Co-Ed Soccer Team for Upcoming Spring/Summer League

An idea popped into one of our collective heads, why don’t we start a sports team of some kind? Wow! What a great idea! We quickly settled on a co-ed soccer team due to the long summer nights, bar-b-q’s and days at the park in the sunshine! Sounds like a great idea……now we need to begin finding a team of adult men and women that want to play on a co-ed team, can commit to playing on a team and that can actually play some level of competitive soccer. Any interested? Let us know!

Women’s Only MMA & Grappling Programs

World Class Martial Arts is now offering Women’s Only Mixed Martial Arts and Grappling programs.

The world of MMA and grappling are not only for men. Women have natural athletic and fighting attributes that contribute greatly to the combat sports of mixed martial arts, ju-jitsu and grappling. The feminine world of MMA is exploding and the challenge is yours to capitalize on this amazing and fun martial art. Unlike any other martial art or workout you have experienced, our Women’s Only MMA program will get you ripped into shape, but YOU have to do the work!!!

World Class Martial Arts has now begun enrollment and we already have a small core of women committed to these programs! Come and check out the workout, challenge & fun!

IOGKF – Nakamura Sensei in Calgary

Onegai shimasu!

For any black belts or senior brown belts interested, Nakamura Tetsuji Sensei will be in Calgary for the weekend of April 4-6, 2008. Sensei David Ching and the Shubukan Dojo will be holding this event. I highly recommend this gasshuku, especially for those interested in attending the IOGKF Budosai in Okinawa in July 2008. Please check out more information on the IOGKF Canada website at www.iogkf.ca .

Women’s Kickboxing Instructor Program

Offering You More than World Class Martial Arts Instruction!

Kickboxing Instructors Wanted!!!

Due to the overwhelming response in our new Women’s Kickboxing Program, we will be offering to you:

The Women’s Kickboxing Instructor’s program

Being a martial arts trainer can be one of the most exciting and fulfilling professions on the planet, but if you’re missing some critical knowledge and skills, it can be a major struggle which is why most people in the martial arts training industry are poor presenters and don’t make any money. Another obstacle to achieving recognition as one of the best trainers is finding someone to reveal their innermost secrets to success and the psychology behind every move they make. The senior instructors at World Class Martial Arts will do exactly that in this program! The secret to success in this business is to learn from the masters – people who have spent years training in specific martial arts and developing the skills, leadership and experience to pass along to you in a concise and effective manner. You will come away knowing exactly how to teach what you love to do.

The Women’s Kickboxing Instructor Certification program will increase your confidence in this arena by a thousand-fold. You’ll be shocked at what you can do once you’ve been properly educated in the intricacies of this field.

We will provide you with the building blocks, now get ready to move to an entirely new level of excellence in the martial arts! Be prepared to upgrade your skills and acquire advanced martial arts and leadership techniques.

Our Instructor Certification program will be kept to a limited enrollment to ensure you receive as much personalized coaching, feedback, and attention as possible from our master coaches. You will come away with the confidence and delivery of a pro.

Some topics we will cover in the Women’s Kickboxing Instructor Certification program will include:

• Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced techniques and a review of the foundational training methods.
• How to refine your own unique and authentic style and become a master instructor.
• How to develop your teaching strategy, write and follow your own class formats.
• How to motivate and manage the energy of your class.
• How to capitalize on humor and emotions with your audience.

If you are interested in participating in this amazing program and adding a new pathway in your life, contact us as soon as possible. The Women’s Kickboxing Instructor program has limited enrollment and will fill up quickly!

This program will change your life personally and professionally!

World Class Martial Arts Update

Hello Everyone!I would like to announce that World Class Martial Arts has begun operations effective February 1, 2008. We have been getting organized in the office and things are lookin’ great!!! The attendance in classes has been strong and our commitment to you is bolstered by the amazing energy that you bring to class. As you have noticed in the past weeks, there are a few new faces are teaching classes. The commitment from these instructors has been fantastic and the quality of instruction they offer is truly second to none.  At this time the schedule will remain the same. However, we would like to let you know about some improvements.One of the areas we are working on is the instructor to student ratio. Having 2 or 3 instructors on the floor during your classes is going to ensure your development and motivation remains very high!

For the Intermediate and Advanced Kickboxing ladies, we will maintain the existing Advanced class schedule and will begin to offer more advanced instruction during regular class times as well. Just an added bonus! Your leadership and development are crucial to the strength and stability of the WCMA Women’s Kickboxing program. So, thank you very much!

We will be contacting some of you next week to complete the change over and get some feedback from you.  If you have any questions please contact us at 604-532-9313. Sincerely,Steve Hartwig

Zen Writing – Hsin Hsin Ming

Hsin-hsin-ming
It’s not difficult to discover your Buddha Mind
But just don’t try to search for it.
Cease accepting and rejecting possible places
Where you think it can be found
And it will appear before you.

Be warned! The slightest exercise of preference
Will open a gulf as wide and deep
as the space between heaven and earth.

If you want to encounter your Buddha Mind
Don’t have opinions about anything.
Opinions produce argument
And contentiousness is a disease of the mind.

Plunge into the depths.
Stillness is deep. There’s nothing profound in shallow waters.
The Buddha Mind is perfect and it encompasses the universe.
It lacks nothing and has nothing in excess.
If you think that you can choose between its parts
You’ll miss its very essence.

Don’t cling to externals, the opposite things,
the things that exist as relative.
Accept them all impartially
And you won’t have to waste time in pointless choosing.

Judgments and discriminations block the flow
and stir the passions.
They roil the mind that needs stillness and peace.
If you go from either-or, this and that,
or any of the countless opposites,
You’ll miss the whole, the One.
Following an opposite you’ll be led astray,
away from the balancing center.
How can you hope to gain the One?

To decide what is, is to determine what’s not.
But determining what’s not can occupy you
so that it becomes what is.
The more you talk and think. the farther away you get.
Cease talking and thinking and you’ll find it everywhere.

If you let all things return to their source, that’s fine.
But if you stop to think that this is your goal
And that this is what success depends upon
And strive and strive instead of simply letting go,
You won’t be doing Zen.
The moment that you start discriminating and preferring
you miss the mark.
Seeking the real is a false view
which should also be abandoned.
Just let go. Cease searching and choosing.
Decisions give rise to confusions
and in confusion where can a mind go?

All the opposing pairs come from the One Great Buddha Mind.
Accept the pairs with gentle resignation.
The Buddha Mind stays calm and still,
Keep your mind within it and nothing can disturb you.
The harmless and the harmful cease to exist.
Subjects when disengaged from their objects vanish
Just as surely as objects,
when disengaged from their subjects, vanish too.
Each depends on the existence of the other.
Understand this duality and you’ll see
that both issue from the Void of the Absolute.

The Ground of all Being contains all the opposites.
From the One, all things originate.
What a waste of time to choose between coarse and fine.
Since the Great Mind gives birth to all things,
Embrace them all and let your prejudices die.

To realize the Great Mind be neither hesitant nor eager.
If you try to grasp it, you’ll cling to air
and fall into the way of heretics.
Where is the Great Dao? Can you lay It down?
Will It stay or go?
Is It not everywhere waiting for you
to unite your nature with Its nature
and become as trouble free as It is?

Don’t tire your mind by worrying about what is real
and what isn’t,
About what to accept and what to reject.
If you want to know the One,
let your senses experience what comes your way,
But don’t be swayed and don’t involve yourself in what comes.
The wise man acts without emotion
and seems not to be acting at all.
The ignorant man lets his emotions get involved.
The wise man knows that all things are part of the One.
The ignorant man sees differences everywhere.

All things are the same at their core
but clinging to one and discarding another
Is living in illusion.
A mind is not a fit judge of itself.
It is prejudiced in its own favor or disfavor.
It cannot see anything objectively.

Bodhi is far beyond all notions of good and evil,
beyond all the pairs of opposites.
Daydreams are illusions and flowers in the sky never bloom.
They are figments of the imagination
and not worth your consideration.
Profit and Loss, right and wrong, coarse and fine.
Let them all go.
Stay awake. Keep your eyes open.
Your daydreams will disappear.
If you do not make judgments, everything will be
exactly as it is supposed to be.

Deep is the Tathagata’s wisdom,
Lofty and beyond all illusions.
This is the One to which all things return
provided you do not separate them,
keeping some and casting others away.
Where can you put them anyway?
All things are within the One.
There is no outside.

The Ultimate has no pattern, no duality,
and is never partial.
Trust in this. Keep your faith strong.
When you lay down all distinctions there’s nothing left
but Mind that is now pure, that radiates wisdom,
and is never tired.

When Mind passes beyond discriminations
Thoughts and feelings cannot plumb its depths.
The state is absolute and free.
There is neither self nor other.
You will be aware only that you are part of the One.
Everything is inside and nothing is outside.

All wise men everywhere understand this.
This knowledge is beyond time, long or short,
This knowledge is eternal. It neither is nor is not.
Everywhere is here and the smallest equals the largest.
Space cannot confine anything.
The largest equals the smallest.
There are no boundaries, no within and without.
What is and what is not are the same,
For what is not is equal to what is.
If you do not awaken to this truth,
do not worry yourself about it.
Just believe that your Buddha Mind is not divided,
That it accepts all without judgment.
Give no thoughts to words and speeches or pretty plans
The eternal has no present, past or future.

Class Schedule for the Week of Jan. 28, 2008

This past week has been very difficult. We have had to cancel several days of classes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We will add any lost classes to your existing membership. Classes will be as regularly scheduled this week and we look to answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to contact Steve at 604-532-9313.  Thank you.

The New Year has come!

Happy New Year!

I hope the holiday season was a time of joy and peace for you and your family.

The new year is a time where we contemplate a few resolutions about ourselves, our fitness level or reshaping our bodies; write them down, tell people about them and then start on making them a reality. In my old case, I usually hit some snag or valid reason to change course. I could not understand that if it was just about me, there was not enough energy to get all things done. I needed to combine my focus and energies with others to help keep me on track, growing and breaking through. 

I personally do not buy into the new year’s resolutions gig. I prefer to look at setting up a more in-depth goal setting plan that includes much contemplation and discussion with my family, friends and men’s mastermind group. Through these influential groups I try to cover immediate(less than a month), short-term(1 -3 months), mid-term(3-12 months) and long-term(1 year +) goals.

The first step for me is to contemplate, as honestly as I can be with myself, where I am at physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Over the past 5 years I have moved away from suscribing to materialistic goal setting as I have found that I generally wind up being discouraged or just plain unhappy. I often realize that I care less about what I have in terms of materialistic achievement. I care far more about how I can serve my family, friends and the greater community. I have come to see the parallel in my life that if I focus on service instead of getting what I want, I tend to be far more successful in all areas of my life.

The next step for me is to take the results of my contemplation to my family, friends and men’s group. I receive much in terms of feedback from these three circles of influence. I then combine that with my own contemplation and sit down and review my existing goals, make any changes that are necessary and then re-write out my goals.

It is through this process that I have found the most peace and success. I also have found much more support around me because I have included those that are important to me in my decisions and these groups will also help hold me accountable when I start to slip or deviate from my path. Having support on my journey has become a critical element to the achievement of my goals and I always jump at the chance to share my experiences with others.

My offering to you is that you sit down and contemplate, meditate or just plain think about what you want in a greater sense. Take into consideration more than just materialistic gain. How can you be of service to people? How can you help others achieve their goals? How can you achieve what you want and include others at the same time? Take a bigger look at yourself and see what’s there.

The big house, boat and white picket fence can still be there, but keep it in the correct context and you might find less stress in your life. Try to remember it is not just about getting what you want, but wanting what you’ve got that is also important.

Good luck in 2008! Try to remember that there is much more than 2008 in your life and what you are doing now will have a significant impact on your future!

Steve

LMAC Welcomes Strength & Conditioning Coach

LMAC would like to welcome Barry Cowling as our new strength and conditioning coach. Barry started last Monday and is taking our fighters and students to a new level in terms of combative conditioning, strength and core stabilization.

I have had the pleasure of working with Barry for more than a year. I am confident that he will have a very positive impact on the lives of our members.

Barry is offering private, semi-private and group instruction. Please feel free to contact Barry at the gym or through the LMAC office.

 Welcome aboard Barry!!!

Stellar Showing at the Submission Series

Congratulations are in order!

 This past Saturday saw the Submission Series return to Langley and LSS was the site.

       

LMAC had three fighters step up and put it on the line; Mark S., Shane S. and Justin I.

New to this Submission Series was the incorporation of Pankration, an amatuer version of mixed martial arts, but with more rules to protect the fighters. In Pankration, elbows  and head stiking on the ground are eliminated and more focus is placed on finishing with a submission style joint lock or choke.

At this tournament, there were not enough teens to hold their own division. So Shane and Justin, both 17 years old, stepped into the Men’s division for the first time. This was also Justin’s very first tournament.

Justin was first up against a very aggressive striker and he tasted the first few punches until he settled into his game plan. He quickly closed with his opponent and took him to the mat. After a brief wrestle he positioned himself for an arm bar and his opponent tapped out. In Justin second fight he tapped to a very nice Kimura seconds after beautifully escaping a tight armbar. Justin fought well the rest of the way and finished fourth. A great showing for this promising young fighter in his first full-contact tournament.

Up next was Shane. Shane fought another very aggressive fighter for his first fight. Shane’s training and hard work paid off as he smoothly transitioned from striking to the clinch. A quick takedown had Shane in top position and he worked to mount and began to pound away at his opponents body that eventually led to a submission victory.

Shane won a quick victory over his next opponent with an armbar and found himself in the gold medal match. He was matched against an older, stronger and very experienced opponent that came out throwing bombs. Shane weathered the storm and again found himself in a clinch. His takedown attempt left him on his back in an open guard position. After a scramble, Shane lock on a triangle choke and submitted his opponent to win the Gold! Amazing work and an excellent example of sportsmanship, respect and calmness!

The heavyweight division found Mark up against a mixed bag of opponents. He started off with a commanding armbar submission. The fight started with a lead in combination and quick clinch to takedown. Mark maintained the top position until an armbar sealed the deal. Quick, clean and effective!

Next up was a lightweight fighter that stepped into the heavyweight division. The size and weight advantage Mark held was over 40 lbs. and left him controlling most of the fight. The lightweight fighter was incredibly feisty and did his best to give Mark a run for his money.

In the final Mark faced an opponent that had knocked out his two previous opponents. The action was fast and VERY heavy with some big hits being landed. Mark closed to the clinch and attempted to take down his opponent, a scramble led the fighters to their feet and the stand-up battle continued. Shortly after Mark landed a beautiful hook/uppercut combination his opponent scored a big overhand right knocked Mark down. He was quick to get up but the ref stopped the fight with a few seconds left.

Overall, the LMAC fighters put on a fantastic display of technical fighting. In the face of very aggressive ground and pound our fighters maintained a very relaxed and efficient state of mind. This led to a patient approach that allowed the fighters to capitalize on their opponents mistakes. A job very well done! We are all proud of you three for representing us in such a respectul and kick ass  way!!!!!

The Submission Series are really well run tournaments and the top martial arts schools and gyms from around the Lower Mainland, Interior and Washington State attend.

 Check out this story on Mark S. in Tuesday Dec. 11, 2007’s Langley Advance:

http://www.canada.com/langleyadvance/news/sports/story.html?id=24cb9cc2-ec87-485a-ab4d-3328005e5a70