Only a few more days until our Annual Winter Karate Shiai!
Shihan and I are really looking forward to watching our students take part in our first event of the year - a 'smaller or mini' competition called a Shiai. For those students who have never competed at a tournament before, or for those who are unsure about competing at tournaments (which usually require learning different rules and travelling to different cities), our Bernardo Karate 'in club' Shiai is the best place to start! This is also a great opportunity for our Tournament Team Students to get a 'mini-competition' under their belts (no pun intended!) before hitting the 2009 Tournament/circuit schedule. Although our students are still a bit nervous, there seems to be less pressure, in a more relaxed atmosphere (an area of familiarity - the 'Oxford' school) that allows new competitors a chance to 'wet their feet' in the tournament arena; it also allows previous competitors to try some thing new, such as a bo form or open musical form.
Don't miss out! Our Winter Karate Shiai is always a memorable event where every student, who gives 100% effort, walks away with a medal or trophy!
For more information or for registration details please call the Oxford school at 519-659-2504 or our Dearness Drive location at 519-691-0999.
Hope to see you on Saturday!
Shihan Michael Bernardo and Sempai Tammy Bernardo
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Dallas workshop
Just sitting here at the Dallas airport waiting for my flight to Detroit. I was hoping to blog before today, but I was totally exhausted after Saturday's and Sunday's training days! Steve and his team of trainers really worked us hard; we went from 9:30 am to 6 pm both days, with only a 40 minute lunch break/rest and recovery period. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad these Strength Coaching seminars provide 'hands on' training because I would be really bored just sitting in a classroom-style workshop....however looking back, I probably would have opted for a lecture on his segment of 'overhead' Kettlebell squats....of which I probably did close to 500 of!!! I felt that particular exercise in every single muscle fiber in my body....all of which are crying with pain today! The 3 and 1/2 hour plane ride to Detroit should really loosen things up! LOL!
I learned so many new exercises and new techniques to improve fitness performance ....I'm so excited to get back to share them with every one - I think all of my clients and circuit training members are getting a little nervous right now! :-)
I took some amazing pictures and my friend Monica Brant shot some video footage for her realilty DVD series; she's going to send me a copy that I can share with every one at Bernardo Karate!.....you won't believe some of the 'feats of strength' Steve Cotter and his crew performed....unbelieveable exercises that I can't even describe. I really could not believe what I was seeing. Pretty amazing actually. I'll post some pictures in our photo gallery some time this week.
By the way....I jinxed myself....the weather turned really cold on Saturday and Sunday; and of course it's a bit warmer today, because I'm leaving the State!
Hope everyone is off to an amazing start to 2009 and motivated to accomplish all of your goals and conquer any challenges that come your way! Looking forward to seeing all of you this week!
Have a great Monday!
Sempai Tammy Bernardo
I learned so many new exercises and new techniques to improve fitness performance ....I'm so excited to get back to share them with every one - I think all of my clients and circuit training members are getting a little nervous right now! :-)
I took some amazing pictures and my friend Monica Brant shot some video footage for her realilty DVD series; she's going to send me a copy that I can share with every one at Bernardo Karate!.....you won't believe some of the 'feats of strength' Steve Cotter and his crew performed....unbelieveable exercises that I can't even describe. I really could not believe what I was seeing. Pretty amazing actually. I'll post some pictures in our photo gallery some time this week.
By the way....I jinxed myself....the weather turned really cold on Saturday and Sunday; and of course it's a bit warmer today, because I'm leaving the State!
Hope everyone is off to an amazing start to 2009 and motivated to accomplish all of your goals and conquer any challenges that come your way! Looking forward to seeing all of you this week!
Have a great Monday!
Sempai Tammy Bernardo
Friday, January 9, 2009
Strength Coaching Workshop
Greetings ya'll from Dallas, Texas!!
I finally arrived (after a crazy shuttle drive to my hotel) to 73 degree temps in sunny Dallas, Texas. I'm guessing it's snowing in London right now?? I won't rub it in too much because I'll be back in London on Monday.
Any ways....I'm in Dallas for a weekend of Kettlebell training with one of the most sought after Strength coaches in the U.S. - Steve Cotter (if you are interested, you can read about Steve's accomplishments on his website www.fullkontact.com). I'm also excited about this weekend because I'm rooming with a good friend of mine, Monica Brant. For those of you who don't know Monica, she is considered the Queen of Fitness. She is an amazing person and has been a good friend and mentor of mine for over 10 years now. It will be fun catching up with her this weekend.
We're just getting back into our room after a workout in the Hotel's fitness center (if you can call it that! LOL!!) We called down to the front desk to ask about the training room and they told us they had free weights and cardio machines....all the bells and whistles! We had to laugh.....as soon as we walked into the room, we saw three sets of dumbbells (the heaviest being 10 pounds) and 1 treadmill. Luckily there was a stability ball and Monica and I got really creative and still managed to get a good workout in.
We're just waiting on some room service right now. I wanted to order a burger but since Monica is training for the Arnold Classic I decided to order a salad with chicken instead. Didn't want to tease her since she is working so hard to look good on stage! :-)
If you have a chance, visit Monica's website at www.monicabrant.com.
I'm looking forward to training with Steve this weekend, even though I probably won't be able to move for a week! I'll be back later to post about our workouts and hopefully add some pictures so you can see what exercises we're working on.
Stay warm!
Sempai Tammy
I finally arrived (after a crazy shuttle drive to my hotel) to 73 degree temps in sunny Dallas, Texas. I'm guessing it's snowing in London right now?? I won't rub it in too much because I'll be back in London on Monday.
Any ways....I'm in Dallas for a weekend of Kettlebell training with one of the most sought after Strength coaches in the U.S. - Steve Cotter (if you are interested, you can read about Steve's accomplishments on his website www.fullkontact.com). I'm also excited about this weekend because I'm rooming with a good friend of mine, Monica Brant. For those of you who don't know Monica, she is considered the Queen of Fitness. She is an amazing person and has been a good friend and mentor of mine for over 10 years now. It will be fun catching up with her this weekend.
We're just getting back into our room after a workout in the Hotel's fitness center (if you can call it that! LOL!!) We called down to the front desk to ask about the training room and they told us they had free weights and cardio machines....all the bells and whistles! We had to laugh.....as soon as we walked into the room, we saw three sets of dumbbells (the heaviest being 10 pounds) and 1 treadmill. Luckily there was a stability ball and Monica and I got really creative and still managed to get a good workout in.
We're just waiting on some room service right now. I wanted to order a burger but since Monica is training for the Arnold Classic I decided to order a salad with chicken instead. Didn't want to tease her since she is working so hard to look good on stage! :-)
If you have a chance, visit Monica's website at www.monicabrant.com.
I'm looking forward to training with Steve this weekend, even though I probably won't be able to move for a week! I'll be back later to post about our workouts and hopefully add some pictures so you can see what exercises we're working on.
Stay warm!
Sempai Tammy
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Our Silver Anniversary - Shihan's Early Years
As I wrote in the newsletter, my martial arts training began at the age of seven. My parents enrolled me in the London school of Self-Defence where Mr. Harold Warden was my first instructor. The school was on Dundas street across from the Western Fair grounds.
Apparently it took me a while to reach my first belt, almost one full year. I also remember asking to attend an extra workout class {for tournament competitors} and being told NO. These early challenges made me stronger and more determined to succeed. I remember at age nine attending my first tournament; I won 4th place in sparring. At this event you fought down to the final four competitors and then there was a break before the finals. During the break I managed to lose my uniform on a trip to McDonalds. (Just another reason not to eat fast food!) Anyway, I borrowed a uniform and went on to lose both fights and take 4th place. However, of all the tournament awards I won (and gave away, and misplaced), I still have that 4th place trophy!
When Mr. Warden closed his school he recommended that I train with James Santiago. Mr. Santiago was from New York city and came to London to open a karate school. His teaching style was quite different. Besides learning a new style of karate, and new type of sparring, his teaching methods were quite harsh. This was the start of several years of training where my Instructor's philosophy was to take a class and weed out the students who did not have the comittment and desire to achieve their Black belt. I remember one class as an example, where we all lined up in front of a canvas heavy bag. We then took turns standing in front of the bag and throwing triple punches. We did this for close to an hour. Near the end of class, what started out as a white canvas heavy bag was now covererd in hundreds of red dots. These red dots were from our knuckles. My instructor believed that a good teacher who has a class of 25 students will weed out 24 and find the one student who has the attributes to be a black belt. This was the prevailing wisdom of the time. It was not until later when I started a school on my own and my first instructor got back in touch with me, that I realized, a good teacher who has a class of 25 students will work with each student, motivate them, highlight their strengths, build up the weak areas and hopefully help all 25 reach the goal of Black Belt.
I managed to progress these early years because I loved karate, and my parents supported me. My challenge was, my early Instructor's teaching techniques led to very few junior students in the school. I ended up training with adults from age 12 onwards. Therefore classes had little to do with fun, and there were times that I wanted to take a break from lessons. However quitting was not an option for my parents. For them it was not about me receiving a black belt or earning a specific rank. They always told me that as long as I gave 100% effort they were happy with me. To them, letting me quit was teaching me the wrong lesson. They believed that quitting could become a habit, and they did want that for me.
I received my brown belt at the age of 13. In my school there was no rank of Jr. black belt, therefore I spent 3 years as a brown belt. This of course was challenging as I had to stay motivated. What also became very difficult was, in my school the highest ranking underbelt had specific duties. By the age of 15 I was the highest ranking brown belt. Some of my responsibilities included keeping the change rooms clean, making sure the dojo floor was clean, making sure lower belts followed proper etiquette in the dojo. If anything was not up to par the penalty was pushups, and even though I tried hard, I ended up doing a lot of pushups. In fact I remember one class where I had to do 1000 pushups. I spent the entire 90 minutes of class off to the side doing pushups. That may sound crazy, but back then it seemed normal. {I never want to hear brown belts complain about 50 pushups after class. LOL!!}
Just before I turned 16 I was told that Richard Kim would be doing a Black belt testing in Hamilton. I received permission to test before I was 16 years old. I was quite excited, however that excitment quickly turned to nervousness as I learned a few days before that I would also have to perform the kata, Nihanchi Sandan. Now, don't get me wrong....I knew I was ready to grade, as I had been preparing for 3 years for this opportunity. However, I was only told a few days before the grading, I had to learn this new kata. For those of you who know the kata, it is quite short, however it can also be quite confusing; I also had to get the kata down perfect in order to pass for my Black Belt. Let me tell you!....no one did that kata more times in those few days than me!!
A short time after receiving my Black belt, my Instructor's school closed down. I started teaching at Saint Andrew's Church in the basement. I had an average of 25 students over the next few years. Sempai Mark Anderson was my first student who started with me and made it to the rank of Black Belt. He along with some of my other students did very well at local tournaments and we soon made a name for ourselves. Because of this success, a local instructor named Ken Tallack invited me to teach at his school on weekends. I taught primarily sparring classes at his school on Elias street. This is where I first met Sempai Jeff Muir. Jeff and his twin brother Dirk were students with Ken Tallack and came out to my class. When we started sparring they were not too eager to participate. In fact Jeff brought to my attention the fact that in a Gichin Funakoshi book he says sparring is not neccessary in the study of karate. I responded by telling him to put his gear on and the rest is history. Sempai Jeff just won a gold medal at this year's WKA World Championships in the Continuous sparring division.
In 1984 Ken was opening a new school and asked me if I wanted to be partners. I would teach my style, grade my students, but we would share advertising and other costs etc. It seemed like the next logical step. I was attending the University of Western Ontario, but I was not sure what I was going to do with my life. I did know I loved Martial arts and loved teaching. Opening a school seemed like the best way to find out if this was a good career choice for me.
Stay tuned....next month, I will talk about my first full time school on King Street and Sempai Dennis McFadden's first class!
Shihan Bernardo
Apparently it took me a while to reach my first belt, almost one full year. I also remember asking to attend an extra workout class {for tournament competitors} and being told NO. These early challenges made me stronger and more determined to succeed. I remember at age nine attending my first tournament; I won 4th place in sparring. At this event you fought down to the final four competitors and then there was a break before the finals. During the break I managed to lose my uniform on a trip to McDonalds. (Just another reason not to eat fast food!) Anyway, I borrowed a uniform and went on to lose both fights and take 4th place. However, of all the tournament awards I won (and gave away, and misplaced), I still have that 4th place trophy!
When Mr. Warden closed his school he recommended that I train with James Santiago. Mr. Santiago was from New York city and came to London to open a karate school. His teaching style was quite different. Besides learning a new style of karate, and new type of sparring, his teaching methods were quite harsh. This was the start of several years of training where my Instructor's philosophy was to take a class and weed out the students who did not have the comittment and desire to achieve their Black belt. I remember one class as an example, where we all lined up in front of a canvas heavy bag. We then took turns standing in front of the bag and throwing triple punches. We did this for close to an hour. Near the end of class, what started out as a white canvas heavy bag was now covererd in hundreds of red dots. These red dots were from our knuckles. My instructor believed that a good teacher who has a class of 25 students will weed out 24 and find the one student who has the attributes to be a black belt. This was the prevailing wisdom of the time. It was not until later when I started a school on my own and my first instructor got back in touch with me, that I realized, a good teacher who has a class of 25 students will work with each student, motivate them, highlight their strengths, build up the weak areas and hopefully help all 25 reach the goal of Black Belt.
I managed to progress these early years because I loved karate, and my parents supported me. My challenge was, my early Instructor's teaching techniques led to very few junior students in the school. I ended up training with adults from age 12 onwards. Therefore classes had little to do with fun, and there were times that I wanted to take a break from lessons. However quitting was not an option for my parents. For them it was not about me receiving a black belt or earning a specific rank. They always told me that as long as I gave 100% effort they were happy with me. To them, letting me quit was teaching me the wrong lesson. They believed that quitting could become a habit, and they did want that for me.
I received my brown belt at the age of 13. In my school there was no rank of Jr. black belt, therefore I spent 3 years as a brown belt. This of course was challenging as I had to stay motivated. What also became very difficult was, in my school the highest ranking underbelt had specific duties. By the age of 15 I was the highest ranking brown belt. Some of my responsibilities included keeping the change rooms clean, making sure the dojo floor was clean, making sure lower belts followed proper etiquette in the dojo. If anything was not up to par the penalty was pushups, and even though I tried hard, I ended up doing a lot of pushups. In fact I remember one class where I had to do 1000 pushups. I spent the entire 90 minutes of class off to the side doing pushups. That may sound crazy, but back then it seemed normal. {I never want to hear brown belts complain about 50 pushups after class. LOL!!}
Just before I turned 16 I was told that Richard Kim would be doing a Black belt testing in Hamilton. I received permission to test before I was 16 years old. I was quite excited, however that excitment quickly turned to nervousness as I learned a few days before that I would also have to perform the kata, Nihanchi Sandan. Now, don't get me wrong....I knew I was ready to grade, as I had been preparing for 3 years for this opportunity. However, I was only told a few days before the grading, I had to learn this new kata. For those of you who know the kata, it is quite short, however it can also be quite confusing; I also had to get the kata down perfect in order to pass for my Black Belt. Let me tell you!....no one did that kata more times in those few days than me!!
A short time after receiving my Black belt, my Instructor's school closed down. I started teaching at Saint Andrew's Church in the basement. I had an average of 25 students over the next few years. Sempai Mark Anderson was my first student who started with me and made it to the rank of Black Belt. He along with some of my other students did very well at local tournaments and we soon made a name for ourselves. Because of this success, a local instructor named Ken Tallack invited me to teach at his school on weekends. I taught primarily sparring classes at his school on Elias street. This is where I first met Sempai Jeff Muir. Jeff and his twin brother Dirk were students with Ken Tallack and came out to my class. When we started sparring they were not too eager to participate. In fact Jeff brought to my attention the fact that in a Gichin Funakoshi book he says sparring is not neccessary in the study of karate. I responded by telling him to put his gear on and the rest is history. Sempai Jeff just won a gold medal at this year's WKA World Championships in the Continuous sparring division.
In 1984 Ken was opening a new school and asked me if I wanted to be partners. I would teach my style, grade my students, but we would share advertising and other costs etc. It seemed like the next logical step. I was attending the University of Western Ontario, but I was not sure what I was going to do with my life. I did know I loved Martial arts and loved teaching. Opening a school seemed like the best way to find out if this was a good career choice for me.
Stay tuned....next month, I will talk about my first full time school on King Street and Sempai Dennis McFadden's first class!
Shihan Bernardo
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Happy New Year!
We hope everyone is off to a happy, healthy start to 2009!
I was thinking; instead of setting New Year's "Resolutions" this year (like every year!), how about setting a few short-term, specific goals instead? For example:
Instead of saying, "This year, I resolve to lose weight."
Change this and write down on a piece of 'important' paper you will see every day to read:
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st."
But that's not it!! How are you going to do this???? You need to be very specific.
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by working out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 45 minutes."
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by eating a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner and 2 small snacks each day."
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by telling 'so-and-so' (be specific - such as a co-worker, or good friend who will hold you accountable....or by telling me, TAMMY BERNARDO, who will definitely hold you accountable!)
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by drinking at least 8 glasses of water each day and eliminate pop from my diet. I will drink water throughout the day instead of just with my meals. I will hold off on my 'coffees and teas' until I know I am well hydrated with water.
I hope you get the idea. You cannot expect to be successful if you are not specific in your goals and if you don't set a goal date.
I had to laugh....the other day I received my monthly newsletter from Pavel Tsatsouline (a former physical training instructor for the Soviet Special Forces, currently a subject matter expert to the U.S. Marine Corps, the National Nuclear Security Administration/U.S. Department of Energy, and the US Secret Service). Here is the first part of his newsletter:
"Comrade, motivational psychobabble will not get you in killer shape. You need a tough goal and a demanding deadline. According to the Parkinson's law, a task will take as much time as you will allot for it. In other words, you will shine under the pressure of an ambitious deadline." He also goes on to tell you to sign up for his latest RKC Kettlebell course, "to see what you are made of."
I take this to mean: DEMAND a specific deadline for yourself; do not include 'slack time' or a few weeks of 'buffer' in case 'something' comes up. Get serious about your goals and stick to your timetable! By assigning the correct amount of time to completing your goals, you will gain back 'more time' in the long run.....time won't be wasted!
Of course, just because it's a New Year, it doesn't mean your goals have to be about losing weight. Maybe you want to read more. So here we go:
Instead of saying, "This year, I resolve to read more."
Change it to, "My goal is to read one fictional book and one non-fictional book by Jan. 31st."
I will do this by not watching 3 hours of television every night.
I will go to bed one hour early and read.
Instead of listening to music at the gym (on the cardio machines), I will read a book.
Get the idea?
Once your short-term goal is achieved, scratch it off your list and start on the next one!
I hope these suggestions help you achieve your goals for 2009 and help you become better with your time management skills.
Let's 'change' history this year and not 'repeat' history by having to set the exact same 'resolutions' year after year after year.
If I can be of any help....just let me know!
Happy New year to each and every one of you!
Sempai Tammy Bernardo
I was thinking; instead of setting New Year's "Resolutions" this year (like every year!), how about setting a few short-term, specific goals instead? For example:
Instead of saying, "This year, I resolve to lose weight."
Change this and write down on a piece of 'important' paper you will see every day to read:
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st."
But that's not it!! How are you going to do this???? You need to be very specific.
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by working out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 45 minutes."
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by eating a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner and 2 small snacks each day."
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by telling 'so-and-so' (be specific - such as a co-worker, or good friend who will hold you accountable....or by telling me, TAMMY BERNARDO, who will definitely hold you accountable!)
"I will lose 5 pounds by January 31st by drinking at least 8 glasses of water each day and eliminate pop from my diet. I will drink water throughout the day instead of just with my meals. I will hold off on my 'coffees and teas' until I know I am well hydrated with water.
I hope you get the idea. You cannot expect to be successful if you are not specific in your goals and if you don't set a goal date.
I had to laugh....the other day I received my monthly newsletter from Pavel Tsatsouline (a former physical training instructor for the Soviet Special Forces, currently a subject matter expert to the U.S. Marine Corps, the National Nuclear Security Administration/U.S. Department of Energy, and the US Secret Service). Here is the first part of his newsletter:
"Comrade, motivational psychobabble will not get you in killer shape. You need a tough goal and a demanding deadline. According to the Parkinson's law, a task will take as much time as you will allot for it. In other words, you will shine under the pressure of an ambitious deadline." He also goes on to tell you to sign up for his latest RKC Kettlebell course, "to see what you are made of."
I take this to mean: DEMAND a specific deadline for yourself; do not include 'slack time' or a few weeks of 'buffer' in case 'something' comes up. Get serious about your goals and stick to your timetable! By assigning the correct amount of time to completing your goals, you will gain back 'more time' in the long run.....time won't be wasted!
Of course, just because it's a New Year, it doesn't mean your goals have to be about losing weight. Maybe you want to read more. So here we go:
Instead of saying, "This year, I resolve to read more."
Change it to, "My goal is to read one fictional book and one non-fictional book by Jan. 31st."
I will do this by not watching 3 hours of television every night.
I will go to bed one hour early and read.
Instead of listening to music at the gym (on the cardio machines), I will read a book.
Get the idea?
Once your short-term goal is achieved, scratch it off your list and start on the next one!
I hope these suggestions help you achieve your goals for 2009 and help you become better with your time management skills.
Let's 'change' history this year and not 'repeat' history by having to set the exact same 'resolutions' year after year after year.
If I can be of any help....just let me know!
Happy New year to each and every one of you!
Sempai Tammy Bernardo
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