Email Newsletter – We Want To Be GREEN!!!
If you have an email address, please send your email to The Dojo of Karate so we can communicate any type of updates to our school, closures, and our monthly Newsletter – A Cup of DoJoe.  This will also ensure that we become a more GREEN company by not wasting paper.  We all gotta do our part!

You can email us at: [email protected]  We will put you on our newsletter campaign, so make sure you approve the campaign.  With the technology we have accessible to us, as a business we  need to take advantage of this.

Self-Defense Black Belt Program
Starting Tuesday, October 6th from 7pm-8pm our new adult self-defense program will begin.  If you are a current adult student and interested in participating in this class, please setup a time to talk with Mr. Lozano to discuss the pricing structure.  All other parents or adult students are allowed to take two FREE trial classes.  To learn more go to: www.WestminsterSelfDefense.com.

Fighting Fit2 Boot Camp Fitness Program
Also, starting next week, is our new boot camp program.  Classes will be conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9am.  All adults students and parents will be able to take one FREE trial class.  To learn more go to: www.WestminsterBootCamp.com.

We have also received some sparks for an evening boot camp or early morning boot camp, around 5:30am.  If we get a big interest for these times too, we would be more than happy to accommodate our clients.  In order to justify these times, we would need a minimum of 6 students for those times, so spread the word!  Please inform us by emailing Mr. Lozano at: [email protected]

Parents Night Out / Halloween Party
It’s back!  The Dojo of Karate is hosting another Parents Night Out, but we’re combining it with a Halloween Party!

On Saturday, October 24th from 7pm to 10pm parents can drop off their kids at The Dojo, while you guys go and have a night to yourself.  You deserve it!  So take advantage of this great opportunity.  However, if you “forget” about your kids… you may end up fining them at Safeway.

We will play Karate & Halloween games, eat some pizza, and watch a movie.  And, Students, if you have 1 friend that may be interested in joining, please let Mr. Lozano know, so their parents can fill out a permission slip.

The cost to Parents Night Out is as followed:
Non BBC Members – $25 for first person, $15 each additional student.
BBC Members – $20 for first person, and $10 each additional student.
Non Dojo Students – $30 per person.

Quest For 100
By mid October, we should be around 90 students.  In order for us to hit our goal of 100 students by the end of October, we need you to continue to refer friends to our school and share the amazing values students are getting from our Karate school.

NOTE: In order for us to hit our goal, we may have a contest to help us out, so keep your eyes and ears peeled!

What Is Black Belt Club?
So, we’ve had some students ask and request to be apart of Black Belt Club.  However, Black Belt Club is an exclusive group of Elite Martial Artists in our school, and The Dojo of Karate only invites students that have been working and training hard in Karate classes, exemplifying a good attitude at all times, doing well at home by respecting mom and dad, and maintaining good grades in their academics.

In addition, students need to express an interest in becoming a Black Belt.  Simply showing up to class does not guarantee you will achieve that goal.  By working on the 3 areas mentioned above, students will eventually be asked to join this Elite group

Lastly, students must be at least a Gold Belt in our school, and keeping good attendance.  Sometimes, it may take longer to get an invitation, but keep working hard and your opportunity will come!

And, you may be wondering what are the benefits to being in Black Belt Club…  Well, for starters, you get to come to our weekly BBC class held on Fridays.  These are classes designed to give students

additional training and knowledge in all areas, from weapons training to leadership skills.  You’ll also have the opportunity to be apart of our Competition Team and be allowed to compete in Karate Tournaments.  Oh, and have you seen those REALLY nice custom embroidered uniforms with our logos on the back?  Yep, you’ll get one of those too, with your name on it.

So, if you have questions about Black Belt Club, setup a time to talk with Mr. Lozano.  Or, if you haven’t been invited yet, keep training hard because Mr. Lozano is always looking for those diamonds in the ruff.

Photo Release
Starting next week, parents will need to sign a photo release form in order for The Dojo of Karate to use pictures and videos of our students training in class on our website.  This is strictly for advertising purposes, and allows us to share how awesome our school is.  Plus, people want to buy into REAL people… not stock photos.  There will be a Photo Release form at the front desk, please sign and return to Mr. Lozano so he can put it in your record..

Rotating Curriculum
We would like to inform you that our new Rotating Curriculum will be launching the first week of October.  With that said, there are some changes in how we teach classes, reward students for knowledge of material, and expectations.

What To Expect
Students will learn new material every 12 Weeks, and will than enter a new ‘cycle’ after the 12 Weeks.  Each Cycle will consist of new techniques, Katas, and weaponry training (for Black Belt Club members only).

Our school curriculum will be focusing on 4 Major areas at all levels of our teaching.  This will ensure we develop well rounded Martial Artists at The Dojo.

Traditional Karate – We teach a traditional Japanese art called Wado Karate, and we will always teach traditional Karate.  The Life Skills your kids learn will continue to develop and evolve as they grown through our system.
Modern Self-Defense – We are now going to develop basic to intermediate self-defense techniques for all students in our regular Karate program, from White Belt to Black Belt.  This will allow you and your child to learn more applicable self-defense moves for today’s time.
Free Style Sparring – This essentially involves the combination of kicks and punches in a free-style, controlled sparring setting.  White & Gold Belts will not begin to spar until the Intermediate level, however, we are going to develop these skills so they can easily transition over to sparring.
Physical Fitness – The Dojo of Karate is being proactive and helping families meet fitness standards that many of our elementary, middle, and high schools no longer meet or teach.  Students will be have a monthly PFT (Physical Fitness Test) that has students perform a set amount of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, and Running.  More to come in the near future

Our Beginners Program will probably be the most affected with this new Rotating Curriculum, since we are making some significant changes.  Our White & Gold Belt students will no longer learn Katas (forms) in class.  This will be reserved for our Intermediate and Advanced students in the Orange through Low Green classes and High Green to Black Belt.  The main reason for this is to develop the necessary skills required for students to advance seamlessly into our other classes.  What this also does is ensure they learn quicker when Katas are taught to them.  By developing their foundation, they will be more successful.

Beginners will learn many of the traditional Karate techniques that was previously reserved for Orange and Blue Belts.  In addition, they will do more Free-Style, controlled sparring combinations with partners and on free-standing bags to improve their skills.  This allows them to spar more comfortably at Orange belt.

All of our Intermediate to Advanced students, though, will begin to learn a new Kata, and new material every 12 Weeks.  Our Intermediate classes will also continue to spar and develop those skill sets, as well as encounter more challenging training to prepare them for Black Belt.

Mandatory Equipment
As all new activities, equipment is necessary in order to train in our school and progress.  Without this equipment students will not receive the best out of their training, and may fall behind.

For our White & Gold Belts, all students MUST have 1 set of Hand Pads and 1 set of Feet Pads.  With the new techniques they will be learning, this equipment is mandatory.  If they do not currently have both pieces of equipment, please see Mr. Lozano to either purchase equipment or get measured for the gear.  Also, this equipment will need to be brought into class every time you attend.

As for our Orange Belts and above, you will all need sparring gear in order to participate in classes because of the Free-Style Sparring done at this level.  Please bring your gear every time you attend.  In  addition, all Black Belt Club members will need to purchase a Bo Staff for Black Belt Club classes    because a new Bo Staff Kata will be taught soon.

Curriculum and Testing
The curriculum is being finalized as we speak.  Students will get copies of their necessary curriculum when they enter a new Cycle.  This will help them obtain the necessary knowledge for their next belt test.

Testing, for now, will be conducted once per month during the Friday classes.  Even if a student is not scheduled to test at the end of a month, they are welcomed to attend Friday classes for extra training and makeup.  As always, parents are welcomed to attend the tests for support and encouragement.

All students in the Beginners & Intermediate classes will be scheduled to test every 3 months, while our Advanced students will test every 4 months.  Please understand there is a class minimum in order to test for each rank – 24 lessons per rank for Beginners and Intermediate and 32 classes for Advanced.

School Cycle
Just like our common educational system, they have cycles or semesters.  The Dojo of Karate will take the same approach.  Our lessons are based on a 48 week cycle.  If students attend a minimum of 2 classes per week, they will receive a total of 96 lessons in one year.  The remanding 4 weeks are for school closures such as Bank Holidays, Christmas / New Years or if Mr. Lozano is in his death-bed.  Students that take advantage of Friday classes will be ahead of the game in their training, as well as if they go on vacation, or get sick.  Please plan accordingly, and school closures will be posted ahead of time.

Beginners Cycle Training – White & Gold Belts
Cycle 1 – January, February, March & July, August, September.
Cycle 2 – April, May, June, & October, November, December.

Intermediate Cycle Training – Orange, Blue, Purple, & Low Green Belt
Cycle 1 – January, February, March
Cycle 2 – April, May, June
Cycle 3 – July, August, September
Cycle 4 – October, November, December

Advanced Cycle Training – High Green, Low Brown, High Brown, & Conditional Black Belt
Cycle 1 – January, February, March, April
Cycle 2 – May, June, July, August
Cycle 3 – September, October, November, December

Belt Stripes
For the Traditional Karate portion, students will continue to receive 3 or 4 stripes of the next belt rank color.  These stripes will be on the Right Side of their belt.  When students are ready to test they will than receive a Red Stripe at the top.

The remaining stripes will be on the Left Side and are as followed:
Brown Stripe – Physical Fitness
Green Stripe – Courtesy / Respect
Purple Stripe – Self-Defense
Blue Stripe – Student Creeds
Black Stripe – Fighting Combos / Sparring
Orange Stripe – Report Cards (when they come out every trimester)

Students need to have ALL stripes in order to test.