Holiday Safety!

The following call to be a GUARDIAN and Holiday Safety Tips are courtesy of Mr. Dave Young, the founder of the U.S. Fighting Systems Program. He has spent the past 25 years teaching military, police and corrections officers how to stay safe and defend themselves. For more information, sign up for his free safety tips here: Your Family Defense

Dave Young’s End of Year and Holiday Safety Tips

1. Increase your level of AWARENESS.
2. On your morning run or ride to work through the neighborhood, take “brain pictures” of cars parked in the street that may not belong to a neighbor.
3. Carefully screen friendly knocks at the door – it may not be the person you think behind it.
4. Watch hands as people approach you, they may not have something good inside their pockets.
5. When shopping, be conscious of people spending more time watching you than the items they came to buy.
6. Pay attention as you walk into stores – make sure people from the outside don’t follow you in.
7. Keep your personal belongings close and your family members even closer.
8. Discuss your “Family Action Plan.” Know what will family members do and where will they go in case of an emergency.
9. Before you sit down at a restaurant, coffee shop, concert, theater or any other place, make sure you identify your escape routes, positions of cover possible, and weapons of availability if needed.
10. Do not count on the call for help to be your safety plan!

 

Nutrition and Self Defense

March is National Nutrition Month!

What you eat and drink is as an important part of your self defense practice as your blocks and strikes. Good food choices make your body and mind feel better!

Everyone is different. There is no diet plan perfect for everyone. Make sure you listen to your doctor and pediatrician.

1. Be mindful of what you are eating! Try not to eat while you are doing something else. Think about why you are choosing a certain food over others.

2. Read labels! Watch for added sugar and ingredients you don’t recognize.

3. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables! Spend more time on the grocery store perimeter than in the isles.

4. Drink plenty of water!

5. Check out farmers markets, co-ops and other natural food stores!

Tournament Ready: Exploring the Five P’s

We are working in all of our classes to get ready for the upcoming Fall Tournament of Champions. Our Academy hosts two annual tournaments which take place in the Fall and Spring. We encourage everyone to participate, beginners through Black Belts; children and adults. Tournament is not about winning and losing.  It is about learning how to compete, deal with pressure and use self-discipline to achieve a goal. Participation builds patience, self control, confidence and good sportsmanship.

Our discussions with all students have emphasized the 5 P’s: Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance! In order to do well at anything, we need to practice. We don’t merely go through the motions. We practice how we would want to perform. It’s important to find time every day. Even 10 minutes helps! This adaptation of an old military adage is also a good reminder that our self defense fundamentals should be practiced with that same intensity. It’s difficult to think under stress, but your muscles will remember what they’ve done.

Investigating the 5 P’s  led us to review what it means to be a good student, whether at Tae Kwon Do, grade school, college, music lessons, continuing education, etc. A good student is:

Present – Physically and mentally. Let all those other things wait. Focus on the here and now.

Prepared – Review the previous lesson on your own, with your family or in a study group. Bring all materials or equipment.

Productive – Stay on task. Ask questions. There’s time before and after class to visit and sometimes play!

Polite – Showing courtesy and respect to everyone, including parents, teachers and peers, is part of our core values. Be welcoming and encouraging to others.

Positive – At our Academy “can’t” is considered a bad word. Our school greeting is “Pilsung!” A Korean word meaning “certain victory” or for the children “I can do it!”.

We encourage you to take stock of where you are in relation to the 5 P’s as a competitor, student, parent and professional!

If you want to learn more about our Tournament click here: http://jkleeblackbelt.com/tournament/

Stay Safe this Halloween!

Please read and share the following Trick or Treat tips! Stay safe this October!

 

Family Safety Tips for Halloween

Renowned safety authority, Dave Young, offers his top ten family safety tips for Halloween 2014!  Dave Young is the president of Arma Training, US Fighting Systems and Your Family Defense. He has more than 30 years of combined civilian/military law enforcement training and experience. He is recognized as one of the nation’s leading tactical trainers for personal survival and safety. Dave has been featured by People magazine, Fox and Friends and CNN. He also hosted National Geographic’s Crash Test Human for three years. Dave has trained the instructors at J.K. Lee for many years.

 

Halloween is a time for fun but for some it’s unfortunately an opportunity to take advantage of others! It is a time where home invasions, assaults and robberies occur in the open and innocent children go missing. Please be prepared!

 

1. Be ALERT:  Be ALERT of what you see. A toy gun may be REAL. Guns, swords, knives and other weapons could hurt you. Do you have a family action plan?

 

2.  If your gut tells you to leave … go! Tune in and listen to that inner voice when it tells you something isn’t right or safe, and that you should leave now. Watch for vehicles that maybe be slowly approaching you and your child, and pay attention while you walk through your neighborhood. Do not walk around with blinders on or listening to your iPod.

 

3.  Be prepared: Don’t dash off without making sure your cell phone is charged and all of the important emergency numbers are loaded in your phone. People forget their numbers under life-threatening situations. Walk your trick or treat route to get an estimated time or identify possible issues you may experience. Have a planned response.

 

4.  Make sure your flashlight has new batteries: Test beforehand to make sure you are happy with the brightness (something at least 80 Lumina in candela ratings), with a lanyard so you can attach it on your wrist or belt loop (not your neck). Make sure it is readily accessible. Don’t dig through a purse or backpack.

 

5. Monitor your surroundings: Predators hide within other groups of people, and walk within your OWN groups. Make sure you know everyone in the group. Take a picture of your children on your cell phone and email it to yourself in case you need to give the police a picture of how they were dressed.

 

6. When accompanying your child, do not dress in costume: This makes it hard for your own children to identify you and/or find you! If you do dress up, have something distinctive about your costume so your children will know you immediately. Watch for traffic! Use the crosswalks together.

 

7. Make YOUR children’s costume stand out: Children often wear the same thing so put an identifier on their person or costume. For example, give your princess a glow band on her right ankle and left wrist and tell her not to take it off.

 

8. Do not accept refreshments or beverages closed or open, UNLESS YOU KNOW THEM. There was a situation in which a parent allowed their 10 year old to accept and taste a drink. Their boy needed to immediately use the bathroom. The child went into the house of someone they DIDN’T know which was exactly what the predator wanted.

 

9. Go through your candy together when you get home. Check original packaging, look for clear tape on the candy, folded corners, etc. If you find anything wrong with the candy you were given, immediately stop searching the candy and call the police. Or better yet, avoid this step all together by throwing all the candy away — that’s right, all of it — and have some of your child’s favorite candy or treats on hand at home instead.

 

10. Don’t be home alone when you are answering the door for Trick or Treat. Have a friend stay over. Light up the front and back yards. This is the one time of year an intruder can walk right  up to your front door. There is a reason criminals wear a MASK!

 

For more information about Dave visit www.yourfamilydefense.com, or Facebook at Your Family Defense.

 

​Have a safe and fun Halloween! 

Neighborhood Safety Tips

One of our summer themes has been safety. The following is a quick list of things we have been covering in class.  It’s always a good idea to review and practice.

1. Ask first before going anywhere, with anyone!
Even if it is someone you know well, ask first. Always tell someone where you are going and when you will be back.

2. Be careful of strangers!
A stranger is anyone you do not know well. Never talk to strangers or let them get too close. Don’t accept candy, money or toys.

3. Never get into a car with a stranger!
Don’t go near a stranger’s car even if they call out to ask you directions. Bad strangers may try to trick you into going with them. Get away fast and tell a grown up what happened.

4. If a stranger comes towards you, run away and yell loudly “I don’t know you! I don’t know you!”

5. Have and be a buddy!
Play or walk with friends. Be sure your parents know where you are and who you are with.

6. If you get lost, stay where you are and call out to whom you were with.
Ask a person in uniform or find a mom to help. Never go with a stranger to the parking lot.

7. Never open the door to someone you don’t know!
Always keep doors and windows locked when home alone.

8. Never tell someone on the phone you are home alone! Practice answering the phone.

9. Always wear a helmet!
When on a bike, roller blades, scooter or skate board, a helmet can save your life. Watch for traffic and follow the rules of the road.

10. Know your address, telephone number and how to dial 911.