Before we dive into what’s happening on the mats this month, I want to take a moment to reflect on a few things.
Thank You for an Amazing Easter Egg Hunt
What a morning! A huge thank you to everyone who came out and made our Easter egg hunt so special — especially the Ivanov family, who arrived early and helped me hide all the eggs. I truly couldn’t have done it without you.
Thank you also to everyone who brought potluck dishes and turned it into a real celebration. It was a beautiful (if a little chilly!) day, and exactly the kind of community moment I love.
This year I hid dollar bills inside some camouflage eggs — and there was one I wasn’t sure we’d ever find. Three turned up pretty quickly, but the last one took a little teamwork… and that final egg went to Miles. Well done, Miles!
These are the moments I look forward to every year. More events like this are coming, so stay tuned.
A Little About My Weekend
Yesterday was Easter, and my wife and I have a tradition: we plant. This year we put two new trees in the ground and spent the whole day outside — a fitting way to honor the spirit of spring, rebirth, and the holiday. I hope you had a restful, joyful day with your family too.
Happy Birthday, Nicholas!
A special shoutout to one of our Little Dragons — Nicholas Vellone — whose birthday is today! Nicholas has the unique honor of having his birthday sandwiched right between my father’s birthday (yesterday, Easter) and mine (tomorrow). Happy birthday, buddy!
What’s Happening This Week on the Mats
This is Week One of the April teaching cycle, which means we’re in full teaching mode.
Last week was all about testing — students demonstrated everything they’ve learned. This week, we flip the switch. I’ll be introducing new material: new basics, warm-up drills to build the foundational movements, and then we’ll dig into the self-defense techniques and their applications.
It’s always one of my favorite weeks. Fresh start, new skills, everyone learning together.
Friday Birthday Nerf Night — 6 to 8 PM
To celebrate my birthday, I’m throwing a free Nerf Night this Friday from 6–8 PM, and I’d love to see you there.
Here’s what you need to bring:
- Your Nerf blaster
- Eye protection
- A friend, family member, or anyone who wants to join the fun
I’ll have extra Nerf darts on hand. There’s a sign-up sheet at the school — just add your name and your buddy’s name and we’re good to go. It’s going to be a great night.
April’s Powerful Word: Self-Esteem
Every month we focus on a powerful word, and for April it’s self-esteem — one of the most common reasons parents bring their kids to martial arts.
Self-esteem at its simplest means you’re confident and you like yourself. Sounds easy, right? But over the years, we’ve seen what happens when we chase that feeling in the wrong way.
Back in the ’90s, the self-esteem movement pushed the idea that kids should feel good about themselves no matter what — participation trophies, no winners or losers, shielding children from failure. The kids knew who won and who lost. The adults just pretended otherwise. And the result? A generation that struggled with resilience, rejection, and setbacks.
The psychologist William James defined self-esteem as a simple equation:
Self-Esteem = Success ÷ Expectations
High success raises it. Unrealistically high expectations lower it. And if you bring expectations down to zero — sure, self-esteem shoots up. But that’s not real confidence. That’s a hollow feeling with nothing behind it.
What we’re actually looking for is healthy self-esteem — not inflated, not deflated. The sweet spot is roughly 80% success with 20% stretch. Enough challenge to keep reaching, enough achievement to keep believing.
Self-esteem isn’t something you hand someone. It comes from doing hard things and succeeding at them. We’ll be talking about this all month — on the mats, in class, and in the lobby. Keep it in mind.
A Personal Update: My Voice
Many of you have noticed that over the past several years, my voice has come and gone — hoarseness, laryngitis, you name it. We suspected it was related to my rheumatoid arthritis affecting my throat. Tests came back clear, nothing structurally wrong, but the problem persisted.
I recently got a second opinion, and finally — we have an answer.
It’s called Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD). The tiny muscles surrounding my vocal folds have been contracting when they shouldn’t, interfering with my voice. My vocal folds themselves are completely healthy — no cysts, no lesions, nothing structural.
The treatment? Speech and language pathology. Basically, I need to retrain those muscles through daily vocal exercises to get everything to relax and work the way it should. Which is a little ironic, since I spend my whole career teaching others to relax their bodies — and now I have to figure out how to relax muscles I can barely feel.
But here’s the good news: it’s fixable. It’s not a degenerative disease. It’s not permanent. MTD is actually fairly common in singers, teachers, and anyone who uses their voice heavily. I’d never heard of it until now, but I’m grateful to finally have a name for it — and a path forward.
So fingers crossed. I’ve got work to do, and I’m ready for it.
See you on the mats.
— Mr. Scornavacco
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