a note on martial arts

Hey all, can you belive we have a need???

so to the $$$. Right now as many of you know (if you're reading out blog which you must be or this statement is pointless) I have the privilege to start martial arts classes for the community. Beginning October 2nd i will be teaching on tuesday's and thursday's with a traditional kids class from 6:30-7:15 and a non-traditional adults self defense and conditioning class at 7:30-8:30. To fill you in on my exciting new development in life, i've been reading this book called "irresistible revolution" by shane claiborne, and he has really challenged me concerning Jesus' message of love and compassion. (i bet you're wondering what this has to do with Martial arts) so in reference to the martial arts, +) i noticed over the summer as i was teaching these kids, how the language we use in the martial arts circles is a language of violence. we teach, unknowingly i think, retributive violence by the simple language we use to refer to techniques and the "other guy." for instance, when we teach strikes, we teach where to aim on the "bad guy" or "enemy" or "opponent" for the most damage, (i.e. "two finger poke goes into the eyes, front two knuckle punch drives through the solar plexus to knock the wind out of your enemy") and my concern is that these kids are growing up in a world of violence already so in teaching this way, we (the instructors) are depriving the kids of the most significant elements of the martial arts. i've always said that martial arts as self defense in general is not the best training, and for kids is ridiculous b\c of their ability to actually harm an adult is much lower. so why teach the martial arts then?

well i'm looking to answer that by my new methods. with kids i am moving to teaching a strictly form-based traditional content. what that means is that i will remove the targeted strikes and damage\ enemy language to teach strictly the controlled, focused movements of the martial arts. strike training focuses on power and form\ posture rather than damage and practical use. the techniques used to "defend" yourself are totally replaced by traditional forms, which are long sequences of techniques strung together, but used in more of a competitive, disciplinary, and art format. so i'm excited about that! (hope all my jargon makes sense)

as for the adults, i will be teaching a compiled form of self defense called Freeform Combative Arts, which i have had the opportunity to develop over the past year formally. this is strictly focused on practical, realistic self defense. nothing flashy and is completely tailored to the individuals for height, strength, range, etc. as a element to this practical teaching is a heavy emphasis on conditioning. i believe it's important to be healthy and pursue that lifestyle, so my students get to benefit from my opinion! +) (They'll be cursing my name 50 push ups into it one day, i'm sure) but it is in this area of the program we have a need. Citivision is gracious enough to more or less cover most of the costs of the MA program as a way to reach out to the community. (i.e. insurance - big cost, some pads and gear, space, etc) but b\c they are at a financial tight spot, they can't afford to purchase the shirts for the program. in the Freeform combative arts (FCA) classes i am using a non traditional uniform, fight shorts and t-shirts, to replicate more realistic situations. but my first run of shirts is $324. we have a organization and some christian designers that are working with us and give us great deals, but this is still a lot of cash for us broke peoples. so tammy and i are asking that you guys pray that we can get the cash to cover the shirts ourselves or citvision gets it suddenly so our class can have a uniform and be cohesive. now, bluntly if that means you got $20 in your pocket (or more +)and want to donate to buy some shirts, that's great! but we know God can provide, he already has been so much! and we thought it would be a good idea to put this need out to the Body to pray over and who knows who can help?

we've really been humbled these past three months as we've learned to rely on God working through the Body of Christ. Now we may be able to cover the costs since tammy is starting work next week, but we don't know. so we just want to put it before you guys so we can all see what God does together. thanks for your interest and prayers my family! Love you guys,

peace,
jonathan...
(and i'll get back to that other topic soon...CLIFFHANGER!!!!)

(image copywright of holycity photography)