AKS Quarterly Newsletter

"The Punchline"
Editorial – December 2009

As we come to the end of another year, we can all be proud of how the AKS has grown stronger and more unified. Our black belts have been instrumental in helping refine and shape the new student handbook, as well as coming up with suggestions for further professionalizing our organization.

We’ve also made great improvements in standardizing our execution of kata by reviewing them together during our regional training seminars and at the annual summer camp. Our next area to focus on will be the application of our power, stances and focus. Once we accomplish this we will have become even better as a style and as those who represent it.

I recall how proud Ernie was when he would talk about his AKS fighters and the reputation we had established at tournaments throughout the Midwest. Once we enhance our collective abilities in the performance and execution of kata we will have come closer to closing the circle of our overall abilities. Many of us have seen and commented on black belts who were great fighters, but not that great when it came to kata. One reason was many of these same people didn’t care for practicing or learning new forms. For a martial artist to be well rounded, he or she must be capable in both of these areas.

The last part of the circle will be our collective knowledge and abilities in self-defense. In this latter area we are already ahead of many other traditional karate systems and styles, as we have developed both the soft and hard responses necessary to adjust to a given situation. With the addition of ground tactics our skills become all the more formidable.

These above areas deal with the physical aspects of training in a martial art. What true students of any art must also begin to focus on is the internal aspects as well. We focus on these areas by teaching our students about proper attitude and conduct, both in the gym as well as away from it. Add to this the emphasis we place on educating our members in the history of other styles, and their philosophies and you have a membership with a solid sense of what being a martial artist is really all about.

It is my goal to provide the leadership and guidance necessary to move us forward in these endeavors. With the able assistance of both Mr. Reinecke and Mr. Thomas, as well as our other senior black belts, I know we will succeed. Please join me in this goal for the AKS.

Lastly, let me wish you each and everyone a Merry Christmas. As I get older I realize how blessed I and my family are. I’m thankful for this all year long. However I’m even more mindful of how God has taken care of my family and me during this time of the year. My prayer is for all of us to share the blessings of what we have with each other. It doesn’t take much to look around and see others who are less well off than we are. Even those who are having difficulties during these economic times still have their health and the love of family and friends. Be thankful and remember we celebrate the birth of Christ. I know there are some who don’t share these feelings. My comments are directed to those who do.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mike Sullenger 9th Dan
Chief Instructor

Fighting for Honor

As instructors, we tell our students that martial arts is for self-defense only. It is a tenet that all martial arts styles share regardless of system or geography. The karate practitioner, regardless of rank, is to walk away from a potential fight if at all possible.

That is sometimes easier said than done when some cretin tells you that he heard you take karate and karate guys are just shadow boxers who couldn't hurt a loaf of bread. You have spent years honing your skills training your body for just such an occasion and this bully wannabe has belittled your pain and hard work. Time to take that reverse punch for a test drive. Here is an opportunity to show him what a side kick looks like up close and personal. Not so fast.

The question the police are going to ask is did he put his hands on you? Better have a good answer. It is not going to help your cause to say he hurt your pride, he impugned your honor.

During the 1700s, the country of Prussia (now Germany) was losing many of it's young nobles. They were being killed when they would duel to the death to save their besmirched honor. At times their honor had been tarnished by the most trivial of circumstances. It had gotten so bad that Frederick II, King of Prussia (1712 - 1786 aka Frederick the Great) outlawed dueling. Any young nobles that felt they could only salvage their honor with a duel had to personally petition the King.

Two young men sought an audience with their King. They explained there was some egregious transgression between the two of them and only a duel to the death would rectify the situation. The King reluctantly agreed to the duel and told them to meet at a specific field at 6:00 am two days hence.

When the young men showed up with their seconds, their King was sitting on his portable throne next to a gallows. They asked why was he there? He said "I'm going to hang the winner!"

Your honor is best demonstrated by how you live and conduct yourself. By living up to what you teach your students, not always easy but it is always honorable.

Dave Thomas
8th Dan
Assistant Chief Instructor

Do You Have a Question?

We invite you to send in your questions regarding karate and the A.K.S. so that we may respond here in our newsletter. If you have a concern, question or suggestion, please let us know and we will address it here in the Punchline.

If you don't want your name published, please let us know and we will be happy to withhold that information from print. However, please be respectful when submitting your queries or suggestions to us by including your name so that we may understand your questions and/or circumstances.

Please send your questions to Laura Werner, and I will forward them to the person who can provide the appropriate response.

We look forward to hearing from you!

PROMOTIONS!!

Congratulations to all students who have been promoted this past quarter.  Best wishes in your continued training.

Is It Just a Bark . . . Or Could a Bite be Soon to Follow?
by
Rand Palmer  5th Dan AKS

Something I often remind my students (and even more so, myself) is that as martial artists (as well as the rest of the population, for that matter) we must be aware of the distinction between two kinds of attacks . . . attacks to our egos and attacks to our physical beings.

Distinguishing between an attack on our egos and an assault physical in nature is easy in retrospect, but when confronted with the actual circumstances, the difference can be blurred by anger or fear. When our driving elicits an obscene gesture from someone in another car, our immediate reaction to to become equally angry and gesture or shout. The other motorist is making a slash at our egos that is difficult to ignore.

No one likes being teased or ridiculed, but when we consider that the common alternative, to reply with equal or greater vigor, is what causes war between nations, we realize that we should seek another solution. That solution is found in training; the kind of constant, intensive training that will allow us to defend ourselves physically should that be necessary, but more practically, the kind of training that strips away false pretensions and fears and egos and leaves us with a feeling of quiet pride and invulnerable self-worth. The man or woman who has perservered daily, monthly, yearly through the sessions of punching, kicking, and other gymnastic contortions required in a normal karate lesson knows that they have endured experiences that much of the rest of society could never even attempt. It is this knowledge that permits us to smile and fling off assaults on our egos.

The ability to perceive the difference between a shot at our self-image and a dangerous attack on one's self, family, or society and respond accordingly is an unmistakeable sign of disciplined martial arts training.

"You cannot concern yourself about every dog that barks at you. Concern yourself only with those that mean to bite."

A.K.S. Web Address(es)

You can now visit the A.K.S. Website using any of these addresses:

The shorter addresses basically act as pointers to our regular 'americankaratesystem.org' address.  The shorter address is much easier to key in and, much easier to remember.

We purchased the   " .com    .org   .net    and  .info "  addresses so that the A.K.S. would own all the major internet web address extensions for the domain name " aks-usa. "    This will prevent other organizations from purchasing them and thus causing confusion as to the identity of the website (very much like the difference between americankaratesystem.org    and    americankaratesystem.com )

Please feel free to use these new addresses the next time you visit our site.  And please let us know if you experience any difficulties with the new addresses.

From the Editor and our Black Belts of the A.K.S. Punchline, we'd like to wish all our A.K.S. family, friends and visitors a very Merry Christmas and a Peaceful and Bright New Year - 2010.

A decade of our new century has come and gone.   The A.K.S. has weathered dramatic changes in the past 10 years as, I am sure, your lives have grown and changed as well.   We wish you all many happy blessings and surprises to come in the new decade, and invite you to come and "grow" with The American Karate System.  Please join us at one of our schools, or send us an email should you have any questions.