Zen Martial Arts - Year in Review

[Mike Oliver]

2010 was a great year for our dojo.  For those of you that have been with me for a long time, you've seen us grow from a very small school (2 or 3 of us at the Robertson Center) to some very full classes now at the Coloma Center. Here are some of the great things that we accomplished together in 2010. (And I have to tell you, you are getting famous in the community for all of the wonderful things that you are doing).

 

2010 Accomplishments (follow the links to videos!)

• Expanded our class schedule and started offering karate classes to 4 and 5 year old kids.
• Hosted three Free Women's Self Defense classes
• Taught a free self-defense to local girl scouts
• Implemented Verbal Judo into our curriculum
• Hosted 2 bully awareness seminars
• Taught an 8-week course at a local elementary school.
• Our dojo was featured 5 times on local television.
• Raised over $300 in donations to WEAVE.
• Cleaned a lot of trash from a local creek. 
• Collected 100's of backpacks for local kids in need.
• Collected over 1000 diapers for local mothers and kids in need.
• Responsible for 1000's of Acts of Kindness in our Community.
• Sent over 100 letters to service men and women who weren't home for the holidays
• Participated in a "Trick-or-Treat" food drive and collected 100's of canned foods.
• Collected 100's of articles of clothing for local shelters
• Had a blast at our school picnic which also doubled as a food drive.
• Hosted over a dozen martial arts awards ceremonies.
• Planted over 100 trees.

New for Next Year

Our dojo familiy is bigger and stronger than ever before. Together I Hope to make 2011 an even greater year for us. You can expect even more of the above. Here are some of the things that I (we, us) are working on already!

• Ultimate Black Belt Test - This is a challenge to live like a black-belt for a year. 10 of our students have taken on this challenge. You can already follow their progress here.
• Advanced Classes - As our school grows, so do our students. I hope to expand our class offering and be able to offer an advanced Isshinryu class for green-belts and higher. 
• WEAVE Fundraiser/Self-Defense Class - This is coming this month! Last year we raised over $300. This year I want to walk into Weave with at least $1000 from us. These folks work on violence prevention and peace education everyday. This year we will be reaching out to local business for donations.
• 50,000 Acts of Kindness/Sacramento Kindness Project - This is going to be huge--and I don't say that about very many things. I need help with design of some print materials--if you are graphically hip, know your photoshop and are willing to help, let's talk.
• Banquet - Next year I would like to honor the graduates that survive strive through the UBBT training with a nice banquet. Need volunteers that can plan an event like this.

 

[Susan Bitar]

AMAZING ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2010.  Congratulations!!!

[Chrissy Scott]

Hey... I have the Adobe Creative Suite on my computer and that includes PhotoShop and InDesign. I'd love to help create some print materials!

[Lisa Clark]

How much did the dojo raise to adopt an oil spill bird?

 

Also planned for this year is an awareness raising event at Ride To Walk. Time to hang out, meet each other, have fun, and learn about each other's challenges.