Tweeting Martial Arts...and more!

For the past several months I’ve been posting videos, photos, commentary and insights in the various areas of martial arts training - self-defense, fitness, diet, anti-bullying, anger management, verbal self-defense, training for over 50, girls self-esteem, boys positive self-image...oh, yeah, even some kicks, punches, grappling and weapons training. Some of you have been to my Facebook page for Peter Liciaga to see more photos, watch videos or ask a question (http://www.facebook.com/pliciaga). Others have followed my tweets at http://twitter.com/#!/peterliciaga where you’ll see even more comments and videos but mostly my thoughts on what I’m experiencing at any particular moment during my own training to 5th degree black belt.

I’ve also linked off both of these sites to http://www.peterliciaga.org/ , my BETA site being designed and built for parents, educators and martial artists to connect and communicate with community projects, resources and experts in several fields. Here’s a link to a couple of channels with videos I’ve been able to load up during my training:

• My Training Chronicles
• DKC Channel
• Kids Teaching Kids Channel
• Self-esteem For Girls
• Words of Wisdom Channel
• Chronicles of Doneghy (martial artist over 60)

What’s great about all of these different mediums is how they allow both the martial artists and the students (or soon to be student) to learn more about great martial arts, all at the click of a mouse. In one case, you can “fan” me on the Peter Liciaga Facebook page and my updates and self-defense article links will show up periodically on your wall. You can encourage family, friends and neighbors to do the same and they will see those same updates. If you want to read my articles and see links to other media from my training, workshops and events, then you can go to Twitter and follow me at PLiciaga. Twitter allows me to communicate one-on-many or one-on-one with people interested in the kinds of projects and training I’m working on at that moment.

Finally there is DinotoKarate.com and what I call our current “work in progress” as we finalize a number of enhancements that will make it the “go to” place for you to communicate and connect with anything that has to do with martial arts and self-defense. For instance, if you would like information about bullying, there's our Stop Bullying Now Project; or if it's anger management for children, you have Anger411. Or, how about 10 Simple Lessons for Self Defense for Youth? From my Flip Camera or my Smart Phone to my laptop, my online channels and websites, I was able to create video lessons, even a brief commentary, and immediately post them to my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pliciaga), my Twitter page at (http://twitter.com/#!/peterliciaga) and my here on my blog.

If you had been following either or both of these platforms, you would have been able to share in these experiences and share them with your friends as well. As you know, friends are always looking for information and ideas about martial arts, safety, bullying, protection, including developing the discipline to lose weight and get fit.

My ultimate goal is to be able to provide insights to both you and your freinds that will inspire a healthy lifestyle. This month it’s the Mardi Gras Spring Fling Celebration at Dinoto Karate Center , as you’ve seen from my many updates. Next month I’m off to Greensboro, Alabama with my camera and laptop to help build a home for an elderly lady, make some repairs in the community and teach some seminars/workshops to the youth along with 50 to 100 fellow martial arts masters and their students. Stay tuned.

More importantly, tune into my where-abouts and "up to's" via whatever medium you feel most comfortable with and I’ll do my best to keep you in tune with what I see, hear, learn and experience. For one more way to see what I’m up to, visit http://www.peterliciaga.org/

Peter Liciaga is an Education Activist, Master Martial Arts Instructor, Self-Defense Expert and Key Note Speaker working with youth, parents, educators and community leaders.

I Know That Your Child is PRECIOUS

I just finished editing a couple of videos for our anger management tips for children and, if I may, just for a moment, I’d like to tell you how much I understand about the value, to you, of your child. I know, as I’m a parent too. If you’re like me, there’s nothing I won’t consider, even if at first it seems out of my reach, if I think it will benefit my child. As parents we have to (get to) make choices about how we spend our money.

That's me (the old man on the right) with my wife Renee
and our two beautiful children (10 and 7)

 I would like to ask you to look at martial arts classes as worthwhile investment. Classes from a really good teacher are worth more than a night on the town, worth more than cable TV, and even worth more than, yes, Starbucks (I’m laughing). I know this to be true, as I was a karate kid. The lessons I received as a young person still serve me every day. They’ve kept me out of a lot of trouble. They’ve served me when depression knocked at my door. My teacher had a clear voice in my head when, as a teenager, I could hardly hear anyone else.

My classes are affordable and I work diligently to pass on the confidence, the respect, the leadership skills, and the sense of right and wrong that my teachers gave to me. If you asked me, I would say do without something, a few small things if you have to, but give your child the gift of a year or two of martial arts. Those lessons on the mat come back to serve your child, in the world, for a long, long time.

Please call me to schedule a time to come in, meet me and allow me to show you our school and explain how our program is much more than simply kicking and punching.

My direct number is 856.278.5282 (cell) or you can call the school at 856.235.0414, just ask for Peter Liciaga.

DKC Event Video - 2011 Light Saber Glow Show

Over 70 kids came out to our annual Glow Show. This year it was the glow in the dark Light Saber...ala "Star Wars" theme. Everyone had an incredible time!!! Master Dinoto was HIGH-ENERGY! Check out the quick video below...

Communities and Charities Benefit from Martial Arts!

Congratulations! to Karissa (a beginner student!) and her whole family for raising over $15,000 for American Cancer Society - Relay for Life and Alexandra (10 year old black belt) for helping design the Stop Bullying Now Project and speaking to over 1000 kids about bullying! http://www.ourbullyproject.com/



Dinoto Karate Center is more than just kicking and punching, it is about building a healthy person AND making a difference in our community.

While other martial arts schools may talk and teach kicks and punches Dinoto Karate student are actually making a difference in their communities in a very purposeful and powerful way.

Civic engagement and community activism is the heart of Dinoto Karate's leadership program. In this way the students learn first hand the value and importance of their role in the community and beyond. This it not to say we tell the students what organization to volunteer for or help, actually they choose the cause, working together (sometimes with their whole family!) to help those organizations/causes. The students are given the tools, the guidance and the power. They choose. They make the difference.

I am very proud of all the students that have stepped up to help their communities and charities. The students constantly amaze me with their generosity, spirit and leadership. Keep up the amazing work!

Thank you to all DKC students that have shown compassion, leadership and the true spirit of a black belt leader!
 
SOO BAHK!!!

Peter Liciaga

DINOTO KARATE CENTER — We're Here To Make A Difference.

Is your child making a difference in their community? I want to know. Email me at masterliciaga@dinotokarate.com and recieve One Month of training for your child in our Leadership Program as my guest for free!

For more info about what we are doing in our communities, go HERE

Martial Arts if You're Over 30? Well, Yes (or Maybe)!

If you're over the age of 30, should you consider studying the martial arts?

Well, yes --and no.

You should consider a regular, daily, exercise program, for sure. A sensible one; one that starts slow and lets your fitness sneak up on you (rather than hitting you over the head with it).

A martial arts program certainly has the potential to be a wonderfully complete training program, as it includes stretching, strength training, aerobic exercise, and requires a kind of mental focus akin to deep meditation. That is, if the instructor you choose is old enough to have the right kind of experience. Instructors that are under the age of 30 are often spectacular athletes, but they don’t know what it’s like to be out of shape, to be 30-plus, and they tend to lean towards competition and acrobatics --and trust me, at 30 the last thing you need is acrobatics.

But Oh, find a great teacher and the martial arts can become your best friend. The training can keep you supple, sharp, and clear thinking. A martial arts school, directed by a conscientious teacher, can be a centering, inspiring, refreshing place that you love going to --and leave thinking about your next session.

As a teacher at 49 and getting ready to turn 50, I'm so much more careful, more balanced, more patient. After training for over 40 years and teaching for almost 20, I'm finally starting to get good at it.


Chronicles of Doneghy - Session 11 from Peter Liciaga on Vimeo.
74 year old training in martial arts for fitness and self-defense! Outstanding!

Yes, look to the martial arts for some new perspective on your life, after the age of 30. It’s not too late, even at 40, 50, or 60. To choose a school take their trial course (which should be free or close to it). All the best schools offer new students an opportunity to test drive “the car” before buying. I think you should try my school, of course, but I might be a tad bit prejudice.

If you’re thinking about taking classes, allow me to be the first to invite you in. Mention that you’re over 30 and I will offer you a free private lesson and a couple of group lessons to try us out (no strings attached). Warning: It’s fun, affordable, and invigorating. It’s never too late to start working out. The most difficult aspect of exercise is taking that first step.

Reach me here: masterliciaga@dinotokarate.com or call 856.235.0414 and ask for Peter Liciaga!

2 Simple Self Defense Tips

Here are two simple self-defense tips, a one-minute-read, that could save your life --and/or the life of someone you love.

Ready?

1. Eat MINDFULLY. Eating without paying attention causes you to eat the wrong things and/or too much food. Doing either (or both) could, as they say, “take the shine off your shoes.” Heart disease, diabetes, and all sorts of ailments await the person who doesn’t practice mindful eating. Look to the video, below, for for some mindful eating basics (it’s Harvard Professor, Dr. Lilian Cheung, co-author of Savor, Mindful Eating, Mindful Life): The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emd9q6_o6Z0
2. The self-defense expert Sanford Strong, author of Strong on Defense, sets forth four survival rules that everyone should know if faced with a dangerous situation or attack:

• React immediately
• Resist,
• Avoid crime scene #2
• Never give up.

Want more? (We want you to want more!)

We are actively recruiting women (mothers and daughters) in our community for an upcoming 2 hour “What I Need to Know About Self-Defense” workshop. If you would like to be on our “Self-Defense Tips” mailing list and/or hear more about our workshops, please contact us here: masterliciaga@dinotokarate.com or call me Peter Liciaga directly at 856-235-0414.

Master Dinoto Teaches Your Child The Importance of Appreciation

Yesterday in our childrens' martial arts class, Master Instructor Michael Dinoto discussed the importance of learning to appreciate what we have- not to take anything for granted- not your parents, friends, or the opportunities and things we get to enjoy in life.

The word “appreciation” means really seeing something for what it is - an awareness of how special, how lucky, how unique, how blessed, how big, wonderful or awesome something is. Appreciation is a recognition not based on comparison, but based on the intrinsic value, character or immensity of a thing or state itself.

In a money-centered world, it may feel difficult to teach children the act of being grateful. While merely teaching thank you is a wonderful start, here are some tips that carry on the sentiment of thanks long after the words have been spoken.

Tips for Teaching Gratitude to Kids

• Having children go through their belongings periodically gathering unused items to give for charity donations is another way to teach the importance of helping others.
• A homemade, anonymous gift package is a wonderful way for your child to show gratitude. Baskets may include toys or stuffed animals that your child no longer plays with given to another child with a handmade/drawn note/card of thanks.
• The simple act of leaving spare change on a public bathroom counter with a gift note may help teach the importance of giving.
• Print-out coloring pages with themes of appreciation make excellent gifts of gratitude.
• Have your child pay for a friend's lunch in school one day.
• Children learn to help others when given the chance to read to, play games with, or teach math to a younger friend.
• Many communities offer the opportunity to help those less fortunate during the holidays by adopting a family that cannot afford their own gift exchange or holiday feast.
• Teach your child to find & clip coupons to use towards the purchase of food items intended for food bank donations.
• Earn money for charity by running a lemonade or cookie stand.
• Offer to help a neighbor do simple yard work or other chore.
• On family outings, spend an hour at the beach or park picking up trash.
• Many children will enjoy baking and delivering fresh, homemade goodies to a neighbor or friend.

*Create an Appreciation Book
As a special honor, an appreciation book for gift giving that includes a personal photograph or drawing on the cover page is an excellent way to show thanks, especially to grandparents and our elderly. Assign an admirable trait to each page and decorate these pages with photographs, stickers, and crayons

If you have any other ideas to add to this list, please add it below in comments. If your child is already demonstrating acts of appreciation, please let us know.

While teaching children actions such as holding the door for others, and saying please and thank you are a daily reminder of gratitude, thankfulness can be further ingrained through fun and playful gestures towards others. As children witness those around them showing appreciation, it will become clear that setting a good example is one of the most effective ways to teach gratitude.

Article contributor: Peter Liciaga is an education activist and a project-based leadership program mentor. To find out more about Peter and Project Based Leadership Training, call 856-235-0414.

Martial Arts Is About Perfecting Character

"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."

~ Master Gichin Funakoshi

A couple of parents (and students) have asked about the leadership training and what it's about. In a nutshell, our leadership program is about character development in a "new way".

The "old way" VS the "new way"

The "Old Way" of teaching leadership education, character development, and motivating and inspiring children, youth, and teens was through speakers or books about someone else's journey toward leadership.

The "New Way" is to make these students become the ACTION hero of their own journey. Give them challenges to take action in their communities and take real action on their goals and achievements. Teaching them to build confidence and leadership skills through creating their own success stories and recording it along the way.

What's more powerful, giving a student a book or an inspiring lecture about their ability to succeed... or ...helping them become a part of a team that logs hundreds of community projects effectively teaching something very real about confidence, discipline, initiative, courage, action, awareness, and above all leadership?

Our leadership team oath is 

I Promise to do My best to be a Black Belt Leader

Not just here at the academy

But at home, at work, and at school too.

I Promise to improve my mind and my body every day.

As an education activist and a martial arts master teacher, my goal is to teach something very real about leadership in our leadership program with the hope that all our students will look to their martial arts teacher for direction in becoming a leader.

Making the Right Choices
On our path through life, we are constantly making choices. Every choice that we make will have a positive result or a negative result. The decisions that our children make now will shape the rest of their life forever. When you make the choice for your child to learn REAL leadership by taking action in thier community, there can only be one type of results - REMARKABLY POSITIVE RESULTS!

Leadership is Learned

We have all heard that leaders are not born, they are created... created through experiences, opportunities, and overcoming adversity. Whether your child already exhibits leadership qualities, or you feel like your child has no leadership traits at all, they CAN become a leader.  Their journey towards leadership starts with a community project and their project portfolio.

Learning Skills For The Rest Of Their LifeCompleting community action leadership projects at any age is impressive, especially when your child is influencing others around them to help. The leadership skills they will learn will help them through Grade School, Middle School, High School, College, their Career/Profession and beyond.

For more information about our leadership program, call us at 856-235-0414 or email me at masterliciaga@dinotokarate.com

5 Free Tips for a Healthier New Year!

(No charge - but we'd love it if you stopped by for a FREE class!)
(Here are some tried and true tips to stay on track in 2011. You've probably heard most of these before, but it's always good to review them every once in a while because we KNOW we don't always follow them!)

1. Don't grocery shop when you're hungry. Just don't do it!
2. If you don't buy those snacks, you won't eat them. Do NOT keep snacks in the house!
3. Eat your fruit first, vegetables second - and everything else third. "Everything else" should consist of healthy choices - and hopefully all those fruits and veggies will keep you from being a little piggy with the "everything else"!
4. Regular, daily exercise. No, you don't have to come to our gym every day, but you HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO stay active. Use those stairs, park farther away - you know the drill. (And you can come to a fitness class every other day or so!)
5. Don't load up that giant plate. Use a smaller plate. If you must have more, take your time with it. Give your food a chance to tell your brain that you're really not hungry anymore! And keep the serving dishes in the kitchen so you'll at least get a little exercise having to get up and go get your seconds and thirds...

Health means diet AND exercise. Losing fat AND gaining muscle are the keys to a healthier body.

• Losing fat is about 2/3 diet and 1/3 exercise.
• Gaining muscle is about 2/3 exercise and 1/3 diet.

We can help. We can make it more fun! 

NEW MORNING & EVENING ZUMBA FITNESS CLASSES NOW AVAILABLE AT DINOTO KARATE CENTER!

Give us a call today. 856-235-0414

Parent's Night Out - We Will Rock YOU!

Almost 50 kids enjoy 3-hours of obstacle courses, re-breakable board challenges, music, karate, dancing, pizza and high-energy fun & excitement at Dinoto Karate Center's 3rd annual Parent's Night Out while parents enjoyed a night out on the town!

Led by education activist Peter Liciaga and the DKC event staff, the kids were treated to an evening of non-stop high-energy fun!

The theme of the event was "Operatation Domination - We Will Rock You!" Teaching the kids that they have the power to make a difference in their families and communities. Whatever they have a passion for or care about, they can be a voice that can be heard. Whether it is girls self-esteem, a positive male self-image, anti-bullying, environmental awareness, diet & health, fitness, animal rights, whatever they feel passionate about, they can be the voice that makes the difference!

We are looking for youth that want to make a difference in their communities. Find out about our Project Based Leadership Program and join the "Operatation Domination - We Will Rock You!" campaign.

Call Peter Liciaga at 856-235-0414 to find out more, or email him at pliciaga@gmail.com

Self-Defense? Oh Yeah, It’s About Diet Soda (Is it?)

Did you, by chance, see the article on-line that reported a study about drinking diet soda? The report suggested that there was a 61% higher risk of vascular events (like strokes and heart attacks) for people who drank a diet soda every day.
Now whether that report is accurate or not is not the issue. What IS the issue is that your health is linked to what you (do or do not) consume. This is so important an aspect of self-defense that my colleagues and I have started a website called www.DietarySelfDefense.com . Nutritionist and black belt Mike Tubbs oversees the site --and loads plate-fulls of useful reminders and information there.

Food and nutrition information is finding its way into our schools and on to our mats too (not to mention, in our mouths!). It’s about time!

Self-defense training is so much more than learning how to handle yourself in a hand-to-hand combat situation. If self-defense (of any kind) is of interest to you, call us. We’re collecting stories, people, and ideas around the topic of, well, EVERYTHING Self-Defense.

Our contact information: Peter Liciaga c/o Dinoto Karate Center, Mt. Laurel NJ

856-235-0414 or visit us HERE

Here’s the link to the story on diet soda: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41479869/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition

Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention

(read original article Here)

February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. This month serves as a time for organizations and individuals to come together to educate young people about dating violence, warning signs of abuse, defining healthy and unhealthy relationships to prevent the cycle of abuse.

WHAT IS TEEN DATING VIOLENCE

Teen dating violence occurs when one partner tries to maintain power and control over the other through one or more forms of abuse, including physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse. Teen dating violence affects both females and males.

While young people experience the same types of abuse as adults, often the methods are unique to the teen culture. Teens often are affected by technological abuse where they receive threats by text messages, email or social media sites.

WARNING SIGNS

Warning signs that your partner is abusive include:

• Extreme jealousy
• Constantly putting you down or calling you hurtful names
• Isolating you from friends and family
• Demanding sex or affection
• Demanding to know where you are and who you are with all the time
• Controlling behavior
• Unpredictable mood swings
• Threatens violence
• Physically hurting you in any way
• Checking your cell phone, email, or social media without permission
• Has an explosive temper

HOW COMMON IS TEEN DATING VIOLENCE

Statistics state nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year. One quarter of high school girls have been victims of physical or sexual abuse in which they have been pressured or threatened into performing oral sex or engaging in intercourse. In addition, 80 percent of teens regard verbal abuse as a serious issue for their age group.

TAKE ACTION

Less than 25 percent of teens say they have discussed dating violence with their parents. Communication should be an ongoing part of a parent's relationship with their child and keeping the lines of communication open will allow for the teens to feel more comfortable discussing their issues. Sitting down and talking to your teens about dating violence can help them recognize the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships and encourage them to seek help if they or someone they know is in an abusive dating relationship.

Discussing dating violence with your teen doesn't have to be uncomfortable. Ask how things are going in general and try bringing up the subject by asking what their friends' dating relationships are like. Ask if your teen has seen any type of abusive behavior between dating couples.

Questions to help spark conversation with your teen:
• How are things going?
• What are your friends' dating relationships like?
• Have you ever seen any kind of abusive behavior between two people who are going out?
• Why do you think someone would abuse someone they were dating?
• Why might a person stay in an abusive relationship?
• What makes a relationship healthy?
• How is your relationship going?

RESOURCES
• Hubbard House: domestic violence center serving Duval and Baker counties - 24-Hour Domestic Violence Hotline (904) 354-3114 or (800) 500-1119, http://www.hubbardhouse.org/
• Rape Crisis Hotline: (904) 244-RAPE
• National Teen Dating Hotline: (866) 331-9474, http://www.loveisrespect.org/ (has live chat)
• Teen Internet Dating Info: http://www.loveisnotabuse.com/
• Break The Cycle: The only national non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to ending dating abuse. http://www.breakthecycle.org/ , http://www.thesafespace.org/

If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship please call the Hubbard House hotline at (904) 354-3114 or (800) 500-1119.

ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE
Founded as the first domestic violence shelter in Florida in 1976, Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 5,000 women, children, and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic childcare, batterers' intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit http://www.hubbardhouse.org/ to learn more.

Find out what Peter Liciaga is doing about Teen violence @ www.peterliciaga.org

Martial Arts? You would do well with a few "things."

In the martial arts, to make true and worthwhile progress, you would do well to have a few "things."

One of those things is patience. Patience means you look at the long-term benefits of steady, consistent training; not too hard and not to easy, but training that’s varied, interesting, and --eventually --both meditative and challenging.

Another thing is the big picture view. Your martial arts practice should not be limited to --or even predominately on --the mat. The awareness, the calmness, the confidence, should make it’s way off of the mat and into your world.

“My favorite saying about the martial arts and life is,'My life is my dojo.'” --Tom Callos ( http://www.tomcallos.com/ )

And yet another great thing to have is an instructor with a brain and some awareness. It’s a great, great thing to have friends and mentors who have the makings for a full picnic lunch --and it’s a real bummer when you end up hanging out with someone who turns out to have brought the basket, but forgot to pack the sandwiches.

Oh, and a really wonderful thing to have is a good diet. Without a good diet, the body doesn’t cooperate the way it should and training is never as much fun or as productive as it could (and should) be.

If you’re considering martial arts classes as a way to have some fun while polishing those “things” that you like most about yourself, consider checking us out here. I like to give new students a good, healthy opportunity to see what the training is like (we always start slow and easy). If you have questions, please, call this number: 856-235-0414.

The Power of the Moment

Anger management, environmental self-defense, dietary self-defense, community involvement, meditation, empathy training, and sustainable living represent a part of the new kind of “self-defense lessons” taught in schools that recognize what I call the power of the moment.

That moment is the opening that comes every so often; that moment when the young and impressionable student is listening to his or her martial arts teacher like only a child can –with that wide-eyed acceptance, that fully open mind, ready to grow, instantly absorbing, and highly impressionable.

It is at that moment that we want our hero at the front of the class to speak not about defeating an opponent or striking another human being or winning a tournament; we want to hear words and ideas that inspire compassion, awareness, respect for self, for family, for the community, for the global community, and for the planet.

We want a seed planted and/or watered at that moment; something that has the potential to sprout into a kind of wisdom and happiness that is uncommon, but the deepest wish of every mother and father.

When that moment comes, as I have seen it come so many times, trust that your teacher is fully aware and recognizes what power his or her words, influence, actions, and position wields.

This is the kind of martial arts I am coaching your teacher to practice (and if they have sent this letter to you, then you can assume that he or she is a good student! Note: The best teachers are almost always good students themselves).

My clients are the kinds of teachers who are acutely aware of the power of the moment; they live to create those moments –so that they might make a true contribution to a better and more peaceful world.

We consider this “our business.”

We spend only the smallest amount of time necessary working on how to run our businesses so that we can pay the bills and have money left over (like all business owners); we spend the majority of our energy on coming up with the most innovative, creative, interesting, and powerful ways to create moments of deep learning, constructive and useful attitudes, and the kind of awareness that promotes peace of mind –and peace in action.

To be a part of my programs, your teacher must transform himself (or herself) into someone who makes the pursuit of genuine martial arts mastery a deep, personal and spiritual daily practice.

You can recognize my students because they are training to be in the best shape of their lives; they are eating and living with full consciousness of what they consume; they define and engage their heroes; they practice meditation; they read; and they take on projects with their students that benefit their respective communities; projects that show, firsthand, how to apply their training principles to life —on and off of the mat.

My members are grounded, real –and exuberant people.

Among our ranks is an Academy Award winning filmmaker; there are songwriters, environmental and civil engineers, artists, authors, attorneys, world champions, school teachers, counselors, journalists, grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers—and all of them are martial artists with a desire to make a difference, here and now, through what they teach and how they teach it.

That is the mission of this work, which is now made up of my work and the work of your teacher.

Find out what your instructor is doing by visiting him at www.PeterLiciaga.org

Martial Arts Lessons: It’s Not About Violence

Just the other day a parent asked me if she thought my classes promoted violent behavior in young boys. She was inquiring about lessons for her son and was concerned that he and his friends might take what they’re learning and use it inappropriately.

I thought it was a fine question.

Yes, there have been a few cases (very few) of students “playing martial arts” with friends, the same way they play as their favorite superheroes, but I’ve never heard of the play being malicious or hurtful. I do, however, hear many stories of my young students using the kind of restraint we talk about in almost every class. I hear many stories of the young people in my program --and other martial arts schools --avoiding violence, avoiding conflict, and staying out of trouble as a result of their training.

A good martial arts teacher adds instructions and advice about how NOT to use martial arts, as often as he or she teaches the technical aspects of the arts.

“The ‘cake’ that is what a martial arts teacher offers his or her students,” says Tom Callos (www.tomcallos.com), the National Director of The One Hundred (www.flavors.me/masterteachers), an association made up of martial arts instructors who embrace education over the more media-prevalent aspects of martial arts instruction, “is made up of blocks, punches, kicks, and other maneuvers, But the real “flour” of the recipe is in the restraint, the self-control, and the attitude of self-discipline that makes up the best-of-the-best the martial arts has to offer.”

And by way of an offer, any reader of this piece that would like to “taste” the cake we produce at our school, need only contact me, Peter Liciaga, Instructor at Dinoto Karate Center to receive a free private or group trial class (no strings attached, no sales pitches, nothing but a genuine “try us”).

And no, it is not about violence or aggression or hurting people. The martial arts are about grown-up adults mentoring young people in the ways of non-violence, self-control, and contribution.

Martial arts is more than kicks and punches!

...it's leadership at it's BEST!!! Martial artist, friend and fellow ultimate black belt test member Brian Williams is making a HUGE diffence in the lives of our youth across the nation! I am inspired, motivated and challenged by his work. This is truly what it is to be a black belt leader!

Watch this video and visit his website at http://www.thinkkindness.org/

41 Days Till Launch - 100,000 Shoes from Brian Williams on Vimeo.

Find out about leadership programs in Mount Laurel NJ by calling 856-235-0414 or visiting us at Mount Laurel Project Based Leadership

10 Simple Lessons In Self-Defense, For Girls

It’s this simple: Children defend themselves with their heads. It’s knowledge that protects children in today’s world. Knowledge about safety, about what to avoid, about what to do, where to go, and how to stay out of harm’s way.

I’m a part of a remarkable association of martial arts teachers, really forward thinking and action-oriented instructors, who come together almost every day to move worthwhile projects forward. The group is called The One Hundred, it’s headed by a 6th degree black belt named Tom Callos (www.tomcallos.com).

The One Hundred, all of us, work on things that are, literally, “good for the world.” Like we’re bringing diabetes education to martial arts schools and anger management training and environmental self-defense programs. This week we launched a very simple, but powerful website to help girls (young women) learn about a kind of self-defense made just for today’s world.

The site, still being added to and polished, is www.flavors.me/10Lessons . Check it out.

And if you know a young person who could use some self-defense instruction, send them our way. Tell us you visited our 10 Lessons site and we’ll give you a self-defense lesson for free --and one thing you will NEVER get at a school in The One Hundred, is a “sales pitch.” We don’t see over the counter, we sell by engaging in and delivering extraordinary work.

For your free self-defense class and mark my words here, there’s no “hook” or sales pitch in this offer. This is simply a way for you to try our school, before ever THINKING about enrollment. Click HERE or contact us at: 856-235-0414

"Wisdom of the Elders" - a community project

Mount Laurel resident and ultimate black belt member, Peter Liciaga will interview 100 senior citizens/elders for his 5th degree black belt test. Master Liciaga will sit down with 100 elders in our community and ask them about life, wisdom and what their thoughts are about...

how they feel about the world today; what their pet peeves are; and what would they say to the future generations.

These questions and many more are answered in an interesting series of videos, Wisdom of the Elders, directed, produced, and filmed by Peter Liciaga, a 49 year old master martial arts instructor. Liciaga will seek to answer questions about the important lessons our elders have learned on their respective journeys through life.

Participants’ responses to his questions range from humorous to fascinating to reflective.

View the Wisdom videos below.


Seniors Are America's Most Underutilized Asset

That’s what this project is all about: the things America’s seniors have learned from their many years of living, in their own words. It’s their personal observations, made from their individual perspectives – looking back.

Share Your Experiences

Peter Liciaga is interested in your experiences and would like to interview you. Please read through the interview questions below, answer the questions (as many or as few as you like) and email as an attachment to

Peter Liciaga (pliciaga@gmail.com)

Please be sure to include your address, telephone number and email address. Thank you!
Please let Peter know if you would allow him to interview you.
Questions: Looking Back

• As you look back over the years, how do you feel about your life? Any regrets?
• Anything you missed out on that you would liked to have done?
• Is there anything you would do differently if you had it to do over again? Would you follow a different path? In what way?
• Were you a self-confident child? Did your level of confidence change as you became an adult? If not, why not?
• Did you have a mentor or a special person who helped guide you as you were growing up?
• Did the lessons you learned from that person still stand out in your mind?
• What were your dreams and ambitions when you were growing up? Did any of them come true? If they did, did it have the same importance to you that you thought it would?
• What advice would you give to future generations?
• Finish this statement. "Wisdom is... "

Children’s Classes in Martial Arts, What to Expect

Expect there to be one or more experienced teachers on the floor in your child’s class. Expect the teacher to, at times, appear to have the patience of Job. Expect a bit more, Oh how shall we say it? ENERGY, every so often. Expect the teacher, whether gently guiding everyone along or cranking up the troops, to wear a smile (a happy one!).

Expect a lot of talk about respect, about leadership, about good manners, about anger, about a whole bunch of things just about any parent would love to hear some OTHER adult talking to them about. That’s the way we do it.

“I haven’t been a ‘karate kid’ for some time, like decades, but the experience is still in my mind like it happened yesterday. Parents, enroll your child in a good martial arts school. You’ll never regret it --and your children will never forget it.” -- Tom Callos, http://www.tomcallos.com/

Expect a lot of good-sleep-inducing exercise. And expect some special events, as one of our primary goals is to teach our students to take what they practice on the mat and apply it to other things (like school, like work, like fun, and like --to the community).

Expect to look back on your son or daughters martial arts lessons with great pleasure and fond memories. Expect, genuinely, some very good times.

For a free class (and mark my words here, there’s no “hook” or sales pitch in this offer. This is simply a way for you to try our school, before ever THINKING about enrollment. Click here or contact us at: 856-235-0414

Advice for Men and Women over the age of 40, Thinking About Taking Martial Arts Classes

First, take it slow. No, really. There’s no hurry, it’s not a competition, and you’re not 20 anymore (even though you look like it). Going too hard, too fast, is why a lot of people who would like to enjoy all the benefits of training, no longer practice the martial arts (or any number of activities). Go too fast, get injured; get injured, quit training.

Second, if the instructor is your age (or older), that’s a good thing. If he or she is younger, make sure they know who’s the boss (you!). You only do what your body says you can do. If and when a class moves into an area you, for sure, want to avoid, you can always find an alternative way to stay engaged. What you shouldn’t do is “100 reps” when your body is telling you the 50 would be wise. Trust me, your teacher will appreciate your input. Give yourself enough time and you will not only keep up with the group, you might be leading it!

Third, be consistent. Being inconsistent about class attendance can dampen the fire of your enthusiasm. Stay on course!

Try out the class you’re interested, first, before enrolling. There’s nothing wrong with trying a week or even two weeks of classes with an instructor you’re interested in studying with. Most all schools will provide you with an introductory or trial course, without a fee (if you like classes, they’re going to know you for a long, long time). If a school doesn’t offer an introductory, it’s a red flag to enrollment.

By the way, click here to find out about a beginner introductory course to our school.

Peter Liciaga, 50 years of age and a 40 year veteran of martial arts practice (see his bio at http://www.peterliciaga.org/) offers the following advice:

“Don’t hesitate to enroll in martial arts classes,” says Liciaga. “It’s a wonderful, thorough, and engaging form of exercise. Just be mindful about the way you practice. Study some of the history of the art you engage in. Enjoy the process of improvement.”