Words of Wisdom, Pass It On

Commentary by Jacqueline Georgi

This last weekend I watched a Youtube video series called At Risk Youth A Skype Interview with Education Activist Peter Liciaga interviewing his sister Mary Liciaga who is a Parent Partner for Parents with At Risk Youth. I was amazed at the wealth of new information and wisdom that has been shared in the series so far..



As mentioned early on in the interview, all of our kids are at risk for various dangers particular to youth of today. As a parent of two teenagers and working with youth professionaly, it is imperative to inform myself on the techniques and tools I can utilize with successful results.

There were so many things that Mary Liciaga says in her interview that resonates with my experience in working with young people. For example, you can have all the funding, and programs galore, but nothing compares to interacting with a caring, compassionate, loving human being. Having a person-to-person interaction is a crucial element to establish trust which is essential for any help to be effective. These one-to-one interactions take time in which patience and non-judgment are essential components.

To illustrate, helping youth work through their emotional issues, I make it a point to just listen to them when they want to open up and talk.To listen without judgment, or thinking about what we are going to say next, but really listen with all our awareness is beneficial in itself. So many times we are too busy lecturing and giving advice that we forget how just listening to someone can make them feel safe. Some of us don't really know how to listen, and we have to start by learning to focus all our attention on what the person is saying without having our own personal conversation inside.

Another interesting point that was touched upon in Part Two was to focus on the strengths of the person or family, and not just focus on the "problem". Its so true that energy grows where attention goes. In other words, what you focus on grows, therefore, focus on what you have/do that will lead you closer to your goals or resolving the conflict. This technique at problem-solving seems to yield better results, as it helps us to be in the moment, to dig into our hidden talents which are our unique strengths, and relieves the mental fatigue of constantly focusing on the" lack of", conflict, or problem.

Perhaps the most valuable bit of wisdom for me was the discussion about setting goals, meeting deadlines, and/or action plans. Sometimes, these plans fizzle out before they begin, because people may be in "survival mode."This means simply that we are needing to attend to our basic needs of nutrition, rest, and resources of support.. Survival mode needs to be acknowledged and dealt with before we can even begin to think about creating goals. To get out of survival mode, Mary suggests we ask 3 simple questions. Are you eating? How are you sleeping? and Do you see people? Getting into the hole and helping them answer these basic questions is the first step toward goal setting and creating a vision. This is an important step that seems to be generally overlooked and needs more recognition.

Reflecting on this, I would add that many times in my own life, I jump or fall back into survival mode, juggling the complexities of raising a family and working 3 jobs, with getting the right nutrition, enough rest, and surrounding myself with positive people. Maybe slipping back in survival mode a bit happens to all of us, but some of us know beforehand that this will eventually happen, and we know the steps to take that will help us get out of survival mode, and into creating the life we want mode. Its also important to remember that some people have only known survival mode as the only form of living. I would dare say most people in the world are living on economic survival mode, and the system is designed that way to keep us stressed and at the level of productive workers and consumers, but that is for another story....Yes, to some people, surviving is all they know, and the concept of setting positive smart goals may be new to them and need time digest.

Speaking of creating, Mary mentions working with vision boards, and I just got out my vision board kit I bought years ago. What are the chances of bringing out this kit just a few days before hearing someone discuss how they made one? When synchronistic events like this happen, I know I am on the right path with the flow of the Universe, and it fills my heart with gratitude and joy. I will be discussing what vision boards are and how we can create them in a future blog, but for now I'd like to finish by inviting you to check out the series for yourselves, and/or comment your thoughts, and what speaks to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZfWkYT0YUY

Summer Program | Workshop Victory Beyond the Kicks and the Punches

Your Mount Laurel Education Activist and Martial Arts Educator,
Peter Liciaga's Summer Workshop for 2012!

Find out more or

Fill in the Pre-Registration Form

"there is no starting or stopping, only doing"

"The Peaceful Warrior"

Victory Beyond the Kicks and the Punches
Summer Workshop Includes:

Leadership & Character Enhancement Skills

Video Lessons: Great Leaders on Leadership

Craft & Projects

Mini-Olympics

Role-playing

Anti-Child Abduction & Child Safety

Physical Fitness

ABC's of Self-Defense

Bully Buster & Bully Proof Skills/Drills

Guest Speakers

and much more!

Victory Beyond the Kicks and the Punches is our 2012 Summer Leadership and Character Enhancement Workshop is just perfect to help your child become one of tomorrow's leaders!

Early Bird Special

All participants pay the same "Early Bird" rate of $199 per participant per session (Session One is from July 9 - 13 and Session Two is from August 13 - 17)

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At-Risk Youth | Sweet Child of Mine (OURS)

Today doing research for my projects, At-Risk Youth and 10 Simple Lessons of Self-Defense for Youth,  I came across Guns & Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" and was moved emotionally.

If I could (with the $ and connections) I would love to use this song to
bring awareness to our at-risk youth.





Play video below, close your eyes and think of our at risk youth.

Here is the video from youtube and some info from it's youtube notes...

The "Sweet Child O' Mine" video depicts the band rehearsing in an abandoned theater, surrounded by crew members. Several of the band members' girlfriends were shown in the clip. Izzy Stradlin's dog was also featured. The video was extremely successful on MTV, and helped launch the song to success on mainstream radio. 

In an effort to make "Sweet Child O' Mine" more marketable to MTV and radio stations, the song was cut from 5:56 minutes to 4:12, with much of Slash's guitar solo removed. This move drew the ire of the band members, including Axl Rose, who commented on it in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone: "I hate the edit of 'Sweet Child o' Mine.' Radio stations said, "Well, your vocals aren't cut." "My favorite part of the song is Slash's slow solo; it's the heaviest part for me. There's no reason for it to be missing except to create more space for commercials, so the radio-station owners can get more advertising dollars. When you get the chopped version of 'Paradise City' or half of 'Sweet Child' and 'Patience' cut, you're getting screwed."[7] 

On an interview on Eddie Trunk's New York radio show in May 2006, Axl Rose stated that his original concept for the video focused on the theme of drug trafficking. According to Rose, the video was to depict an Asian woman carrying a baby into a foreign land, only to discover at the end that the child was dead and filled with heroin. This concept was rejected by Geffen Records. 

There is also an alternative video for "Sweet Child O' Mine" with different captures and the footage entirely in black and white. 

The Lyrics
She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I stared too long
I'd probably break down and cry 

(Woahhhh) Sweet child o' mine
(Woah oh oh oh) Sweet love of mine 

She's got eyes of the bluest skies
And if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain 

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by 

(Woah oh oh oh) Sweet child o' mine
(Woah oh oh oh) Sweet love of mine
(Woah oh oh oh) Sweet child o' mine
(Woah oh oh oh) Sweet love of mine 

Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
(Confusing parts with Duff and Axl singing)
Sweet child o' mine

Peter Liciaga is a member of Tom Callos' The Ultimate Black Belt Test (http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/), an undertaking of The 100 (http://www.the100.us/), and a part of Dinoto Karate Center's master instructor staff (http://www.mountlaurelmartialarts.com/) 

To find out more about Peter Liciaga, visit www.PeterLiciaga.org

You're NOT My Student...BUT, if You Were...

If you or your child WERE my "student," here's some of the stuff I'd "teach" ---

I'd teach you that the people you hang out with so dramatically affects your thinking, goals, state-of-mind, sense of right and wrong, sense of duty, and the value you do --or do not --put on things like education, literature, art, Rolex watches, living-in-the-here-and-now, wearing the perfect sunglasses that make a statement about who you are in the world, compassion, empathy, participation, and 1000 other greats and not-so-greats, that it might be the single most important thing you pay attention to.


I'd teach you to pay more attention to just about everything about healthy eating, fitness, positive role models, positive self-image, peace, environmental awareness, anger management. The Good stuff.
I'd teach you how to contribute to --and fully participate in -- a successful martial arts program something like Mount Laurel's Dinoto Karate Center  offers. As I can tell that most people think that martial arts schools are nothing but an activity that teaches kicks, punches and blocks. I can also tell you that all the martial artist that I surround myself with are positive and motivating people that help me achieve my goals and overcome my obstacles. If I really taught you how to step up, participate and contribute and why...well, you'd know everything I learned in my 40 years as a martial arts student ----Everything!

I'd teach you how and why to embrace your life, your training, and your work. I'd teach you why it's so very important to train yourself to write a journal (more important than any kick, punch or block you'd ever learn, for sure).

I'd teach you why it's so important that you live a more transparent life (it's about being a GREAT student and teaching by example).

I'd teach you how to completely redesign your idea of what it is to be a great citizen in your community --and in the world (and that lesson, alone, would forever change your world --and the lives of 100's if not 1000's of people in your sphere of influence).

I'd teach you that the very things I'm trying to teach you are the very things someone's trying to teach me.

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This blog is part of Peter Liciaga's effort to promote the Ultimate Black Belt Test Program ( http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com), which is an undertaking of The 100. (http://www.the100.us/), and a part of Peter Liciaga's Dream 100 Project.

Video Game Addiction

Yesterday one of our students asked about how to help their friend stop playing video games all the time.


There are so many people that are battling video game addiction (read article: “Video Game Addiction NO Fun”).

Studies show that the excitement of video games makes playing them addictive. Parents of preteens and teens hardly find the realities of video game addiction surprising.

Ask any preteen or teen how they love to spend their spare time, and chances are you'll get an earful about video games. But why do they love them so?

Is video game addiction real? According to some studies it would appear that the excitement of video games causes the brain to release a chemical that is, in essence, addictive. For any parent who has seen the fervor by which some kids play video games, this news is no surprise.

What makes video games so addictive? Media literacy specialist, Dr. Charles Ungerleider explains that "they're very compelling with increasing complexity, so a child becomes more facile, yet wants to know more and apply new skills." While wanting to improve their game isn't a problem in itself, it becomes one if video games are "taking a youngster away too much from other activities," says Ungerleider. "Then the parent has to intervene and limit the amount of time the youngster spends with the video game."

Professor of Computer Science, Maria Klavee feels video games, if not too violent, can "offer some real opportunities for puzzle solving, strategic and critical thinking". But she adds that it's important that video and computer games are played in moderation. Klavee says parents should "provide a selection of activities, not just the ones that have the most action or are addictive. Choose some that involve problem solving or good story lines. Also aim for a balance in your child's life. Sports are important, reading's important. Just think of computer games as one more component in a child's exploration of what's out there in society."

As for video game addiction? Ungerleider believes that "a parent can prevent youngsters from becoming addicted to too much TV or too many video games by establishing a pattern of selective viewing or by using video game material early in a child's life so that by the time a youngster gets to be an adolescent and there's very little surveillance or control, it's less likely to occur."

Finally, Ungerleider remind parents that "if a youngster becomes addicted to video games it can be a problem and the parent does need to intervene and provide attractive alternatives."

A structured and discipline environment like martial arts offers, CAN help with video game addictions.

If you ever wonder about the symptoms of computer game addiction, here are the red flags based on my stories…

If you can’t concentrate or lack focus doing anything when not playing the video game. If you don’t play just for a day your mind can’t think straight and the sound to play just ringing in the head.

You play not because you enjoyed it, but you need it, you depend on it. Sure for the first or three hours you still enjoy playing it, but many hours later you probably has diminish the fun factor and play just for the sake of it.

You play to run away from real life problems. Many people when nervous or have troubles with their life go to the place where they can feel safe like foods, alcohol or smoking and this applies for games too. Game can temporarily make you feel safe and doesn’t have any problem at all.

There is a feeling of guilt every time you play the video game. Playing too much video games can make you feel guilty for some reason. I believe the reason for this is that deep down, you know you played too much video games.

Loss of control. How many times have you said to yourself “okay this is the last game” or “I’m gonna stop playing after an hour”, but you end up playing a lot more games or a lot more hours than what you promised yourself?
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This blog is part of Peter Liciaga's effort to promote the Ultimate Black Belt Test Program ( http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/ ), which is an undertaking of The 100. (http://www.the100.us/ ), and a part of Peter Liciaga's Dream 100 Project.

Positive, safe, and clean Martial Arts School for Kids and Families

Your Mount Laurel Martial Artist and Dinoto Karate Center are on an endless quest for martial arts excellence. To enhance service to our members and our community, we promise to: Help individuals achieve their goals as a person and a martial artist. Provide a positive, safe, and clean environment for all our students and our families. Keep the safety of our students as our primary concerns. Always teach self-discipline above self-confidence. Instill the values of respect, discipline, confidence and self-reliance. Build and enhance our system of martial arts. Provide the atmosphere of unity that extends out to our family and community.

All Martial Arts Schools Are Not Created Equal.

Mount Laurel martial arts Dinoto Karate Center are celebrating its 18th year in business in Mount Laurel, changing the lives of their students one class at a time. Those who study and train at Dinoto Karate Center enjoy the additional benefits of improved health, a new body awareness and a sense of accomplishment that comes from learning something truly worthwhile.

It’s Great For Kids

Martial Arts is good, clean fun for kids…and a great way to give kids a head start in life. At Dinoto Karate Center, they’ll learn the positive benefits of self-discipline and confidence, develop coordination and increase strength and flexibility. Because a structure of respect is built into martial Arts, children develop the ability to listen, learn, and achieve within a highly related environment. This proves to be an excellent reinforcement of study techniques for school.

It’s Not All Serious

Just ask the kids. We regularly have social functions, pizza parties, sleepovers and movie nights. Our goal is to create an atmosphere of success and accomplishment, making sure all kids feel great about themselves as they make their journey towards Black Belt. We make learning challenging as well as enjoyable. Not only do our students learn the most, they have the most fun too!

Winners Don’t Wait

Now is the Time. Why put it off? Sign up right now for the trial program. Get your child or yourself on the road to self-discovery that will make every stage in life easier. So what are you waiting for?

Email: info@americanblackbelts.com

http://americanblackbelts.com/

This blog is part of the Ultimate Black Belt Test Program ( http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/ ), which is an undertaking of The 100. ( http://www.the100.us/ ), and a part of Peter Liciaga's Dream 100 Project.

Constantly Catch Your Kids Doing Something Right

From Dave Kovar's Blog!

This is an excerpt my book, “A Dad’s Toolbox for Better Parenting”. This story is titled “Constantly catch your child doing things right” and it illustrates a great example of what not to do with your relationships.

As a child, I spent a lot of time down the street at the Gray family’s house. They had a pool, a billiards table and a whole lot of ice cream in the freezer. The only drawback was Mrs. Gray. All the kids referred to her as the “neighborhood nag.” She was constantly on both of her boys and, for that matter, her boys’ friends. Nothing was ever done well enough to suit her. She constantly found fault.

One day, Mr. Gray asked his sons and me to clean up the kitchen before Mrs. Gray got home. We went to it, almost excited as we anticipated Mrs. Gray’s compliment on a job well done. Upon her return, the boys raced out to meet her, excited to show her what we had accomplished. Instead of appreciating our efforts, she complained that the floor hadn’t been swept and the garbage had not been emptied. I remained friends with the Gray boys for years to come. I didn’t see them try to please their mother after that incident. After all, pleasing her was impossible. Why even try?

Over the years, their relationship with their mother continued to deteriorate until, last I heard, they no longer had contact with her. I know she loved her boys, but in her attempt to “make them better,” she never praised their efforts or caught them doing things right. Mrs. Gray taught me a lot of what not to do as a parent. Correcting my children is necessary at times, but I spend more time looking for what they’re doing right. The more I look, the more I discover.

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The Kovar Story

In 1978, Kyoshi (Master Teacher) Dave Kovar opened his first school with a vision to empower people by teaching martial arts on a completely different level than could be found anywhere else. He was soon joined by his brother Tim who brought innovative business practices to the operation. Their reputation for combining self defense and life skills grew and as the word spread, Kovar’s Martial Arts opened new locations, garnered awards, earned prestigious industry accolades and gained nationwide recognition.


Today, the organization is named Kovar’s Satori Academy, adding in the Japanese word ‘Satori’ which symbolizes our goal for all students: Which means to be “in the moment… at your best.”

If you would like a free copy of Dave's book, "A Dad's Toolbox for Better Parenting", call Dinoto Karate Center in Mount Laurel NJ at 856-235-0414.

We are committed to families and communities.

Montel Williams Endorses Martial Arts for Better Parenting! An Interview with Dave Kovar.

Call your Mount Laurel Martial Arts Expert Dinoto Karate at 856-235-0414 and find out how you can receive your complimentary copy of Dave's book, "A Dad's Toolbox for Better Parenting", or...
Click here to see what our program can do for you.

DKC students "live" the leadership team oath!

This short-short video shows you Dinoto Karate's most outstanding students --living and breathing Leadership Program superstars. What I think about when I see this video is that 10 or 20 more kids like the ones Dinoto Karate is cultivating in their leadership program – is a very, VERY unique way to serve our families and community in a very, VERY powerful way!

And note: You CAN'T cultivate the kind of success we are talking about in a “kicks & punches only” karate school; nor can you find a book/report that shows you exactly how to find and cultivate kids like the ones in the video --who will go out and make "stuff" happen, remarkably—from great, GREAT grades to powerful & positive choices to fund-raising!

I CAN tell you that Dinoto Karate is doing their part (and all that goes on behind the scenes), to cultivate and develop real BLACK BELT LEADERS (in today's world), because actions speak louder than words.

What I like about the work that these kids are doing is that there's no "formula" behind it. It's REAL stuff. I like it because I think about what it means to these kids --what they'll remember, what they'll take from it, and what it means to the other kids around them ("home-grown" heroes...something I've/we've been talking about for awhile now.)

It's so clean and pure and perfect. Its kids doing something cool. Something they care about and something that's good for EVERYONE involved. I Love that.

Remember folks: We are here to KEEP IT REAL --working with kids (and their families) --for the right reasons. Show them how the confidence they're practicing on the mat can be applied to, well...ANYTHING they care about. Show them how to organize, how to lead, how to write, how to film …how to tell their story. We use our leadership skills and experience to connect them to the right tools, the right people, and to encourage the heck out of them.

We talk to our children about what their efforts MEAN. What it means to their life, to the lives of people around them, to what it means to their community, and what it means to the world.

We work really, REALLY hard to teach our students to bring GREAT small projects to fruition; to smile and enjoy the process …and show them that what they are doing is really, REALLY good work.

Help us to pave the way for the new / next generation of real black belt leaders who cultivate "out of the dojo and into the world" kind of work --and all of us will play a significant part in a better, smarter, powerful, purposeful and more evidence-based-black-belt-leadership kind of education for our world.

With these kinds of stories and kids around the academy, we are simply no longer a martial arts school teaching life-skills --we're a life-skills school that uses martial arts to teach. This IS what brings the most value to our family, community, and the world …yes?

Peter Liciaga
Education Activist and Master Martial Arts Teacher

PS...visit us at http://www.dinotokarate.com/ and see what our students are doing in our community!

Self-Defense is Found in the Simple Things

We teach self-defense --and self-defense is found in the simplest of things. Kindness, for example; kindness is a beautiful form of self-defense. Good food --and the appreciation of it; there’s great kind of self-defense!

Oh, and how about love of community? Participation in --and love for --one’s community is a kind of self-defense that’s impossible to put a value on.

And my favorite kind of self-defense is found in a simple rule, The Golden Rule:

Treat others as you would want them to treat you.

Simply perfect.

I like Tom Callos’ (www.tomcallos.com) description of self-defense too:

“Self-defense isn’t only about personal protection, it’s about taking care of the people around you and the place you live as well.”

And of course, self-defense training is all you already imagined it to be, but with this particular attitude about it, self-defense becomes about living a good life. What a great idea.

For information about our school and our self-defense lessons for today’s world, contact us HERE.

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.