“Why Do So Many Gifted Children Attend Scornavacco Martial Arts Academy?”

Recently one of our Karate Moms asked me this insightful question.  To tell the truth, I just always assumed that of course our students are intelligent and do well in school—that’s what we do.  I’d never gave it much more thought than that.  Upon further reflection I came up with…

3 Big Reasons Why SMAA is Full of Intelligent Children

#1:  High-Achieving Families Realize That We Teach The Very Skills They Need To Excel in Academic School But That They Aren’t Learning Elsewhere

Our families know that IQ is nothing without Focus, Discipline, Perseverance, Resilience and the many other LifeSkills we excel at instilling in our children.  Everyone knows these skills are critical success factors but few people really know how to cultivate these abilities like we do.  Worse, people tend to teach children the exact opposite lessons, virtually guaranteeing that children do not learn proper LifeSkills.

Our children receive a Systematic Education on how to develop these critical Life Skills.  Our staff, and the SMAA parents, all agree that leading by example is the best way to teach our children.

Shared Values and Parenting Philosophy

In addition, our families share common values and Parenting Philosophy.  High-Achieving Families know that the Core Martial Arts Values, including Respect, Commitment and Social Intelligence, directly influence how successful their children will be in school and in life.

Our families always act in the best Long-Term Interests of Their Child versus feeling good in the short-term. This philosophy allows them to overcome almost any obstacle in the way of high-achievement and happiness.

#2:  High-Achieving Families Tend to Know Each Other

This is the simple answer.  Once the first few families with gifted, high-achieving children began their study with us, they naturally spread the word to their friends.  Over time we have built a reputation as “THE place to go to for academically-minded families.”

The most intelligent parents realize that the real benefits of a quality martial arts school do not just come from putting a child in a uniform and a belt and then jumping into a huge class of screaming kids.

#3:  High-Achieving Families Are Drawn To SMAA Because of

the Unique Knowledge And Experience of Our Heads of School

Of course when new families first meet Master Brad and Dr. Karla Scornavacco they immediately know that SMAA is “far beyond the ordinary martial arts school.”  Their educational backgrounds, including Harvard, Northwestern and CU create an environment of higher learning and academic achievement unmatched in Colorado.

Our “Education-Centered” Martial Arts Academy naturally attracts intelligent and well-educated families, both inside and outside academia.

So there you have it.  SMAA successfully marries the best Martial Arts Character Development Strategies with a solid background in the Best Educational Practices.  Our families take the long-view with their children’s mental and emotional education, sharing the oft-forgotten traditional values that create intelligent citizens with strong character.  Finally, these families invite other, like-minded families to join them.

They say it can’t be done

Two more just did! With several more within striking distance.

Something just got me thinking once again about our recent Junior Black Belts, Tristan Smith and Bryce Roberts, who joined the growing number of Black Belts at SMAA.  Each time I look out on the training floor and see Black Belts training hard and being great role models, it takes a nothing day and makes it all worthwhile.

Ah, I remember now.  I got up and went for a swim this morning, an activity I’ve grown to really enjoy.  But, you know, I was dragging this morning having not gotten a good night’s sleep.  I was too tired to exercise, or at least that is what part of my mind was whining about. I didn’t want to go, and this was something I really like to do.  (read that line again, or a few times)  Luckily for me, I also have an adult inside my head, one who created a simple system to help me when I get this way.  I call it “Connect the D.O.T.S.”

D.O.T.S. stands for the DO ONE THING SYSTEM.  I had to ultimately get in the water and swim but that goal brought all the things I’d have to do to get there.  It seemed overwhelming.

So tracing back all the things I needed to do to get my rear in the pool was one simple thing–get in the car.  Once I did one thing, all I had to do was change.  Then, all I had to think about was stepping off the side of the pool.  Then, all I thought about was leaving the side of the pool, etc.

Always focused on the next DOT, doing one thing, while I knew my ultimate goal.  Before I knew it I swam my laps and here I am working away, awake and feeling ready to rock.

This little episode, which I repeat almost daily, reminded me of the Junior Black Belts because adults often forget that we go through the same challenges and must overcome the same obstacles our kids must.  This is life, and it is not bound by age.  Kids not only learn persistence and overcoming frustration–they must.

Early on in life I adopted a philosophy that the sooner I figured out “the rules of the game of life” and aligned with them the more time I would have to enjoy life, come what may.

The Junior Black Belts have a huge head-start.

VISION: January’s Powerful Word

Welcome to January!  Here is short audio preview of our Powerful Word of the Month:

VISION

Just click the play button to listen:

Dedicated to Your Success,

Brad Scornavacco

Head of School

10 Tips to be a Successful Karate Parent

Perseverance or Futility?

If Sissyphus were alive today he’d be living in Colorado and, instead of eternally rolling a boulder up a hill only to see it roll back to the bottom, he’d be forced to edit our Phase 2 Self-Defense Techniques DVD in iMovie and have it crash each time it’s about done only to have to start the whole thing over–again. (yes, even with backing up every few minutes)

Perseverance or futility?  Well, I’m teaching myself a new program, Final Cut, so we’ll see if I can get this DVD done and out within the next week or so.  If you see my hunched over my computer with an intense look on my face it’s because I’m more determined (obsessed?) than ever to get this DVD out because I know lots of people are waiting for it.

Wish me luck.

I wonder, how do you react to disastrous setbacks?  Are you like me?  Do you get that emotional rush and overwhelming feeling of “What’s the point? This will never work.”

If this happens to you I hope that’s not the ONLY reactions you have.  I fear that most people react this way and just give up.  I hope you respond like I do and experience the powerful emotions that follow the self-pity.

When I’m done focusing on how unfair it is that all my work was for naught I always get hit with a tidal wave of emotion.  That feeling is a pit bull-like determination that something as silly as this will NEVER STOP ME.  I re-focus and re-double my efforts to break through whatever barrier is in front of me and overcome whatever setback I may have faced.

From experience, I know these setbacks usually wind up spurring me to much higher levels of accomplishment.  That is sweet success.

I hope the same for you.

Karate Saves Biggest Loser’s Life

Our Daily Mission is to change lives and, as you’ll see, Karate has already changed the lives of some high-profile celebrity fitness trainer.  One of the most famous, Biggest Loser Host Jillian Michaels says karate did more than change her life, it saved it.

Now she uses the focus, discipline and lifeskills from the martial arts to help people overcome obesity and get “WarriorFit” as we say.  Here’s a hint–look a little deeper into the lives of the most successful people.  Odds are you’ll find the Karate-Connection.

“Karate saved my life,” she says. “It all stopped the day I broke two boards with a kick.”

–Jillian Michaels, “The Biggest Loser” Star Trainer in Redbook Magazine, June 2010.

To Check out the original article  Click Here.

Easter Egg Riots

Saturday we hosted our annual Academy Easter Egg Hunt, and despite the heavy winds, it was a great morning and all the kids had tons of fun. Siena even got to participate in her first egg hunt ever. Thanks to Nathan Ooms for backing off and letting her find some eggs. That was very kind of him and it made her day.

After our Easter Egg Hunt, I witnessed two other Egg Hunts that I just need to contrast to our well-disciplined and courteous egg hunt.

The first was directly following our egg hunt in Boulder.  We went to get Siena’s hair cut for the first time and stumbled across a toy store’s egg hunt in their tiny concrete square outside their store.  Coming right from our hunt in a nice, spacious park to this cramped quarters was striking.

You couldn’t really call this an egg hunt.  It was more like an Easter Egg Scramble because all the eggs were just dumped into this concrete circle and all the kids were unleashed to shove and jostle to collect as many eggs as they could.  It was a frenzy and had none of the FUN of exploring to find hidden Easter Eggs.

Dr. Karla and I were a bit repulsed and both said, in unison, “Siena’s never going to be a part of that.”

On Sunday — with the second Easter Egg Hunt Incident — It got worse!

I happened to catch a TV news report of an “Easter Egg Hunt Gone Wrong” in New Hampshire.  Again, not really a hunt as much as a piranha-like feeding frenzy.

Hundreds of kids were in a field where eggs were dropped from helicopters.  The best efforts of the organizers were to no avail in keeping the ravenous kids under control.  They stormed the field, running each other over, knocking each other done in a mad dash fueled by pure “id” to collect more eggs than they could possibly ever need.

Of course the TV announcer was aghast at how this could happen, but as a martial arts teacher my first response was, “really, what else did you expect”? I sometimes joke that our kids are like locusts at our Easter Egg Hunt, but it’s a joke.  Our SMAA kids were the pinnacle of restraint and just plain NICE as they searched for eggs, even going so far as to help others who didn’t have many eggs find more eggs.

These kids, in such overwhelmingly large numbers, really were like locusts.  File that Easter Egg Riot under “you had to see it to believe it.”

This Easter tale has one last component.  Sunday morning Siena, now 2, had her first Easter Egg Hunt at home.  On Saturday we colored eggs with her, an event in itself.  Watching her face as she helped dunk eggs and see them change color was priceless, as any parent would know.  As fun as that was, guiding her to find the eggs the Easter Bunny had hidden was better.  Seeing her scan the house, then spot an egg on the ledge, then exclaim, “there’s one!”– MAGICAL.

Some things are better in small numbers.

It’s Karate, not Karoshi

This week is St. Vrain’s Spring Break and I invite you to take a break from your martial arts training as well.

What? Heresy, you say! No, I’m serious. We all need a break from even the BEST DISCIPLINES, martial arts included. Of course who would want to be away from the positive influences in your life? After all, if you stop working don’t you backslide? Ever onward and upward as they say.

That sounds good in theory, but in practice it doesn’t play out. We need to put work aside periodically for 5 simple, profound reasons.

First, after awhile we waste time. We lose focus on achievement and become less and less efficient and ineffective in our labors. Practicing is like sloshing through mud, mentally we hit what economists call “diminishing marginal returns”– less return for more effort.

Second, we need a fresh perspective. New experiences and different inputs mesh with our experiences in ways we would never achieve without taking a break. Now, if you just plop in front of the TV for your break you probably won’t get any sort of valuable perspective at all. Shutting off your brain completely isn’t “active recovery” of the sort that I’m talking about. An active lifestyle is what I mean. Keep your body and brain alive with new, unusual challenges and they will help you when you return.

Third, we need to recharge our batteries. When we get emotionally run down, everything gets harder. When daily stresses overwhelm our systems nothing seems to work anymore. See point #1. After a break we return eager for action and primed for accomplishment. We need what’s called “activation energy” to experience flow, or optimal experience. Changing things up with new places and new adventures helps restore this mental energy.

Fourth, is the “reminiscence effect.” When you take a break from training you lose all the small details and retain only the “big picture.” The good news here is that many of the small mistakes you make tend to fall away as well. When you return you may be surprised to find learning easier and be better than before. Trust me, this happened to me with my martial arts training several times. I didn’t know what was going on until I came across the reminiscence effect.

Fifth, there is more to life than training. My martial arts teacher told me that while I was in a fit of obsession with training. Boy, did I need that. Achieving Black Belt and Life Mastery is a LONG process and committing to the path helps us take necessary breaks and still return to the path. Breaks make it easier for us to commit and re-commit to our long-term goals. No one makes it to the top of the highest mountain without regular breaks. Just make sure you weave them into a long-term vision or else breaks will mean stopping altogether.

This is why we have to FORCE ourselves to take a momentary rest before we suffer from “karoshi” the Japanese word for dying from overwork. They have so many people dying from overwork they had to create a word for it.

Beware…

Poor Julius Caesar.  He was warned to beware of treachery on this day, March 15th so long ago. He failed to listen, to heed the signs and paid dearly.  With his life.

The word “beware” is one of the most powerful words in our language, and although it has a negative connotation, if you heed the signs they can guide you through life’s dangers to ultimate success.

Back to Caesar.  Perhaps he thought he was untouchable, that he was safe because he was emperor.  Maybe he believed Brutus would protect him, as evidenced by, “Et tu, Brute?” displaying his shock that Brutus betrayed him.  Whatever the reason, he failed to be on guard against the forces that would be his undoing.

It may help you to look at Beware as “be aware.”  Be aware of all the opportunities that present themselves–all the good that flows into your life.  Look on the upside, see the best in every situation…but…

Be aware of the dangers, the pitfalls, and the treachery that arise as well.  Seeing through rose-colored glasses and ONLY seeing the positive no matter how much danger besets you is naive optimism.  Focusing on accenting the positive, while at the same time, accurately seeing that which would destroy your hopes and dreams and taking action to prevent it is intelligent optimism.

Naive optimism is the view that there are no weeds in your beautiful garden.  Nothing could possibly want to destroy something so wonderful.

Intelligent optimism is the view that the weeds are right over there in the midst of your beautiful garden.  You then take action to eradicate them so you can preserve and enjoy your garden you worked so hard to cultivate.

The lesson from Caesar and the Ides of March is this: Heed the Signs.  No matter how dire they may appear, be prepared for the worst while working toward the best.  When a trusted adviser gives you the advantage of his perspective–listen.

Here’s a martial arts example on BEWARE:

Students’ motivation levels naturally rise and fall, cyclically throughout their training.  The first “motivational dip” occurs between Orange Belt and Advanced Orange Belt for 9 out of 10 students.  I’ve seen this pattern hundreds of times so I warn families that it is coming and to be prepared for it because when students persevere through this motivational dip they become more committed to their training and their motivation spikes. If they are unaware, and don’t heed my warning, they invariably and unnecessarily, give up and drop out.

BEWARE forces you to focus on the negative, to face it head on and overcome it.  Only in this way will the positive prevail.

All it takes is 1 little mistake

Just after half-time in Sunday’s Super Bowl I started telling everyone in the room that there hadn’t been 1 turnover in the game.  Both teams were playing mistake-free football.  With such a close contest the difference between failure and success, winning and losing often comes down to who makes the first mistake…or…who first causes the opponent to make a mistake.

Tags: commitment, discipline, dreams, goal, interception, losing, Mistake, parents, perseverance, Peyton Manning, season, Super Bowl, winning

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