We have two new special events scheduled for February this year. These rewards events are for students who have gone the extra mile to earn extra stars and stripes. To participate, students must trade in any of their stars or knowledge stripes. So if you don’t have many of these, get cracking.

There are some guidelines for turning in stars and stripes, please read them carefully to avoid any confusion.

• Red Stars: Students may turn in red stars if they have already received their academic achievement patch. (Which requires four red stars)

• Green Stars: Students may turn in green stars if they have already received their SWAT team parch. (Which requires eight green stars, or two tiger patches)

• Blue Stars: Students may turn in blue stars if they have already received their STORM team patch. (Which requires 12 blue stars, or three dragon patches)

• Knowledge Stripes: Students may turn in any knowledge stripe.

Each event will require registration in advance, so please be on the lookout for sign up forms available at the front desk.

Jujitsu is a martial art style originating from Japan. It also happens to be one of the two main arts that we teach at the school.

Jujitsu, or soft science, is an art that has been around for a very long time, and was practiced by the Samurai in Japan. It has long been designed as an effective self defense system, with a strong sense of discipline and precision as would be fitting for a Samurai.

Japanese Jujitsu is generally characterized by a mix of round motions, accented with hard lines. The art pulls on most unarmed fighting techniques, arm bars, wrist locks, finger locks, chokes, strikes, sweeps and throws.

Due to it’s complexity and changes in modern culture, many styles have been born from Jujitsu. For instance, Judo is a sport derivative of Jujitsu. In Judo students focus on and perfect the throws and sweeps. Aikido focuses on the misdirection, locks, and throws of Jujitsu using almost no strikes in the system.

As the school year begins, I would like to introduce two new teachers to the school. Daria Morra and Angelo Dipietro will be joining the instructors at the school to raise the quality of our instruction and service to our students.

Daria is a red belt at the school and has shown the rare combination of attitude and skill that makes for a great instructor. While still young, Daria is an excellent role model for the students. Her energy is infectious and her eagerness to learn and improve is fantastic.

Many of you may know Daria from her time at birthday parties and at pizza nights. But to continue to prepare herself as a teacher, Daria dedicated herself to our teacher training program over the summer and now is ready to contribute to the development of our students.

Sensei Angelo is a Balck Belt with many years of martial arts experience. He has a deep passion for the martial arts, and is a natural teacher. Many of the children had the oppurtunity to meet SenseiAngello this year at the summer seminars, and he was an instant success with them. I look forward to having his fresh perspective improve the class experience for all of our students.

Look forward to seeing Sensei Angelo Mondays and Fridays in your class.

First, I would like to thank all of our students who kept up with their training through out the summer months. I know how challenging it can be to maintain regular attendance during this period.

If you came to eight classes throughout the summer you are invited to attend one weapons class at the school. Several of these classes are listed in the events column and advance sign up is required. You will note that each class has an age/rank guideline to help you pick a class that is best for you.

If you attended sixteen classes you should have received a school patch. If you attended twenty four classes, you should have received an invitation to the Summer Rewards Outing scheduled for Sunday, September 9th at Five Islands Park in New Rochelle. If you did not receive your patch or invitation please check in at the front desk.

Please note: Only classes attended between June 25th and August 31st apply to the Summer Rewards Program.

One of the basic principles of the martial arts is respect. Following school protocol is one of the ways that we show respect to the school, the instructors, and our fellow students. Please take some time to review the following elements of protocol and do your best to follow them.

1. Entering the school: When entering the school it is appropriate for students to bow as they enter. It is also appropriate to bow in greeting to your instructors when you see them. If you are late for your class, please enter quietly and line up in the back of the class.

2. Waiting for class: If you arrive for class and another class is going on, or you are watching a friend or family member take class, please take care not to disturb the class. If you sit in the waiting area, feel free to speak quietly and move around a little. If you sit on the side carpet within the training room please do not talk, and stay still. Of late parents and students alike have been sitting in the training area and carrying on conversations. We find this quite distracting to the students and we ask that it stop. Lastly, do not go on the mats. To keep the class as productive and safe as possible, no one should be on the mats but students participating in the class.

3. Leaving the school: Much like entering the school students should bow to instructors when saying good-bye. However it is not necessary to seek out instructors, if they are busy with another student it is fine to leave. Also bow facing in to the school as you leave.

As we enter into the school year, and classes return to normal, we ask that you take the time to review and follow these guidelines. They will go a long way to helping our students develop on the path to black belt.

We design our summer schedule trying to accomodate the diverse needs of our students. We hope this helps you to get to class and continue to progress in your training.

Morning Classes

At the start of the summer we hold extra day time classes. These extra times should help most students attend class consistently. However, these class times (shaded on the schedule) do not continue after August 12th.

Seminar Weeks

In August, for three weeks of the summer we hold intensive training seminars. These seminars provide our students with a unique oppurunity to advance quickly in their training. These seminars run from 10:45 AM until 3:45 PM. I highly recommend seminars for any child who wants to push their training to the next level.Students frequently earn several stripes per week in a seminar!

August 13th-24th

During these weeks students will train in weapons, self-defense, forms and several tournament style events. The seminar will culminate in an exciting team style tournament.

August 27th-31st

During this seminar we will be focused purely on curriculum development. Students will get very personal, in depth instruction to fine tune their technique and make rapid advancements in their training.