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Middletown NJ Karate Class Adventures
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Morning!
You know, nothing beats being able to work quietly from 3am on while the rest of the family sleeps. Just imagine - no "Mom, my brother tried inserting his Cheerios into the CDdrive of my computer!" or "Mom, my sister just pressure-pointed me while I was solving world hunger!" or "Dear, do you know to where the 47th screw from the 3rd bookcase I took apart disappeared?"
Bliss. Utter bliss. But I digress. 
Recently in my blog, I’ve discussed the plague of bullying that seems to sprout up like moldy decayed bread every now and then with children of all ages. Having been a victim of bullying back when dinosaurs roamed the land and the term ‘tweet‘ actually meant "sound that birdies make", I am rather passionate about the subject (kinda sorta like Jaws is passionate about getting three square meals a day).
Which brings me to the topic of this post.
You know, you gotta love the Internet….no matter how many thousands of miles separate you from your friends, you can always reach out and touch them via email, social networking and the like.
Consider the following Middletown NJ karate story and how it relates to bullied kids - can you relate?
Once upon a time, there was a truly pathetic child named (oh let’s see…hmmmm….let’s be really creative now) Barbara (no relation to the writer of this blog of course. Yeah, that’s the ticket!) whose self-confidence registered a negative 3 on the Richter scale during earthquake season.
School was a living hell for her. Because her personality was less sparkly than a wet dishrag, she was constantly teased by fellow students (and as we all know, kids can be utter vultures when preying on the weak and pathetic) and brought to tears day in, day out. And she never did tell her parents, because other kids threatened to hurt them if she did (yes, that really does happen, even to this day….and even sadder, victims will STILL believe this too).
And then her mom started her on karate. Now, I’d love to say that Barbara learned to whup the sorry rears of all her tormentors (well, actually, she did, but that’s not the point of this story)…..but instead, something even better was instilled.
And it was this:
Karate comes from inside (even in Middletown, NJ!)
In other words, while karate is wonderful for defense, the dojo she attended taught her that it’s even better not to have to fight at all.
And how was that achieved?
By internalizing the following key points:
1.) Consider the bullying source.
You wouldn’t be annoyed if hairy mutant cockroaches called you names, would you? Nope, you’d simply call Oprah and make a million dollars off of them realize, my gosh, these animated scum-like objects are, well, scum. And their words are just as precious AS scum. Decayed scum at that.
2.) NOBODY has permission to abuse or bully you.
Being picked on is not "just boys being boys" or "girls being girls" or "utterly malevolent children knowing their mommies and daddies will protect them so they have a special pass to beat up kids" etc. Nobody has the right to hurt one another and nobody deserves that treatment.
3.) Bullies are slime, plain and simple.
Anyone who bullies obviously has major self-esteem problems…. probably even worse than the bullied kids do.
Now, I want you to ponder about this for a second. When you mull on karate or martial arts etc., don’t you generally think of kicks and punches and self-defense and the like? I know I certainly did ‘way back when!
Did you ever really think of martial arts as a way NOT to fight….ie, it builds you up so much on the inside that whatever bullies say to you…..bounces off like marbles dropped to a sidewalk?
Hmmmm?
Stay with me here, the following is key!!
One surefire way to help prevent bullying is to render it just plain ineffective.
You tell me I’m a sorry excuse for a human bean? Wonderful! I’ll consider the source, thank you for your input, and go about my business. I KNOW I’m an utterly magnificent person - what you say is less important than the bleatings of a comatose ameoba.
Now, let me move away from my earlier story and write a bit about myself ‘way back then, when I was (cough cough) a wee bit younger (over 3 decades ago). In MY case, I never did take karate or Martial Arts, but my parents DID finally tell me, "If someone beats on you, you have our permission to fight back and if you get suspended from school, we’ll reward you."
And I’m pleased to say that the day after, I beat the hell out of the kids who were tormenting me, and they never bothered me again (as I showed I could stand up for myself).
Gosh that was wondrous it was.
Anywhos! I was reminded of the above stories when I revisited again a dojo very close to Middletown, NJ - Amatos Gojuryu. Not only is it a superb karate school, but the website has excellent resources for:
So! If you’re close by Middletown, NJ, and want to send your kids to a karate school in which they’ll learn not only Martial Arts but also how NOT to fight and how to build up their self-confidence from within, I highly recommend you visit there. Tell them Barbara said hi .
In closing, a high self-value is one of the best gifts you can give your children; it helps protect them against bullies and other natural disgusting thingees that plague life today.
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
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Related posts:
- Bullies should be drawn and quartered
- The Red Balloon - 27 Resources For Smashing Bullies and Giving the gift of self-confidence to your children
- Stop Bullying - New Linking Hands Group
- Today’s thought of the day - No nonsense self defense
- Sleeping, site building, and taking it easy oh my
Subscribe to the comments for this post
indeed, bullies are slime. there truly is something despicable about those who would abuse persons who they feel make for viable targets, viable because they think that the person cannot defend himself or herself. it truly is one of the uglier manifestations of a person’s nature.
in a world where people all over, all around us are suffering, for someone to freely decide to contribute to that suffering instead of working to alleviate it is low.
i commend you for your stance on bullying. it should be nipped in the bud, not enabled.
kouji’s last blog post..captivating Capiz, a haiku poem
I agree completely.
Barbara