Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween Safety Tips

Happy Halloween everyone! Here are a few safety tips to follow when you go out Trick-or-Treating!
Safety Tips:
- Don't eat any candy until your parents have inspected the wrapper. 
- Make sure costumes don't drag on the ground. 
- Shoes should fit (even if they don't go with the costume)
- Avoid wearing masks while walking from house to house
- Carry only flexible knives, swords or other props. 
-Wear clothing with reflective markings or tape.
- Stay away from and don't pet animals you don't know. 
- Approach only houses that are lit. 
- Carry a flash light. 
- Trick or treat is groups of 3 or more. 
- Do not enter an unfamiliar home. 
- Walk, don't run. 
- Stay on the sidewalk. 
- Obey traffic signals. 
- Stay in familiar neighborhoods. 
- Don't cut across yards or driveways. 
- Wear a watch you can read in the dark. 
- Safety Tips courtesy of West Coast Martial Arts 
Eliot Kelly 
"Have a safe & happy Halloween!"

Monday, October 24, 2011

How to Win when you Lose

When you step onto the competition mat, there is always going to be a winner and loser. The winner will get their hand raised and the loser will walk off the mat with nothing..... The winner can train the hardest, is the smartest, and the strongest. The loser can't train hard enough, isn't as smart, and isn't as strong....

Not necessarily! Most of the time you can Win after you Lose.... If you only allow yourself to define winning by the seconds it takes for your hand to be raised then you will have a hard time winning from a loss. Think about it like this: A winner is only a winner for that split second the hand is raised and a loser is only a loser during that split second. Therefore it's important how you define winning. If you define winning as getting your hand raised, losing can become a very frustrating thing.  However, if you define winning as getting better and finding a way to beat what you can't beat today.... You can't lose.

If winning or losing a match is the end result of your training then you will always define yourself according to what you Did.... If winning or losing a match is part of your training then you will always define yourself according to what you are doing....

Steps on Winning after you Lose
- Thank your supporters, coaches, & fans
- Think back and Review the match in your head
- Acknowledge the things you did well & find where you got beat
- Review the match from video
- Again, Acknowledge the thing you did well & find where you got beat
- Implement drills and corrections into your training

Eliot Kelly 
"You can Always Find a way to Win!"