Kaizen-Do Karate

Well that was an emotional night. Let me try to make some coherent sentences this morning.

Thank you to everyone who attended last night, we had 39 students on those mats, all working hard and putting in 100% Effort, even on the last lesson.

It reminded me of "the good old days" when we had 30 students per class - minimum.

I tried not to get emotional in front of you all, but I didn't need to hold back when I got home.

Listen to me when I say this, I seriously did not expect to see so many of you on our final day. I also did not expect so many gifts, cards and letters of appreciation from you all.
I am absolutely blown away by your support and your kind words and I did shed a few tears while reading them.
I also nearly had a heart attack when I saw the contents of the envelope 😅

While I am so happy and thankful for you all, I am also gutted that I won't be teaching you anymore. I am gutted that I am losing my students, my parents (not actually my parents but you know what I mean), my friends, my career. But also, I am losing MY Karate School, the place that brought me up back in 2007. The place that's been a part of my life for 17 years. The place I learned transferable skills, the place I earned my Black Belt, the place I earned my 2nd Degree, the wonderful place I got to witness a rollercoaster of emotions from all our students. The place I had the opportunity to work with some amazing people - Ezra Scott, Naila Siddiqi, Tom Hay, Michael Mickle Nuttall, Emma Kersley and many more.

I do sincerely hope you continue training and putting your skills to use to keep yourself sharp. Not just physically, but mentally sharp. That is so important.

Also remember the lessons I have taught you. Let them guide you through your life, help you overcome the many obstacles you'll encounter, let them help you gain success, and bounce back from failure, time and time again.

When you're running a Martial Arts School, there's so much that goes into it, it's so much more than just teaching the lessons - that's the easy part. It's so easy to get bogged down in the day to day running of the place and have your head buried in the processes that sometimes you forget about the impact you have on the students, and how they appreciate what you do.

I can be a very self conscious and anxious person, I know it doesn't seem like it on the mats, but it's true. The cards and letters I received last night prove to me there is nothing to worry about, and that so many people appreciate not only the time, energy and lessons I teach, but they appreciate me.

I've never been the best at taking compliments - you know that.
But thank you, seriously, thank you for sticking it out and staying with me until the end. I will remember you all for the rest of my life.

Sensei Lawrence.

Well, I guess just Ryan now.

As we approach our final days here at Kaizen-Do Karate, we want to thank all of our students again for their unwavering support.

This has been a very tough decision to make and trust us, it pains us as much as it does you.

I won't waffle on about our reasons for closing; those who need to know, already do, and those who don't need to know can continue as normal without getting involved.

We are continuing lessons as normal until Monday 26th February, which will be our final day of lessons.

For those of you who are continuing your Martial Arts journey after we close, PLEASE take your time to find a reputable, reliable and SAFE place to train. Find somewhere you feel at home and somewhere you can trust the instructors to do their jobs professionally and take the lessons seriously. There are some good places out there to train, you just may have to do some digging around to find what suits you best.

Again, for those students who have continued to train this month as normal, supported us through this tough time, and are seeing us out, we massively appreciate you.

Thanks
Sensei Lawrence & Sensei Dervish

Don't rely on material things to make you happy. Don't rely solely on the people around you either. These things are great but you must keep an eye on your mental attitude too, which is the part which keeps it all in check!

Some of this week‘s Certificate Achievers! 🌟

Keep up the excellent work 🥋

This outlines the importance of mindset and how your approach to challenges can significantly impact your ability to find solutions and make the most of any given situation.
Try to find the opportunities for success where you can, you will usually find them when you find yourself in a tough situation!

Sensei Lawrence was at Meanwood Primary School this morning with the KS2 students teaching them all about Discipline and Respect for our training partners in Self-Defense.

Positive self talk will make you achieve things you never thought possible!
Making sure you are positive as much as possible will help build your Confidence, Self Esteem and help you reach new heights.