WOW! Three years have come and gone extremely quickly. As many of you may know, I started Law School about one year after Maryland Martial Arts opened its doors.  It was a challenging experience, a test if you will- A test which has pushed me beyond my limits.  I have been a law school graduate for a little more than 48 hours – and a part of me still cannot believe it! These past three years have been filled with sleepless nights, thousands of pages of reading, cold calling in class, and dozens of wild exams.  Yet, it has also been a time of growing, a time of learning, a time of taking responsibility and a time of taking the reigns on my own future. 

I am writing this blog because most of our students in the dojo are also students in kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, college and post-graduate programs. Each and every single student is a bright, talented and special individual inside of the dojo and beyond. I personally want to congratulate each and every single one of you because by implementing a martial arts lifestyle, you are building a strong foundation to be successful in YOUR education, YOUR future, and YOUR life.

Martial Arts have made me a serious academic student.  I started training the martial arts at age 11, like many of our own students, to get an edge in school- and it worked!  The parallels between the dojo and the classroom are virtually seamless.  Learning complex techniques and strategies in the dojo setting gave me the focus to plow through complex concepts in school. By nailing techniques I never thought I could accomplish, I gained the confidence to write lengthy papers and solve problems head on. By realizing that everyone, no matter their belt rank or age, has something to teach me, I have learned humility, which has kept my mind open to new ideas in my education. Further, it gave me the self-discipline to study hard while others might be indulging in more (at first) appealing activities. Perhaps most importantly, martial arts have taught me balance so that I can manage my time carefully to study, train, work, and have family/friend time. This is of course a non-exhaustive list! These principles have guided me from grade school all the way through law school. It does not matter whether you want to be a writer, singer, doctor, business person, chef, an engineer, a hairstylist, a martial arts instructor or even a lawyer- by being the martial artists that YOU are, you are plowing a positive path towards YOUR future.  And for this I congratulate you!

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Maryland Martial Arts family for all the support and encouragement during these three years.  Good luck on finishing up your school year and best wishes for the 2012-13 school year! 
 
 
The first thing I'd like to do is thank all of the students and their families who have helped to make Maryland Martial Arts the dojo that it is today. Thank You! We've received tons of compliments about the updates we've made in the latter half of 2011 to prepare for 2012, and we won't stop in 2012. We'd also like to welcome Sempai Greg and Sempai Nan to the Maryland Martial Arts team. They have been amazing in helping our students get the most out of their karate training. You can read their bio's here.

Some of the great changes we've made include:
  • The 3 Tatami System to help organize the curriculum and student requirements as well as sparring. 
  • Karate Viewing Area for the parents to get a close up view of the karate class.
  • Mat Chat to talk about important topics and give the students a chance to speak.
  • And of course, the new website, including the new Student Zone.
Thank you all for your dedication, and keep a look out for new Maryland Martial Arts blog posts! Feel free to click "Like" below and share our blog posts with your Facebook friends!

~Osss