Success Focus
- Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Energy.

This time of year, everyone is abandoning New Year resolutions and plans to make changes to dramatically increase their health and wealth in the New Year.


Most people do not succeed either because they do not know how to make changes in their well being or simply do not have the determination to overcome obstacles that may stand in their way. The key to success is focus. Direct your focus for your goal like a laser to cut through obstacles instead of the incandescent light bulb, which casts light over a wide area.

A classical Japanese martial principle is called "Kime" or focus which basically means "maximum efficiency with minimum energy".
The new practitioner spend hours learning the little details involved in doing a technique right, like twisting their punch right before impact, striking with a smaller surface to increase impact, tightening the stomach muscles upon impact and hundreds of other details that allow a person to maximize their efficiency. After years of study, the ability to generate maximum efficiency with smoothness and grace is seen as mastery of the martial arts, when in reality it is the results of years of study and proficiency in foundational principles.

Successful accomplishments in all areas of life are the same; success is accomplished over time by getting great at the small details. To improve your success in 2008 you simply need to focus on the high valued activities that produce the best results and avoid those activities which take a lot of time and energy, but produce little results.

The first step is to take a few minutes and identify the top 10 things you could do in the coming year to maximize your success. This may include your work or business, or maybe your individual fitness or personal relationships. You might even find that some of the things you have spent a lot of time and energy on don't even make it in the top 10!

We never have enough time to do everything, but we always have enough time to do something, so why not make it the most important, and by focusing on the most important activities we are consistently seeing members of our program increasing thier success in 12 months or less.

By focusing on getting 15% to 20% increases in each category, you have the ability to double your business, expand your income, and enhance your fitness in a relatively short period of time.

Take the time to analyze, figure where the best use of your time and energy, create the action plans, and indeed you will have a very prosperous 2008.

FOCUS, and be a laser !

Good Reasons to Keep Your Child
Training in the Martial Arts



..........There are many reasons to enroll your children and keep them training in the Martial Arts. Martial Arts builds self confidence and teaches discipline which will provide a solid foundation from which your children will develop strong character. While studying the Martial Arts is fun, children will be learning important lessons in values and respect that will shape how they view the world around them. And even though we teach to avoid confrontations, if the need arises, your children can be secure in their knowledge of how to defend themselves from physical harm. This is the power derived from the Martial Arts.
..........Martial Arts builds self-confidence. It is a physical and demanding "sport." Children who participate and progress in the Martial Arts will develop a positive attitude that they can take with them to help accomplish other important tasks and face other challenges. Our school is dedicated to making your children feel accepted as well as motivated. We focus on providing children with a positive atmosphere where they can build their confidence, even after a bad day at school or playing a sport. It's a place where they'll find support when they feel down or discouraged. We are ready and able to give your children the additional support to face life's challenges and stay on the right path.
..........In addition to the structure you provide at home, Martial Arts also provides your child with discipline. This involves coming to class on time and following school rules and policy. It also concerns learning to respect themselves and others, which is an important goal that we strive to instill in our students. We teach children not to feel that they can't complete a task because it's too hard or because they've failed the first time. Instead we teach them to relax, regroup and give 100 percent effort again. The discipline that they learn helps them to stay focused and work hard to accomplish their goals.
..........Martial Arts is a tool that can help your children in other sports, as well as keeping them in shape and healthy. Many drills that we practice enhance skills they will need in other extracurricular activities. For example, proper balance and hand-eye coordination are skills that are essential in sports such as baseball, football, gymnastics and soccer. Martial Arts training can give your children the competitive edge.

Knowing that they can defend themselves if a problem arises is another benefit that your children derive from Martial Arts training. Martial Arts does not just teach kids how to defend themselves physically, but more importantly, how to avoid dangerous situations. Avoiding the situation rather than being in a physical confrontation is an important concept that instructors teach both indirectly and directly.

Be Involved

Showing your child that you care about his progress in the martial arts can be of great benefit to him. This may be the emotional support he needs. Even if you cannot attend all martial arts classes with him, being there whenever possible will show him how much you care. Ask him to perform what he has learned. Team up with your child's instructor to learn what progress is taking place. Praise your child when there's evidence of self-discpline and good conduct.

The Fittest Companies in America
by Cora Daniels

Fitness in the workplace is no longer a mere perk

Time. It's the biggest hurdle to staying fit for most adults toiling the 9-to-5. And with ever-increasing pressures on the job site, "work" can cast an even bigger cloud over our personal lives. Simply finding a gig that won't sabotage your exercise regime can be a major challenge. But it's not impossible. What if you could work for a company that values fitness just as much as the bottom line? Envision a workplace that offers employees state-of-the-art gyms and athletic facilities, rewards for being in shape, cafeterias stocked with healthy snacks, preventive medical care so you can monitor your cholesterol and blood- pressure levels along with other hidden health hazards- plus assistance for losing weight or quitting smoking.

Guess what? Such companies do exist-and we've found them. These are businesses that know personal fitness isn't just good for an individual's well-being but also for the bottom line. Study after study shows workplace fitness helps decrease absenteeism, increases productivity, reduces turnover, and ultimately produces a healthier workforce that requires significantly lower medical costs. One caveat: We tried to stay away from companies based in the athletic or fitness industries. That would be too easy. It would be news if these organizations didn't help their employees stay fit. So you won't find many fitness centers or sporting-goods makers on the list. (The few exceptions were just too good to ignore.) Instead, think of this list as the most surprisingly fit companies-companies large and small that are typically not in the fitness business but seem to know how to keep their employees lean and ripped anyway. In other words, these are the companies that truly get the fitness way of life-and would be just plain cool to work for too.

GOOGLE (12,200 employees worldwide)
Mountain View, Calif.

It isn't just the crazy stock prices that make Google so impressive. No, the company's headquarters is more like a playground than what you would expect from a multibillion-dollar industry leader: Exercise balls and lava lamps are a staple throughout the hallways. Google's top-notch complimentary fitness center features free weights, a rowing machine, and a lap pool, plus the campus has a climbing wall and a beach volleyball court. Employees enjoy roller hockey games on company grounds twice a week. To keep their fuel tanks full, the food in all 11 of the company's gourmet cafeterias is free. That's right, free.

CHICK-FIL-A (1,700 employees)
Atlanta

Who says fast food is bad for your health? Chick-fil-A encourages healthy living from the top down. A favorite topic for President Dan Cathy is fitness and health. A marathon runner himself, Cathy constantly challenges those working for him to embrace a fit lifestyle. He believes a successful leader has to make his or her own health a priority and challenge those he or she leads to do the same. To that end, the company has a 15,000-square-foot on-site fitness center, which is huge considering that only 500 of its 1,700 employees work in the corporate office. The fitness center gets more than 200 visits a day, all the more impressive considering that across corporate America, only 15% of employees use their company gyms. For employees who spend their workdays on the road, Chick-fil-A has even created a business traveler's exercise kit, which includes an exercise band and a manual of exercises that are easy to do in hotel rooms. In addition to regular 5K and one-mile races within the company, last year Cathy challenged employees to join him in running the Disney marathon in Orlando, offering free employee training for six months. Two hundred workers took him up on the offer.

VERIZON WIRELESS (65,000 employees)
Basking Ridge, N.J.

This cell phone company knows what it means to surround its employees with healthy-living choices- offering 28 on-site health and wellness centers in its various offices across the U.S. Each of those gyms contains cardio and strength-training equipment; spinning studios; group exercise classes that offer aerobics, Pilates, outdoor boot camp, and kickboxing, plus massage-therapy facilities. Oneon- one personal training and individual nutrition counseling from on- staff fitness coaches are also available. The Verizon Wireless intramural league includes softball, volleyball, soccer, biking, running, and walking teams. "Helping our employees get fit and healthy is a competitive advantage," says Martha Delehanty, vice president of human resources. "It reduces our absenteeism rate as well as our presenteesim-our employees are more engaged when they are at work because their bodies feel good."

Energize your individual business success plan with some on the job training. On your own or on the company, fitness is a key to business success !!!

We'd like to remind everyone that this month's belt exam will be Saturday - 23 February 2008

Please review the testing schedule, exam roster, and upcoming events to see how it may affect you by visiting our website
@ http://www.athensmartialarts.net and clicking on the "Student Corner" icon.