Keeping our Kids Safe I’m not one to tell you that the world is any more dangerous than in years past. Some will use scare tactics as marketing tools for anything from safes to self-defense courses. Statistically speaking, we are living in one of the safest periods of the last 50 years. Violent Crime hasn’t been this low since the early 70’s. Yes, statistically speaking, you’ll be just fine. However, we don’t teach statistics, and we want you to avoid being one. Nothing match

Stephen Hawking was asked what the greatest human shortcoming was. He replied, “The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression, it may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all.” Hawking went on to say that the best cure for aggression was increased empathy, which “brings us together in a peaceful, loving state.” Yes, the future of our empathy is uncertain. T

The sad face emoji is not an expression of empathy. Having empathy means that you value someone’s current position in life. It is more than the click of the mouse. We are more connected than ever. You may have 2,000 Facebook “friends” but they are more like acquaintances than people with whom we have meaningful relationships. How many of them would help you move? That is the true benchmark of a friend. :) The heart emoji. The angry emoji. These are as close to artificial inte

Ability to sell and influence others We already know that to empower means “to give power to” and our mission is to equip everyone with the confidence to live successful lives. Our kids will enter the most competitive job market that the world has ever seen. Due to rapid globalization, American graduates now compete alongside many more of their peers from around the globe. It is imperative, therefore that kids develop the self-esteem to stand out and to sell themselves. “Your

Approximately 1.8 million adolescents in the United States have been the victims of sexual assault. 1 This is a sensitive subject, but one that should be discussed with your child using language that they can understand and that does not frighten them. All of the tips on abduction apply, but it is important that you have a better understanding of these types of “tricky people” to equip your child to be able to spot potential dangers. When it comes to physical self-defense, yo

Bullying is prevalent in many different forms. Protecting yourself from bullying is your everyday sort of self-defense, There are 4 different types of bullying: Relational Cyber Verbal Physical Each one is powerful in experience and involves either direct or indirect contact. No longer can a child go home and disconnect from the world. Bullies can name-call and criticize from their digital devices all from the safety of their own homes. Although bullying comes across many dif

To support your family from your business is winning against the odds; To support your employees’ families through your collective work, that is a legacy. Your name is also your legacy. I went by 3 different last names growing up. So, I never really took pride in the name Johnson. The defining moment for me was when we rebranded our school as Johnson’s Martial Arts in 2017. We tore down the old decals replacing them with ones with the new logo. Do you know who helped me? My s

Most of us can’t fathom how we survived our childhoods. I am sure that there were some close-calls that you had growing up. Certainly, there are accidents and situations from which I should not have walked away. There was one particular instance when I had to go in an hour early to school when I was 16. I had been tardy 3 times, and received a detention which was held before school. “Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color t

The opposite of ‘TO GIVE POWER TO’ is TO TAKE POWER AWAY’ and there is plenty of that going on these days. An Afflicted Childhood: There’s an APP for that! Our youth face a world of challenges that were unbeknownst to us growing up. It’s not that we didn’t experience bullying and peer pressure. It’s just that we didn’t get bombarded across so many different platforms. We would deal with bullying at school or in the cul-de-sac. Today, kids deal with text messages, Instagram, S

Like just about any other kid, I began martial arts for fun, to protect myself, and to get into shape. I didn’t start training in order to meet girls, but I did meet my wife, Melissa through the sport. :) She came in at the age of 12 for a trial Taekwondo class that I was assisting and caught my attention. I noticed her immediately. Only through attending classes and getting better did I start to gain a love for the martial arts. Later on, I began to assist others and had the