Lee Wedlake’s Karate Newsletter May 2015
What’s here? Online lessons, instructor burnout, Wonder Valley Kenpo Camp, KenpoTV updates, podcasts
April Premium Subscriber Article The last article was on the hammerlock progression in our techniques. Every month I post a new article for Premium Subscribers. It’s $29/yr and includes access to everything previously published. Here’s a list. https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/articles/. Here’s how to subscribe. https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/join-lwks/
Update – Kenpo TV Numerous videos posted this last month. The seminar I did in Tucson, AZ last November on gun defenses should be up, too. kenpotv.com A week-long trial is only $1.
Lessons With Me Via The Web I have been teaching via video to individuals and groups. One school has me do a group class for them quarterly. This is not limited to school owners and more people are jumping on this. You can do it with your desktop, laptop, iphone or iPad. I’ve been told you can use a Skype app on your Apple device, too. You can schedule a block of either 5 or 10 lessons running about 30-45 minutes each. I can arrange single lessons too, but the block saves money. Here’s what you do. Pick a block of lessons. Schedule a time slot. Pay by credit card or PayPal. Select the subject(s) you want/need to cover. Off you go! I’ll send you notes on the lesson by e-mail afterward. If you’re interested, please contact me at lee@leewedlake.com. My schedule is filling, so if you’re interested you should act now. By the way, the protocol would be to make sure it’s ok with your teacher, if you have one.
Update 2015 Wonder Valley Camp May is here. There may still be time to register for the event on Memorial Day weekend. Graham and Jaydean Lelliott host a great bi-annual kenpo camp in the Fresno, CA area. Graham tells me he and I will teach along with Ingmar Johansson, Paul McMurray, Ian Harris, Marty Zaninovich and others. Steve White has informed us he can’t make it. If you think you’d like to go, click the link here for info. http://www.jotform.com/form/2270931241 In addition, if you attend you’ll see the first group of certified instructors do their teaching sessions as part of their evaluations and receive their certificates when they successfully complete. Their subjects include professionalism and teaching children. You can elect to take their sessions.
Instructor Burnout My liability insurance requires I belong to IDEA Health and Fitness and they publish a monthly slick magazine. There’s an article in the April 2015 issue about instructor burnout by Cathie Ericson. Here’s are the 10 burnout signs they list. Source: www.learnvest.com Exhaustion Lack of motivation Frustration, cynicism and other negative emotions Cognitive problems Slipping job performance Interpersonal problems at home and work Not taking care of yourself Being pre-occupied with work when not at work Generally decreased satisfaction Health problems They discuss this in the context of a group fitness instructor but that includes us as martial arts instructors.
Update – Bob and Barbara White Invitational The event generated enough money to donate $140,000 to the Royal Family Kids Camp. That’s $40,000 more than last year. Kenpo people have held events to raise money for this worthy cause both here and overseas. Mr. White has his event every March.
Glitches We switched to Constant Contact to deliver this newsletter and it turns out there was a glitch in the website. If you know anyone who registered or had difficulty registering, please let them know we have the problem solved. There was a pop-up that didn’t work too well and another place on the site that didn’t work at all. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Update AKSC Instructor Certification Program Chief Examiners of the program are being named and listed as they complete their training. These are the people to contact to start the certification process. You will acquire the course material through them and arrange your training, observation and testing. The course material is $40, which includes your certificate when you complete it. The first group of certified instructors will finish their program in May. More details on what you need to do in order to become a certified Kenpo instructor will be forthcoming. You can see our page on Facebook for more info. https://www.facebook.com/AKSeniorCouncil?ref=hl
Fight’s On Last month I wrote about KAM IV, Inc owning the trademarks and intellectual property of Ed Parker, Sr. Just a few weeks ago, another group posted solicitations to join their group under the name of IKKA Kenpo International. They even used three of the KAM IV trademarks in their ad, those being the Parker crest, IKC logo and the Universal Pattern. I’m told lawyers are now involved.
Upcoming Seminars Details on my page at kenpotv.com/leewedlake/seminars-2 May 1-2 Chicago, IL (there’s a time and location change) May 22-25 Wonder Valley, CA Sept 18-20 AKF Camp, Austin, TX Sept 25-26 Chicago, IL See John Sepulveda’s schedule at http://www.akts-js.us/Js%20Seminar%20Schedule.htm
Update – In the online store My new t-shirt design is available. “Knuckle sandwiches are free.” Charcoal gray with the Texas fist logo. My new book, The Kenpo Karate Compendium, is available in my online store. $24.95. A combo deal with Lessons with Ed Parker saves some money, too. I have two copies of Amy Long’s Kenpo Continuum, Vol. 2 book left. Lessons with Ed Parker is still available. Should be back up on Amazon in hard copy soon. The e-book is available. Technique manuals, form videos and t-shirts available. Links to Dennis Conatser’s and Bob White’s stores are there, too. https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/store/
Podcasts I posted new ones recently on my website in the articles section instead of the iTunes page. This is due to problems with the podcastmachine website that links to iTunes, which I’m still working out. They have horrible support and it’s taken months and months to get anywhere. I have over 130 to hear with more coming. Hear them at https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/articles/ or at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=381705015
Forty Ways to Less Stress Robert Wallace is one of my 7th degrees. He sends out a free “Daily Dose of Motivation” e-mail. 143 of them! You can get on his e-mail list by contacting him at wallacekenpo@gmail.com. Prof. Wallace also does a string on stress reduction.
Kenpo Senior Conference Steve White and I have selected some dates for the 2016 conference, which should be in late April or mid-May that year. Location is now narrowed to two cities (either Austin, TX or Tucson, AZ). It’s looking like Austin, though. More to come.
WRBBOF I am on the Board of Directors of the World Registry of Black Belts, Organizations and Federations (WRBBOF). It’s run by Barry Moyer in Indiana, whom I have known since the 1980s. The organization is non-political and not a certificate factory. Take a look. http://www.wrbbof.com/
Blog Posts I post some short articles and updates on my site from time to time that you may find to be of interest. Click on Resources, then Articles and you’ll be in. kenpotv.com/leewedlake
Until next month,
Lee Wedlake