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The Dalai Lama, one of my living heroes

3820632391?profile=originalHis Holiness the Dalai Lama has been an inspiration to me. His calm mind, and continuing call for non violence and peace, in the face of extreme violence against his people, and himself--- well, it defines what a spiritual person, a holy person can be.

He is humble, humorous, and profound. He teaches tolerance, environmental protections, compassion, empathy, in a way that is clear, focused, and most of all motivates me to find those qualities and to be more of who I am, and can be.

As a teacher he
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My Hero my teacher Mrs. Fontana

One of my living heroes is my 1st per teacher Mrs Fontana. She has told us so much about how every year she goes to guatemala with a bunch of high schoolers and they biuld schools, houses, and allot of other biuldings over there. when im in highschool i want to go to the trip with her and help biuld stuff like that too.
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my hero, small but imaginative, chloe

Even if she is small, and only nine, she has a big imagination. chloe is my little sister who teaches me how to be creative and think outside the box, and by outside the box I mean turning a card board box in to a washing machine. for example just before diner chloe was playing with fuzzy ties and she made a spitting camel. she also is a big goof ball and that is who she is and she isn't afraid of what other people might think of that. she teaches me to be myself. and her even being one of my he

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one of my heros my mom

my first hero is my mom she helps me during the bad days and when i feel down or when some one hurts me. my mom is also supportive which is what every hero does. my mom uses her mom powers all the time like for example if me or my siblings have a fresh sratch she kisses it and prays over it and it works like magic.
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Do Jang Ettiqutte

3820632315?profile=originalThere are simple reasons, and more complex reasons, why etiquette is still strictly enforced in traditional martial arts schools. Since I keep getting asked about it, I thought I'd summarize the major reasons why, in my experience, etiquette is so important in the martial arts.




1. SAFETY. I can't overstate this. So much of etiquette revolves around providing a safe and challenging training atmosphere. Don't talk while the Sa Bum Nim is talking, or you might miss something crucial, which could
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Here is the conversation started on facebook--- thought we might want to keep it going on here. chime in:


MeLisa Turcott Strongheart
Ok, I think I am about to blather, but here goes: The kids are being mean. meaner than they used to. meaner at school, on the bus, even in the dojang. mean mean mean. Petty, unforgiving, negative--- they come off the bus a ball of hostility. too often. not occasionally. I am going to teach them about how to make peace. I swear.

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My Living Hereos

3820632178?profile=originalThis assignment was difficult for me trying to figure out who my living hero’s are and why I considered them heroes in the first place. I had to really think about who my heroes are, and why and think outside of the box in terms of who they are and why I admired them.



My Mother is probably my greatest hero. She has accomplished so much in her life putting herself through medical school while having two small children most of it being a single mother. Going on to run a successful lab in the Seat

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"Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency." Maya Angelou

3820631997?profile=original

Maya Angelou is a person who has overcome great obstacles, kept a vision for her life, and for what she can give and achieve. She has inspired me to be a better teacher, as she stands as one of the truly great ones.


She practices her art, and continues to produce her creative works even as she has moved into her 8th decade of life.


She teaches compassion, tolerance, and respect; she lives
compassion, toleran

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Today I wrote this response to the question posed by another martial artist and self defense expert: "how do we stop pedophiles like Dr. Earl Bradley?
http://everythingselfdefense.ning.com/forum/topics/how-do-we-stop-pedophiles-like

it made me want to share it here.


I have spent most of my career actively working on this particular issue. First as a therapist and advocate for children, teens, and families dealing with sexual abuse, exploitation, and assault.

And now as a martial arts instructor who
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Environmental Self Defense

I believe that, as we are part of the ecosystem, it's protection is, in fact, self protection. To that end, I believe that what we consume, discard, and how we interact with our environment has as much to do with "Self-Defense" as any other defensive technique, or strategy.

Lets talk about it on the group I just made called Environmental Self Defense.


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Thomas Goetz

Thomas Goetz

Posted: March 18, 2010 09:25 AM


Cancer is perhaps the most frightening of all diseases we face. And the thing is, it's very often entirely preventable. If we simply made some different decisions, earlier, many cancers would never happen.

That sounds like an audacious statement. Cancer after all, comes "out of the blue" -- we report that it happ

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Self Defense for Women

1. Heart Disease

One in three women get heart disease . Heart disease is responsible for

488,946 deaths in women per year – more than all forms of cancer combined

(more than 950,000 Americans die from heart disease per year). It is the mostsignificant health concernfor women in the U.S. today, but according to the American Heart Association, only 13 percent of women know that heart disease is a major threat to their health.


To minimize your risk: Don’t smoke; Limit intake of alcohol;

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Another group of Heros!

Two Choices
What would you do?.....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, thereisn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?


At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nat

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After a decade of consistent declines in teen drug abuse, a new national study released today by the Partnershipfor a Drug-Free America® and MetLife Foundation points to marked upswings in use of drugs that teens are likely to encounter at parties and in other social situations.

According to the 2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS), sponsored by MetLife Foundation,the number of teens in grades 9-12 that used alcohol in the past month has grown by 11 percent (from 35 percent in 20

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Today there was an incident which involved the police and resulted in the kids at IMS and Island Park to go into the "lockdown" mode.

When something like this happens the kids come in and immediately talk about it. They are in a sense "traumatized" . Please don't misunderstand me; on a scale of 1-10 this probably wouldn't rate very high. However, in my experience they are affected, and need a little help working through what happened.

For some kids, this incident will roll off their backs. Others
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