El Dorado Hills Jiu-Jitsu the Gentle Heart Walk Team: Let's Walk for our Heart!

     In addition to training on the mat, El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu students are challenged to take leadership and find something they feel passionate about. A platform they feel comfortable stepping on, educating themselves about, and sharing with others. Since the first line of self-defense is awareness, the best way to increase the levels of everyone's self-defense is though education and training on and off the mat. 

     Aiza Tengan, one of the students and EDH Jiu Jitsu has found her platform and is passionate about sharing her knowledge on cardiac self defense. If you're friends with her on facebook, I'm sure you've seen some of her posts about the need to eat heart healthy foods, the importance of stress reduction, and incorporating fitness into the daily routine. As a leader she has taken the initiative to organize a Heart Walk Team, to help promote the awareness for heart health among all of us. HEART HEALTH IS SOMETHING WE ALL NEED TO BE AWARE OF. ESPECIALLY, IF WE FIT THE PROFILE FOR HEART DISEASE, BUT BEING AWARE AND CHECKING THE SIGNS OF CARDIAC DISEASE IS PRACTICAL FOR ALL OF US.

     If you would like to make a donation, join us on the walk, or find out more information about heart health and what you can do to help defend yourself from cardiac disease (FYI....It's the deadliest killer in the world!!!) visit this link by clicking here. Below is a little update on the team and how they have done within the community. Thank you Aiza for making a contribution to a safer, stronger, and healthier world! 

EDH JiuJitsu

916.595.4064

♥♥♥

Fundraising Goal: $792,000

Currently at: $476,765

*Please have all your walkers registered by September 6^th so we can ensure there will be Subway Sandwiches for all who attend*

♥♥♥

Top Teams from our Community

Team Name	Team Leader	Total Amount Raised	Total People Recruited
Mini Coop and his Troop	Amy Bianchini	$2,080.00	66
Babak Afshinnik's Team	Babak Afshinnik	$825.00	1
Let's Hit It	Kimberly Rauch	$665.00	4
EDHBJJ Gentle Heart	Aiza Tengan	$675.00	1
Tim's Team	Tim Woodson	$201.00	1

Who Does Your Torch Burn For?

Be sure to visit the Tribute Torch Tent at the Heart Walk to make a donation for your very own Torch to personalize and carry on the walk and in your team photo.  For your minimum donation of $10, you can be part of this special tribute as we honor and remember those who have been impacted by cardiovascular disease and stroke.  

Dropping in to El Dorado Hills Jiu-Jitsu: A Visiting Students Experience

We had a visitor from Oregon drop in to our class this week. Although a previous injury kept him from coming in to more classes, we received a very nice email from him on his experience at our dojo. I'm very happy (cheek to cheek) to know that the new student was warmly welcomed. Most of the time, just saying hello can make the difference between someone being friends, feeling welcome, or a part of the group. Do you make it a point to greet the new student, new co-worker, or unfamiliar face when they walk in the door? 

~Eliot Kelly 

Hi Coach Eliot - Just wanted to say thanks for a very warm welcome to the EDHbjj mats this week.  I very much appreciated the time in your gym and your EDH crew.   I was telling some folks just today how impressed I was that every single guy introduced himself and gave a great, warm welcome.   

Unfortunately for me, I threw a upper rib out just before visiting Wed and class only aggravated it (breathing and turning my neck very difficult) so i wasn't able to return last night/today.   

Just wanted to let you know I appreciate and enjoyed my time with you guys and will certainly visit again. 

Sincere thanks and best of luck!

El Dorado Hills Jiu-Jitsu 

916.595.4064

El Dorado Hills Jiu-Jitsu Helps Kids Learn Through Reflective Teaching

     At El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we are constantly looking for different ways to make a difference in our teaching. Our kids jiu-jitsu class is one which we have constantly studied, reviewed, and changed over and over. One method of teaching we have recently implemented in our teaching is the concept of Reflective Teaching.
     Reflective Teaching is a universal teaching concept that can be applied to all teaching situations. It was a concept our Instructor Eliot Kelly studied while working towards his graduate degree in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language and SFSU. In reflective teaching, the teacher takes some time at the conclusion of a lesson to evaluate their performance and the students performance to see what went well and what did not go well. The process is not finished there. In reflective teaching, the teacher looks to understand why things went well and why things did not go well. Understanding the why leads to deeper self understanding for the teacher, and eventually lead to better teaching in the future. Reflective teaching also requires the instructor to think about what they would have done differently if they were to teach the lesson over again. Following this process of reflective teaching not only allows the teacher to see what went wrong and what went well, but also helps the teacher develop new strategies to better their teaching style.
     At El Dorado Hills Jiu-Jitsu we perform this task on a weekly basis among our instructors, always looking to enhance ourselves and inspire the student to be their very best. How did the students react to the instruction? Were they all paying attention and continuously engaged? Did they get a workout? Was their mind equally engaged as their body was? Did they have fun? What did they learn from the explicit and implicit instruction? What have they retained? How did I correct their mistakes? How did I praise them? How did I motivate them? How did I check their retention? Was my explanation clear? This list goes on.... One method we have incorporated is in recording our live instruction on film. Doing so allows the instructor to look back on the video and see what they may have not noticed during the lesson. Looking back on a video taped lesson give the instructor to actually watch their lesson as though they were a student.
     This is our commitment to our students at EDH Jiu-Jitsu. Continued growth and development towards excellence!

EDH Jiu-Jitsu 

916 595 4064

Sacramento Area Jiu-Jitus Seminar News

     Sacramento area Jiu-Jitsu school Monster Gym of Rocklin, CA will be hosting a Seminar with Paul Nava on August 25th. This seminar will feature one of the newest attacks in jiu jitsu the Berimbolo. Please contact Monster Gym for registration and details on the seminar. 

WHAT: 2 Hour Seminar on the Berimbolo with Nova Uniao Black Belt Paul Nava. WHERE: (Located Inside of Fusion Elite) 2315 Sunset Blvd, Rocklin CA WHEN: SUNDAY AUGUST 25th 1pm-3pm COST: Nova Uniao Members Pre Pay Price - $60 Nova Uniao Members Day of Price - $65 Non Nova Uniao Members Pre Pay Price - $70 Non Nova Uniao Members Day of Price - $75 ATTIRE: WHITE Gi's ONLY PLEASE

Local seminars are a great way to meet new friends on the mat while learning from instructors who have had different experiences in jiu-jitsu and in life. Not only is it important to support local Jiu-Jitsu seminars so that talented instructors continue to come to the area and share their knowledge but also to meet others who are training to better themselves on and off the mat. EDH JIU-JITSU 916 595 4064

Dojo Wrestlers Write to ESPN Asking For more Wrestling

     The Wrestling Dojo of El Dorado Hills, CA is not just a place where wrestlers learn how to become better on the mat. The summer wrestling camp series of the Dojo Wrestler features many different off the mat activities to train the wrestlers awareness, develop responsibility, and build champions on and off the mat. The Dojo Wrestlers from this summer covered many different topics as seen below. Why do wrestlers need to wear singlets, A creative writing assignment on a wrestlers poem, research presentation on a great wrestler, and many others including todays in the dojo assignment, letter writing to ESPN.
     Recently, ESPN has become more active in covering all collegiate sports at the national scene, including wrestling. However there is definitely more prime time wrestling that could be shown! Covering the Big 10, Pac 10, and conference tournaments to qualify for the National Championships would make for great television. Some of the bigger tournaments during the heat of the season, Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, National Duals, Virginia Duals, Midlands would be great tournaments to cover during the season and create hype and anticipation as well. Even some conference rivalry dual meets would make for a great 60 to 90 minute program for viewers. More importantly, it would help wrestlers enjoy the sport as a spectator. By clinching more prime time for wrestling on ESPN, we also believe that more people would better understand the sport and appreciate the hard work and dedication required to be successful. We hope these letters reach out to the hearts of the producers at ESPN and help them see the value in promoting the sport of wrestling at all levels for all viewers. By taking a proactive instead of a reactive approach to promoting the sport of wrestling, Dojo Wrestlers expect to get a bigger community involved in their local wrestling matches and take away any possibility of their program ever being dropped from the athletics department.
     The letter writing assignment also gave the wrestlers an opportunity to share the wrestling shows they have seen on television. One show, "The Season" about the 2002 University of Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling Team, and another "The Streak" about a high school wrestling team in Florida that has gone undefeated for over 30 years.

Eliot Kelly 

916 595 4064

Dojo Wrestler