t keep coming after you.  But at the end of the day, you have the choice whether you use it on someone that is truly trying to hurt you–or whether you use it on your friend that made you mad.  Of course, we teach you to only use your skills as a last resort.  Of course, you are to never use this on a parent or a sibling or your child or a friend.  But what if you’re really mad at them?  What if they really hurt your feelings, or made fun of you, or called your sister names, or _____?  It doesn’t matter.  You need to maintain your control.

It is never okay to hurt someone because you’re mad at them.

Whether with words or fists or feet or fingers, it is never okay to hurt someone because your mad. Period.  You have great power.  To borrow from Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility.

Are you ready to learn about power, control, and self-discpline?  Join us.  Fill out the form below to get more info, or click here to meet our instructors.

INITIATE

To initiate is to begin.  More than just beginning, it’s starting something without being asked, invited, or pushed.  To take initiative is to say,”I am having trouble.  How can I fix it?” Or it might be,”I have an idea.  What steps need to happen for this to come into fruition? How can I make this happen?”

But it’s more than just asking the question.  It’s taking action.  To initiate means you take the first steps to get something done, or to go where you want to go.

Are you ready to initiate your future?  Come to class tonight.  Here’s the schedule.  Need more info? Fill out the form below.