Ghosts, goblins, witches and bats may not be on your mind right now, but they've been on ours.  Plans are underway for the biggest and best Halloween extravaganza yet!  Costumes, games, prizes, refreshments and spirits of all kinds will be plentiful.  Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 24th, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.  And yes, Lea Craine, aka the Balloon Lady, will be back!!
 
The Halloween party is our annual fundraiser.  We always have a wide range of fun and exciting raffle prizes for kids and adults, and a wonderful selection of silent auction prizes to bid on.   Look for some special additions this fall.  Donations for prizes are needed to ensure the success of the event, and no gift is too big or too small.  Perhaps your business would like to sponsor a gift or make a monetary donation toward the fundraiser.  If you have any ideas or know of a business that might be willing to provide a donation, please contact me (Debbie!).  I would be happy to follow-up with a letter to the appropriate department and/or person at the company.  Since we are a non-profit, all donations made to the Asian Arts Center are tax-deductible.
 
We also need volunteer help during the evening manning games and helping at the food station.  The sign-up sheet is at the front desk, and we ask that you select an hour time slot at either 5:00 or 6:00PM.  Last but not least, we always need help with clean-up!  Food, treats and beverages are provided, so we need an estimate of how many people will be attending.  The sign up sheet for attendance is in the lobby (for both children and adults).   Friends and family are most welcome.  It's a nice introduction to our school and staff.   Last but certainly not least, any donations toward treat bags (food, candy or novelty items) are greatly appreciated.  Because of the generosity of our members, most of the resources raised during this event go directly back to the school and our scholarship program.  Last year we were able to raise over $15,000.  Let's try to beat last year's fundraiser.
 
Raffle tickets are now available.  Donations for raffle prizes, silent auction gifts, and candy, novelty items and paper goods can be left in my office.  This is truly a fun evening for kids and adults, and the success of the event is a team effort.  Please see me if you have any questions

  Fall is here, kids are deep into a new school year, and the holidays will soon be upon us. During these tough economic times, it becomes more important than ever to refocus on our core values and better define our purpose for us a non-profit martial arts school.
 
I started in the martial arts because it was exciting and unique and made me feel strong and smart. Taekwondo remains a great challenge and rewarding practice for me.   As I mature and continue to learn and train, I continue to value martial arts as a tool for self-improvement and also as a character builder. In classes at the Asian Arts Center, we have been teaching focus, discipline, and the need for diligence in training for a long time.  We are now refocusing our message to include the reason Taekwondo training at the Asian Arts Center is so important.
 
Our first purpose is strengthening body and mind. In classes, we are developing the strength needed to defend against bad guys, bad grades, and bad attitudes.
 
Our second purpose is building new stem cells in the brain which are then used to boost creativity, improve memory, and enhance problem solving skills. Recent medical science is proving this to be true, and as Mr. Schaeffer says in class, "Exercise makes you smarter." This requires vigorous, focused, and complex exercise. The pace of class, challenge of learning the patterned forms, and demand that students look, stand still, and think, all serve to build new brain cells.
 
Our third purpose is developing a positive support group which is friendships and student/teacher relationships built on mutual respect. We are all in this training together and we share a common goal.
 
"Strengthen Body and Mind, Exercise Makes You Smarter, and Positive Support Group" is our most refined message, and one that gives our students a real sense of purpose and a reason to train at the Asian Arts Center.

    We all know that exercise makes us stronger and more healthy.  But here at the Asian Arts Center we are also discovering that exercise makes us smarter. According to John J. Ratey, MD, Clinical Associate of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Spark,
                 
                  "Building muscles and conditioning the heart and lungs are essentially side effects...(of exercise).  I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain."
 
Classes here at the AAC begin with three types of exercise:  vigorous, complex, and focus.  Focus of the eyes, body, and mind are especially important for our younger students.  It teaches them to practice focus not only here but at home and school in order to maximize the input that is coming from teachers and parents.  We combine that focus with vigorous and complex movement:  running, jumping, kicking, punching, and forms.  Dr. Ratey emphasizes the strong  relationship between movement and attention.  "They share overlapping pathways which is probably why activities like martial arts work well for...kids; they have to pay attention while learning new movements, which engages and trains both systems."
 
The science of all of this is pretty complex, but the message is clear:  Exercise improves learning on many levels.  It improves attention, alertness, and motivation.  It encourages and enhances the binding of new cells to one another which facilitates the logging in of  new information.  And it actually stimulates the development of new brain cells, which increase capacity.  We get smarter, or at least can get smarter if we fill up the new space with quality content.
 
So along with helping us to deal with anxiety, stress, depression, and more serious conditions like attention deficit and addiction, exercise, particularly focused complex exercise like Taekwondo, helps us to learn and retain the knowledge.  We feel better about ourselves because we are doing better at school, at work, and at home.  And with that increased feeling of confidence and well-being, we are more eager to participate in other activities.  Life is good.
 
The best news of all is that age is not a factor in this question.  As long as we continue to exercise, we reap the benefits of more and better operating brain cells.  The mind-body connection is a fascinating subject.  It's never too late to learn that lesson.
 
Shim-shin soo-ryun (training the mind, body, spirit, and emotions),
 
-Dennis Schaefer

  

  

  It's definitely fall! The weather is changing, leaves are falling, and we're preparing for the annual Halloween party. Saturday, October 24th, is only three weeks away. Packets with raffle tickets and other pertinent information are available at the front desk, along with a sign-up sheet for volunteers needed throughout the evening. We need your help to make the evening a success--mainly by attending and bringing friends! Donations toward raffle prizes, silent auction, treat bags, game trinkets, are all very much appreciated. We have had many requests for scholarships over the last year, and we make every effort to include anyone who wants to attend classes at the AAC welcome. Just about everything is donated for the party, so all the funds raised support the scholarship fund.  We will keep you posted on where we stand toward our goal of $15,000! Raffle ticket sales and donations can be turned in any time. It is very helpful to get them before the party if possible because so many people buy tickets that night.
 
Next week we are pleased to welcome Lisa Ottman to our after-school staff. Lisa will be driving one of the vans and working in the after-school department with Marcia and Sandy. She comes to us with a diverse background, having worked as a surgical patient representative at Miami Valley, substitute teaching in Kettering schools, has her own on-line business and works as a wellness coach at Holten Wellness Center in the morning. Her background and commitment to healthy living is a perfect fit for the Asian Arts Center.
 
Many thanks to everyone for making the summer-to-fall transition go so smoothly. Everyone was very organized and diligent in getting paperwork and class preferences to me. It was very much appreciated. As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, we welcome your input. Hope the academic school year is off to a great start for all our kids.  

5th Dan (Master Level)
Matt Pasquinilli
 
3rd Dan
Phil Anloague, Dennis Schaefer, Carolyn Zengel
 
2nd Dan
Kellen Brown, Izz Hamden, Dustin Hamlin, Blake Rasor, Joe Russell, Kingsley Schroeder, Thiele Schroeder, Mike Spurlino, Alex Tienda
 
1st Dan
Neekta Abossein, Ryan Anloague, Graham Barth, Casey Crowl, Lisa Egbert, Jena Ezzeddine, Lynn Ezzeddine, David Ferdiny, Garett Fogel, Ginny Beth Fulford, Perry Fulford, Helen Guo, Orin Guo, Alexandra Hall, Scott Hall, Saleh Hamdan, Eric Hamlin, Cole Heckman, Tyler Heckman, Alex House, David House, Hannah House, Jack Jacobs, Michael Jacobs, Peanut Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Nate Koroman, Robbie Kramer, Brittany Mason, Ryan Mason, Vince Mason, Bryce McElroy, Jonathan Mirau, Brayson Morris, Glen Mumpower, Dan Pohlman, Lisa Ramsey, Jacob Reed, Buddy Robinson, Wayne Robinson, Carter Stanton, Payton Weltge, Katie Whitehair, Jordan Wiehoff, Darby Willis, Claire Winch
 
1st Gup (Black Belt Candidates)
David Egbert, Todd Holfinger, Jack Huang, Joshua Hughes, William Robinson, Amelia Rude, Tyler Schaefer