October Is Domestic Violence Month

Last Thursday, I was invited by my friends at WLTX TV to come onto their morning show and talk about the free self defense workshop I was doing in honor of Domestic Violence month.

You can see a video of the segments below:

Thanks again to WLTX for being such a gracious host.


Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Halloween Safety Tips

Our martial arts school is asking parents, homeowners and drivers throughout our community to join with us to make Halloween safer with these safety tips.

Parents

· Make your child eat dinner before trick-or-treating.

· Children should carry quarters, so they can call home.

· An adult should accompany young children.

· If your children go on their own, be sure they wear watches, preferably those that can be read in the dark.

· Buy or make costumes with flame-retardant material.

· Older children should know where to reach you and when to return home.

· You should know your children’s route for the evening.

· Although tampering is rare, tell your children to bring their candy home to be inspected before consuming anything.

· Look at the wrapping carefully and toss out anything that looks suspect.

Homeowners

· Buy candy that is individually wrapped.

· Consider healthier alternatives for treats: juice boxes, packages of low-fat crackers with cheese or peanut butter filling, single-serve boxes of cereal, packaged fruit rolls, mini-boxes of raisins, packaged granola bars, and wrapped single-serving packages of microwaveable popcorn that can be popped later.

· Consider non-edible treats for children: pencils, erasers, plastic rings or coins.

· Clear your yard of debris, ladders, dog leashes, flowerpots, etc.

· Make sure your home and yard is well lit.

· Make sure your jack-o-lanterns are away from the path where trick-or-treaters will be walking. Battery-powered jack-o-lantern candles are preferred to real candles.

· Ensure that any decorations can’t be blown into the jack-o-lantern and catch on fire.

· Make sure that your pets are secure for the evening.

· Do not invite any children to come into your home. Prop the door open while handing out candy, never ask them to stand in the doorway.

· If a child needs assistance, ask them for their parent’s phone number and offer to call them.

· If you think a child is in danger, call 911 and stay outside with the child.

Drivers

· Drive carefully over hills, around curves and approaching stop signs or cross walks.

· Enter and exit driveways with caution.

· Watch for children walking in the street in neighborhoods without sidewalks.

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio 
2000 Clemson Road
Suite # 9
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

One Day!

 

There is so much conflict in the world!  

From the Middle East to Afghanistan to Iraq.

From the Arab Spring which has resulted in regime change and the loss of thousands of lives.

From the economic crisis in America and Europe, with the near collapse of our banking system, that is slowly reaching into Asia.

From the Tea Party rally's to the Wall Street demonstrations.

From the high unemployment rate with millions without a job, to a growing homeless population.

 

The left is attacking the right and vice-versa.

 

Washington has mastered the art of the "blame game" with neither party accepting responsibility for what is going on.

 

One Day!

 

I am confident that one day, we will be part of a kinder, gentler world, because of the work we are doing!  As school owners, we have audience to a large sphere of influence if we make the most of it.  

 

Our curriculum touches on all things human -- strong and vibrant as well as frail and compassionate.  

We have the power to CHANGE the world; one student, one parent, one community at a time!

 

One Day!

 

  

 

This blog post is a part of The Ultimate Black Belt Test (ultimateblackbelttest.com), an undertaking of The 100 (the100.us), and a part of Samurai Karate Studio (samuraikaratestudio.net).

 

 

The Power of One

Sunday, October 2 marks both the United Nations' International Day of Non-Violence and the birthday of one of its biggest proponents: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This video pays tribute to the concept and the man and is called the "Power of One."

Here at SKS, we honor the values and practice of the nonviolent civil actions that changed a nation -- and indeed, the world.

Video from KarmaTube

Sensei Chris Feldt

Samurai Karate Studio

Columbia, SC 29229

803-462-9425

samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Gardening At Home

This past summer, I participated in a home gardening experiment, working with several containers of vegetables. This was just one of several Ultimate Black Belt Test challenges I gave myself.

Why?

I want to better understand our food supply and the use of pesticides, growing organic food naturally, the economic foot print of shipping food halfway around the world, so that we could have certain vegetables that were out of season.

I had only moderate success, as my "no pesticides" pledge made it very difficult to deal with bugs that constantly were eating my plants or the vegetables themselves.

I plan on doing a lot more research over the winter to prepare for next season. In the mean time, I found a website with a detailed process for growing container fruits and vegetables and I love the work they have done.

Here is a video that explains their process:



Pretty neat process that I am going to try and model next year. I will update everyone to let you know how it works.

In the mean time, if you would like more information, please visit Global Buckets.


Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425

samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

The Healing Arts

One of my goals this year was to begin the process of understanding Kyusho, an ancient art that focuses on pressure points on the body and manipulating them through striking, rubbing, and pressure; to increase the amount of pain that is felt or to get the body to react in a certain way that will help facilitate a defense or take down.

There are a lot of points to memorize, but when used correctly, they sure do HURT and are a wonderful addition to my self defense training.

While I have enjoyed learning about these points, I have also become aware of how useful they are inHEALING.  Whether treating my ankle with acupuncture or getting a therapeutic massage, both treatments focus on using meridian points to heal my ankle and help nourish the surrounding tissue. 

How cool is that?

There are points on the body that can be used to destroy your attacker, or heal your best friend!  It's pretty amazing!  

Coach Tom talks all the time about continuing our training as master instructors.  Before the UBBT, I was putting very little time into my personal training, focusing almost exclusively on my school and classes.

As a result of starting Ju Jutsu training as a requirement on team 6, I am now training in karate, a combatives style of Ju Jutsu, Kyusho and now the healing arts.  

Gosh, there is so much to learn that I wish I got involved in the martial arts at an earlier age, however, I see many opportunities in the next 50 years ahead for me!

Thanks to Master Dave McNeil, not only for his advice on dealing with my ankle, but also opening my eyes to another wonderful element of the martial arts.

"If you want to be an average martial artist, learn how to be the best fighter.  If you want to be a great martial artist, learn how to be a healer!"  Shihan Tom Ryan

This blog post is a part of The Ultimate Black Belt Test (ultimateblackbelttest.com), an undertaking of The 100 (the100.us), and a part of Samurai Karate Studio (samuraikaratestudio.net).




Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

9-11 Tribute

I visited Ground Zero 3 months after the attack on the twin towers and the emotion was just as raw then as it was today, watching the memorials on television.  I had friends who had loved ones that perished that day. It's so hard to imagine the horror of it all and the pain of the survivors and their family's.

And we can not forget the magnificent men and women in our military who work hard every day to keep us safe and especially, those fallen soldiers that made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our freedom.

This is a very powerful tribute to the victims of the 9-11 attack.

Let us celebrate the memories of their lives and continue the good work that we are all capable of!







Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com