Black Belt Dan Gradings 2016

Please see below dates for Black Belt Dan Gradings during 2016 to be held at:

Wembley CKD
Barham Primary School
Danethorpe Road
Wembley
Middx. HA0 4RQ

Sunday 12th June
Sunday 4th December

Leadership & Black Belt Training 2016

Please see below dates for Leadership & Black Belt Training and Black Belt Tag Gradings during 2016:

Friday 8th January
Friday 5th February
Friday 18th March – Black Belt Tag Grading
Friday 15th April
Friday 6th May
Friday 27th May – Black Belt Tag Grading (revised date)
Friday 1st July
Friday 5th August
Friday 9th September – Black Belt Tag Grading
Friday 7th October
Friday 4th November
Friday 9th December – Black Belt Tag Grading (revised date)

Coloured Belt Grading 2016

Please see below proposed dates for Coloured Belt Gradings during 2016:

Wednesday 10th February
Wednesday 23rd March
Wednesday 18th May
Wednesday 13th July
Wednesday 28rd September
Wednesday 23rd November

Leadership & Black Belt Training - 08/01/2016

Our first Leadership & Black Belt Training session for 2016 takes place this Friday 8th January.

7.00 - 7.30pm Leadership Training (Junior Leadership Team, AIs, HIs & CIs)
7.30 - 9.00pm Black Belt Training (All Black Belts. Advanced level students upon invitation)

Dates for the remainder of 2016 will be posted shortly.

Take Small Steps To Success In 2016

Another year rolls by and here we are in 2016. Look out for Easter Eggs in your local supermarket in the next few days...

We'll soon be bombarded with tips for making New Years Resolutions, setting goals and "making 2016 your best year yet". Making resolutions and setting goals can be challenging, and despite how clichéd it can come across at this time of the year, personally I don't think there is any harm in utilising the New Year to initiate change or refocus ourselves. However, when a goal seems too vast or too difficult to comprehend, we can often fail before we start because we never seriously get started. If we successfully make a change, sticking to it can be even harder.

The key is to take small steps. This is the same as martial arts students having a vision of achieving Black Belt (a minimum 3 1/2  year goal in Choi Kwang-Do), but working on the various Coloured Belts as the 'building blocks' to achieve that goal. Each martial arts class provides the environment and support for the student to work towards those building blocks by learning the martial arts syllabus to take gradings. Upon successful promotion following a grading the student is awarded the new belt rank. The result? A small step towards their goal and increased motivation.

Here's a quick and simple process that you can use to help you take small steps towards your own goals in 2016:

1. On a piece of paper write down today's date followed by a personal goal, but keep it really simple. Think more "eat a piece of fruit every day", rather than "go to the moon in July". Ideally you'll want to write a SMART goal. For a description of this take a few minutes to read Benefit #9 - Goal Setting from The Top 10 Benefits of Choi Kwang Do.

2. Give yourself 1 minute - and 1 minute only - to write down any actions, thoughts or ideas related to achieving that goal. Many will be obvious while others will require you to think a little harder. Either way, keep writing going for the full 60 seconds, even if the idea initially seems ridiculous or impractical. You can criticise later. For now you just want to get the ideas flowing.

3. When the minute is up go back through the list and select 2 or 3 actions and set a date for them to be completed by. Many will jump out at you to be done immediately. Avoid the temptation to take on too much at this stage.

4. Take ACTION. This is critical. As soon as possible do one of your selected actions from the list. It is vital to keep the momentum going whilst you're in a creative mood and are motivated. Once you have completed the actions, return to the list, cross through what you have done, then select 2 or 3 more actions giving them completion dates too.

5. At the end of the month, spend a few minutes reviewing your progress. I like to use the following questions as they focus your mind on what you can learn or improve, rather than what you failed at:

• What went well?
• What was challenging?
• What would you do differently?

If the goal is complete, fantastic! Reward yourself (with a chocolate egg?) If not, select 2 or 3 items from the list, assign dates and take action again. Then review your progress at the end of the next month.

Does this sound simple to you? Great...it's supposed to be!

Of course, for bigger, more complex or very important goals you would need to spend more time planning and organising actions, but for simple goals this process might be effective for you. It's designed to assist in regularly taking small but regular steps with minimal analysis.

2016 is here so if you try this or already use a different process that works well for you, feel free to share your ideas.

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Jason Wright is a 6th Degree Black Belt and Master Instructor in the martial art Choi Kwang-Do. For further information on Choi Kwang-Do classes in Ealing, West London visit www.TheMartialArtForLife.com

2015: A Visual Review

A quick look back at 2015. Enjoy!

Black Belt Grading - December 2015

Sunday 29th November. The big one...the coming together of students and instructors across London and beyond for the Regional Black Belt Grading:

Wembley CKD
Barham Primary School
Danethorpe Road
Wembley
Middx. HA0 4RQ

Click here for a map of Wembley CKD