Excellence: Kung Fu and Arete

Our Powerful Word for July is EXCELLENCE, “consistently striving towards our personal best in order to reach our own potential.” Good & Bad Houses, Healthy & Unhealthy Bodies Leading up to buying my first home, I discovered that not all homes were built to the...

Escaping Pessimism

Escaping from Holds: Pessimism, Realism, and Optimism Our Powerful Word this month is OPTIMISM, a word and an idea that all-too-often is misunderstood. Here is an example of optimism in action and what being optimistic allows to come into being. One of the first...

Free Dads Safety Series

Welcome to June 2025 In celebration of Father’s Day this month, SMAA is hosting a series of Free Safety Training Sessions just for dads. One of dad’s main roles in the family is PROTECTOR and in these sessions we will give you the skills you need to keep...

The Legend of The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid Is Back On May 30th the movie, The Karate Kid: Legends, opens in theaters nationwide, approximately 40 years since the original The Karate Kid movie. The Karate Kid spawned two sequels, then a third with Hillary Swank as a female karate kid, a remake in...

I Did NOT Fall Off Of A Ladder

CORRECTION: I Did NOT Fall Off of a Ladder It being Spring Break for most of our students, I thought this the perfect time to re-paint the school and to do some much-needed spring cleaning. The paint job had been going along nicely, until yesterday when I had to get...

What Impulse Control Is, And Is Not

Our Powerful Word this month is Impulse Control, and learning to control one’s impulses is one of the primary reasons parents bring their children to Scornavacco Martial Arts Academy. First, what do we mean when we say, impulse control? Impulse control does NOT...

What A Martial Arts Class Really Is

What Is A Martial Arts Class? My daughter is an avid soccer player, which means I’m an avid soccer dad who takes her to all the trainings, practices, and games I can. Watching her private lessons with her coach is, admittedly, pretty boring. Observing footwork...

“Thank You For the Confidence You Have Given Me”

“Dear Mr. Scornavacco, Thank you for the confidence you have given me from the years I have spent at your school; the go-with-the-flow attitude that I learned at Systema has helped me avoid conflicts and stay level-headed while dealing iwht the less than ideal...

My First Teaching Gig

Teaching Martial Arts While at Northwestern University When I enrolled at Northwestern University in 1989 I was a Kenpo Brown Belt. While in college I trained and exchanged martial arts knowledge with students from many other disciplines, which led to some fascinating...