Bethea's Karate Studio

Sensei Speaks

February 2019

What's Been Going On

Well we’ve gotten started into the New Year and so far, everything has gone well. The month began with me making a trip to Texas to visit Mrs. Sutton and her students and others who came to train at the camp. Kyoshi Riley and some of his students from Colorado came in support of the camp along with Renshi Owles who also brought some of his students who all live in Texas. Needless to say, it was a great camp and everybody enjoyed the training the training. Each year that I have gone to the camp it has been a most gratifying experience with the people of the community and the students. Mrs. Sutton has some students who are very dedicated to their training even though she has a high turnover rate. I must not leave this without letting you know how mush I enjoy attending Sunday School and Church Service at her husband’s Church.

As I returned from Texas, it was unfortunate that I came home to find my wife was suffering with a severe back ailment. It has lingered on for the entire month and she has endured excruciating pain in her “back”. After about two weeks I was finally able to get her to the doctor. That was primarily due to the weather conditions that we were experiencing during the month. I worried quite a bit until I was able to get her too the doctor. After the doctor, labs and xrays, she has begun being herself again and I am truly relieved.

I cancelled my trip to Michigan for Mr. McElwee’s camp because of the weather. It is normally much worse there than here. Of course I contacted the students from Canada in order that they would not try to make that trip.

Fortunately, I was able to attend Mr. Franz’s Kagami Baraki workout held each year in January. I thought that the roads would be bad but there were no problems once we reached I69.There was a very large attendance for the workout and all enjoyed it.  

Congratulations To Our Graduates

We completed our first 2019 graduations in the beginning of the month and it was a successful endeavor for all who went forward. There were three Li’l Dragons for white belt with yellow strip evaluating and one from the kids class evaluating for orang belt. I must say that all of students did very well and I congratulate them for their preparation and hard work. All of them tend to give me their best in class even though they get a little distracted at times.

One of my concerns for all students is that they are not really goal oriented. Everyone’s goal should be black belt. I understand that you will not be as passionate as I am but having a goal is key.

Ku-kyu                                           Emma Vore

Hugo Lopez                                   Hachi Kyu

Sawyer Eschelman                        D’Artagnan Williams

The Weather

For many of you I know that you have never experienced weather like that which we have been experiencing during the month of January. I am sure that this may go down as one of the coldest months in the history of the state. That is, since they have been keeping those records. Since I have been here I have seen more snow and experienced more cold than anyplace I have ever been.

I go back to the blizzards of 1977 and 1978 while I was still a military person. During those years and the two blizzards it was unbelievable. As said I had never seen so much snow and the cold was overwhelming to me. Regardless I chose to stay here and I was determined to be able to withstand the conditions. After the blizzards the snowfall seemed to have gone down. Then there were the ice storms of 1990 1nd 1991. The temperatures got low but never anything like the cold we are experiencing as I am writing this newsletter. Today’s cold I have definitely never experienced and it sounds as if that is the way that it will be for a few more days. Weather like this often causes hardships on many families and we have to be extremely cautious. Hardships will be caused by house fires, improperly serviced furnaces, water lines freezing/breaking, and electric power outages.

Today is the first time that I have ever cancelled classes at the dojo because of the weather. We are approaching our 43rd anniversary and I am very fortunate that this is the first time for a weather closure. I am thankful to God for a blessing as great as this. Kids enjoy your time at home!

Here We Go!

As we enter this second month of 2019 we are looking forward to all of the competition ahead of us. We don’t have very many competitors as we once had but the one who have been competing have done very well. Our first tournament at which we will be attending will be the Cabin Fever event in Chicago during the third weekend of the month. It will not be a competition but we will again be attending a training session at Mr. Franz’s Dojo on February 23rd. There will be a cost to attend this event but it will be a worthwhile event. For all who can afford it I would encourage you to go if at all possible. Mr. Franz is very supportive of me and I would like for my students to be just as supportive of him and his endeavors.

As we go through the month of February we should also be readying ourselves for PKC Region 2’s first tournament. That event is scheduled for March 2nd and we are anticipating a good turnout for that event. As always I am wanting to have some of my students ready and competing in that tournament. I know that there are those of you who are afraid of competition and that is alright if that is the case. However, if you have a fear it is something that must be worked on. Most of you are too young to understand this now but we are talking about preparing for the future. Regardless to your chosen career path, you can never start too early in preparing for wat is ahead of you. Let’s go ahead and have a good month Of training.

Printable Version