Contest That Changes Lives Winner 2011

The following video is the 1-year update on our 2011 Winner of the Scornavacco Martial Arts Academy’s $11,000 Contest That Changes Lives.  Click to Watch.

Newsteam Boulder

Check us out on Newsteam Boulder!

Click the link for the full story:

http://newsteamboulder.org/news/scornavacco-martial-arts-exercises-mind-and-body

WarriorFit Workout of the Week

Ms. Michelle made the news!  Check her out in the Boulder Daily Camera.

Longmont Karate Kids Review

“(My friend) said ‘what are doing to actually get him to do that, to build up his confidence’?

And I said, ‘well, this karate school we are going to. Nothing else has worked so.”

And she said, ‘Wow, that is amazing! Do NOT stop going there. We’ll help you pay for it to keep him going. Keep him going coz he’s doing an amazing job.’ “

–Kim Van Dyke

Longmont mom of 3 “karate kids”

Karate Mom Jessica Reichert Speaks

Interview with Karate Mom Jessica Reichert:

Jessica Reichert:   My name is Jessica Reichert, and my husband Dennis and I have two children, Logan who is almost eight and Abby who’s almost four. Both of whom are students here now.

Q: And how did you hear about the school?

Jessica:  Logan at about three‑and‑a‑half started in on us. He seriously wanted to go to karate. We called around, checked a bunch of schools out. Nobody would take him until he turned four. So during that six months or so we toured a bunch of the schools in the area. And this is the one that was the fit.

Q: What turned you off at the other schools?

Jessica:  We went into one place that was very drill sergeant‑y. Lots of screaming, lots of this guy barking at these little kids. And that wasn’t what Logan needed, nor what we wanted for him. We went into another school where we watched several hours worth of calisthenics, which also wasn’t what we wanted. We came in here, Logan was met by one of the instructors and it was an instant connection.

Q: So what would you say the big reason that you guys as his parents wanted him to train?

Jessica:  Logan’s an incredibly bright kid. He’s also a very passive kid. He was in preschool and we got told that he was a doormat. Because if a child wanted a toy, they took it and Logan found something else. He was in a daycare setting and I was so proud of him. All the little kids were sitting in a circle, and when I looked closer I realized that all the little kids that were sitting in the circle were facing in, and Logan was facing out. So he was kind of socially inept.

Q: So given that that’s kind of how he was, how do you think he fit in with the classes here, the kind of the structure of the class and what his experience was like in the group?

Jessica:  I really expected him to run off the mat the first day, and he absolutely did not. The instructors made him feel very welcome. They really took him in and showed him how he needed to do things and what he needed to do. And he just thrived.

Q: So, why don’t we take a little bit about him being bullied and that kind of situation. Kind of what was going on around him being bullied, what did it look like, when did you notice it?

Jessica:  There was one little boy in particular that he was in preschool with, and at the time Logan was probably three, three‑and‑a‑half. And the little boy would push him and take his toys every day. And Logan would never stand up to the kid. He would walk away. He’d come home, “I don’t want to go to school anymore. Please don’t make me go, please don’t make me go.” And we met with the teachers and tried to work it out that way. Logan just has no desire to fight. He would give up anything he had to avoid any kind of confrontation.

Q: So how would you characterize the school’s response?

Jessica:  That school really just kind of informed us and then moved on. It wasn’t their place…

Q: So they didn’t have anything in place?

Jessica:  …to encourage Logan to stand up for himself.

Q: How did he feel about it when you talked to him about it, when you talked to him about the whole bullying situation?

Jessica:  He wouldn’t talk to us about it.

Q: He wouldn’t talk to you?

Jessica:  No, he wouldn’t tell us anything that was going on. We would ask him, “So what happened with this little kid today?” “Nothing.”

Q: Why do you think that he wouldn’t tell you?

Jessica:  I don’t think he knew how to handle it. He didn’t want it to be an issue and he didn’t want…I don’t know if he was aware that he didn’t want us to fight his fights. But I think that it was just non‑confrontational. Not telling us, it didn’t exist.

Q: Was he embarrassed or afraid to talk to you guys about it?

Jessica:  I wouldn’t say afraid. I hope he’s not embarrassed, but really I think that it would have just brought it to light more, and he didn’t want to deal with it.

Q: So, now we’re years later, obviously. He’s been training for a while. What kind of changes have you seen in the way he deals with this bullying, or just in general?

Jessica:  I’ve got to tell you my favorite story of all time. Logan starts Kindergarten. Day two our babysitter takes him to Kindergarten. The little boy that bullied him in preschool landed in his Kindergarten class. So Logan at that point had been training for over a year, and the little boy goes to push Logan. And Logan stepped back, looked the kid square in the eye, blocked the push and put his hand down, and the kid turned around and walked away from him. So right there, that was huge success.

Q: And how do you feel about the fact that he actually had to use…he was confident enough to defend himself, but the fact that he actually would physically defend himself? As a parent, how do you look at those abilities and the fact that he had to use that?

Jessica:  We were totally proud of him. He came home that day and we got the call from the babysitter that said, hey, this is what went down. And we told Logan when he got home that, way to go. Stand up for you. We’re still to this day, we back him up. If he has to defend himself we expect that he can and will.

Q: That’s pretty amazing.

Jessica:  That’s my favorite story.

Q: So how would you look at how Logan’s changed since he started training here?

Jessica:  Logan carries himself, and he’s not the weak, mild little boy that he was. And I’m sure part of it is that he’s four years older now than he was. But a lot of it too is that he knows that if push comes to shove he can hold his own. We tested his abilities, because we’re like, OK, you know we’re forking out some money for karate. Are we seeing results? I had a guy that Logan doesn’t know come up behind him and grab him, unbeknownst to Logan. And Logan dropped the man to the earth. You know, and I don’t really want Logan to ever have to be in that position, but I do know that Logan can drop a 6’4″ man to the earth.

Q: Yes, that’s got to be a good feeling.

Jessica:  And my friend won’t do that again. He didn’t like the outcome.

Q: So what do you value most about this school, being in this school?

Jessica:  OK, I’m going to sound like I’m going for suck‑up points. Everything. We’ve always said the whole “it takes a village to raise a child.” This is our village. From all the other parents to all the instructors, this is the village we’ve chosen to have raise our children.

Q: So what would you say to somebody who was thinking about looking for a martial arts school for their kid?

Jessica: The same thing I always say. There’s a cheaper martial arts school in town but you’re going to get what you pay for. And nothing is ever going to come close to this.

New School Slideshow #1: “Before”

Here’s a short slide show featuring “Before” shots of our new location on Boston Avenue:

How often should my child attend karate classes?

Twice per week is a good starting point.  Here’s why:  if your child attends only once per week he will tend to fall behind the other students in class. It is difficult to make progress only training once per week unless your child invests extra time during the week to train.  This is difficult if you are not skilled in the martial arts yourself.

If, on the other hand, your child attends classes virtually every day of the week, like some teams sports require, he or she can suffer from overtraining injuries and not be able to enjoy other activities.

2 days per week is ideal to ensure steady progress and prevent burnout.  It also allows your child to participate in other worthwhile lessons, like music classes AND have unstructured play time, to just be a kid.  In this way your child’s martial arts and lifeskills training easily integrates with the rest of his schedule.

How Big Are Your Classes?

This is a great question.

After all, if there are too many students in your child’s class he won’t get enough attention from your instructor.

You don’t want your child to be lost in a sea of 30 to 40 kids with only one teacher. And you shouldn’t pay top dollar to get little or no attention in class.

There are inherent dangers in martial arts training so you want to make sure your child is being properly supervised… and you want to make sure your child is not developing any bad habits.

The ideal teacher to student ratio is one teacher for about 8 to 10 children.

This doesn’t mean that the class should only be 8 to 10 children, for example if there are 20 children in the class then there should be two qualified teachers. The class can be divided into two groups with each teacher having 10 children or less.

This is especially true if your child is younger, about 4 to 6 years old. Children of this age should be taught in smaller groups because they need to learn how to focus and develop the discipline necessary to operate in class. With too many kids in class, younger children will be distracted easily and not given a fair chance to develop their focus.

Classes that are too large for younger students are counter-productive, so look for smaller teacher-student ratios, like 6 students or less per teacher.

What martial arts do you teach?

People often ask this question because someone told them that a particular martial art was good for kids or good for them or you’ve seen it in the movies, especially if you don’t know anything about the different martial arts.

There are as many martial arts as there are languages if not more, but they can be divided into a few broad topics.

• There are the striking martial arts like tae kwon do karate,
• the grappling wrestling martial arts like judo jujitsu and sambo,
• there are weapon specific martial arts like Filipino escrima, and Japanese kenjutsu.
• Then other reality-based martial arts at Russian system or Israeli krav maga.
• Finally there are the hybrid martial arts that it seeks to combine the best of many different martial arts.

Just as our bodies are more or less similar, so too are there common movements and techniques in the martial arts.

A couple things are more important than the name of the martial arts you will study.  First, there is a general focus of the school you are entering.

• The school may focus on tournament competition or trying to go to the Olympics, these are called normally sports martial arts.
• There are the traditional schools that seek to infuse an Asian culture into their training and heritage,
• There are the cage fighting martial arts,
• the self-defense and personal safety martial arts
• and martial arts that focus on teaching character development, classical virtues and life skills.

Therefore, as you look for a martial arts school, know that all schools aren’t alike. If you don’t want your child to learn just fighting you might want to choose a different school.

Most martial arts teach some form of self-defense and physical fitness, but for your child it’s critical that you find a school that will teach him good character, the martial arts virtues, discipline, focus, respect and the many life skills that are so important for kids to learn these days. You also want school that is specially trained to teach children. At our Academy my wife, Dr. Karla, a PhD in Education, oversees our instructor education program.

How much do karate classes cost?

THE most frequently asked question people ask me about martial arts is “How much are your classes?”

Here’s a quick ballpark figure for you.  Schools charge anywhere from $50/month on the low-service “kick/punch” school end up to $1,000/month on the high-service Professional end.

A simple rule of thumb is, The higher tuition you pay, more service you should receive, such as more student attention, a smaller teacher-student ratio, private training options and mentoring programs, as well as a better facility and ample training equipment.

You should also expect FULL-TIME INSTRUCTORS who are specially trained in the latest educational strategies, how to teach children with ADHD, focus issues, sensory integration challenges and teach a complete Character Development Program.

While tuition is important, you obviously want the best school that you can afford.  So find a school that fits your family’s values, one that you feel comfortable in and then focus on the tuition.