Red Dragon Martial Arts Center

Giving your best effort means you must work your hardest at every task. More importantly, it means you must work your hardest to achieve your goals. People who always give their best effort are far more successful in life than those who do not try hard at all.

It is very important to give your best effort during your martial arts training. Don’t limit your hard practice to the classroom; also practice at home. Both training hard during class and practicing hard at home will enhance your growth and development.

Black Belts understand that they must always do their best. They have trained for years to reach excellence. They have experienced setbacks and persevered through those setbacks. One cannot be a Black Belt without knowing how to put forth great effort. Black Belts understand that the reward for hard work is well worth the great effort required.

Use the following tips to help you put forth your best effort during your martial arts training.

1. Stretch daily. Your muscles need to be flexible to withstand consistent training. Most martial arts injuries occur when muscles are strained beyond their reach.

2. Exercise regularly. You should exercise your legs, abs, arms and heart daily to build the strength necessary to maintain speed and agility.

3. Practice your breathing. It is necessary to breathe properly while you perform martial arts techniques. If you do not know how to breathe correctly, your performance will suffer from a lack of energy.

4. Eat healthfully. Fruits and vegetables give you energy. Fast food and junk food only tire you faster.

5. Sleep a full night. You need about eight hours of sleep each night to keep your brain focused and your body strong. Your memory and muscles begin to fail when your brain is tired.

Whether you are already a Black Belt or are still reaching towards that goal, there is no excuse for less than your best effort. Combine your drive for excellence with the tips above and you can reach great heights. Nobody has a bigger impact on your life than you. When you teach yourself how to give your best effort all the time, then you’ve taken a big step toward accomplishing your dreams and goals.

Character is an important martial arts lesson. It is important that you have good character because, as a karate student and martial artist, you are a role model and mentor. It is equally important to remember that you must have good character to use your martial arts skills appropriately. You’ve learned kicking and punching skills that could be harmful to others, if you weren’t a person with character. Character lessons teach you to use your physical martial arts skills for self-defense purposes only.

Martial artists are respected not only for physical skills, but also for mental skills. You learn and teach confidence, discipline, courage, integrity and loyalty. These are character qualities that are consistently reinforced throughout your training. It is very important that all karate students and martial artists embrace these character lessons, as they are the tools that make you a better person and the world a better place.

Study these key principles of character and apply them to your life everyday.

• Your character is defined by your actions, not by your words.

• Good character requires that you do the right thing, even if it is costly or risky.

• You choose the person you want to be by making choices that reveal your good character.

• Good character gives you the strength to achieve greatness.

• When you actively work to develop good character, you become a better person.

• It is easier to lead and inspire others through good character.

If these key principles of character are part of your life, then you are a true martial artist.

• You have the potential to become whatever you want to be.

• People admire you and find you enjoyable company.

• People want you to be their leader.

• You help others maintain good character because you lead by example.

• It is people like you who make the world a better place in which to live.

Remember, good character extends beyond physical karate skills and abilities. Your good character is revealed and recognized by others when you choose to do the right thing at all times, despite potential repercussions, which are only temporary, while character is forever.

To leave your mark on the world, follow the principles above and watch your character shine.

Principles Of Character article by Joseph Galea from Kickin’ Newsletter January 2006

The popularity of martial arts training can be attributed to its appeal to many age groups. Because the martial arts have such a diverse following, individual progression and expectation can vary greatly among students. For this reason, especially, it is important to understand your potential and compare your achievements only to your own possibilities.Expertise in the martial arts comes with years of continuous training. However, you may never be able to execute aflying sidekick across a room or fall into a full 180-degree split and that’s okay. You can still be a successful martial artist with great physical and mental skills.

A middle-aged gentleman, a friend of mine named Frank, had only one arm. One could argue that having only one arm was a disadvantage that would severely affect his martial arts abilities. In actuality, Frank possessed incredible leg strength and hip control that produced very powerful kicks, which made him a great fighter and martial artist. There are also the Mr. Miyagi-type martial artists who are great fighters through mental focus, quickness and technique. Think of the martial arts as a personal expression of individual strengths, which are different in each participant, that results in self-defense.

What’s your potential? Start with your martial arts assets. Are you strong, flexible, tall or short, quick, accurate or energetic? How’s your balance, concentration and hand-eye coordination? These are just a few examples of personal characteristics that may be your strengths or even your weaknesses. Martial arts training certainly will diminish your weaknesses, but the enhancement of your strengths will control the direction of your training and will ultimately shape you as a martial artist.

How would you like to see some serious fire light up in your child’s eyes – the fire of confidence, the fire that says “I believe in myself?”

Martial arts training at Red Dragon Martial Arts Center in Morristown, TN is one of the best ways to make that fire happen.

This past Friday we held our annual Break-A-Mania event. This is a chance for children and adults to break through real wood as a test of their martial arts skills, focus and confidence. The look on students faces after the boards explode apart is priceless, and it’s a memory they will carry forever.

Check out a slideshow of photos below, as well as a video clip of some of the breaks:

Red Dragon Martial Arts Center offers a FREE, no hassle, no obligation 2 week trial of all our karate and martial arts training programs in Morristown, TN for children and adults. Simply give us a call TODAY at 423-587-3755 to get started or to request an info packet. You can also click on the link below for more info:

2 WEEK FREE TRIAL OF MARTIAL ARTS CLASSES IN MORRISTOWN, TN

Want to send send your confidence (or that of your child) through the stratosphere?

Martial arts training at Red Dragon Martial Arts Center in Morristown, TN is the way to do it!

We do it by helping students set goals and achieve them. Students set goals for progressing through the belt system, for improving their level of fitness and much much more. Every achievement on the way to the ultimate goal of Black Belt takes confidence levels higher and higher.

While martial arts competition is NEVER required, it is an incredibly fun way for students to test their skills, and hmmmm, oh yeah – build confidence!

Red Dragon Martial Arts Center has a monthly event (in cooperation with Fortress Mixed Martial Arts and Victory Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) called Friday Night Fights. Don’t let the name fool you – its not about “fighting”, its about healthy competition for kids and adults in a SAFE and FUN environment.

Continue below the break for photos, video and more info from the January Friday Night Fights and to learn more about our awesome, FREE 2 week trial of martial arts classes.

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Students at Red Dragon Martial Arts Center here in Morristown, TN battled it out tonight with their padded nunchaku for the title of Chux Champion!

Battle of the Chux is an event held monthly to give students a chance to engage in a little healthy competition. Competition, done right, is a GREAT way to help kids develop rock-solid confidence. The kind of confidence that helps them deal with peer pressure and bullies at school. Learning to swing the chux quickly and precise enough to score does wonders for their coordination. Plus – its tons of fun!

Congrats to this months champs:

• Carly McKenna
• Ryan Shafer
• Aashil Patel
• Mattie Bryant
• Ethan
• Poojan Shah

Keep reading below the break for photos of this month’s champs, and to get info on how your child can try our amazing martial arts programs for 2 weeks FREE:

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One of the Principles Of A Black Belt that we stress here at Red Dragon Martial Arts Center is compassion. Over the past few weeks we have been raising money to support Great Strides and Cystic Fibrosis research. This morning, a small group of RDMA students met at Fred Miller Park here in Morristown, braving the cold and sleet, to participate in the annual Great Strides Walk. It was a great chance for them to supplement their training with a brisk walk on a chilly day, and to learn a little more about how they can help contribute to a worthy cause.

If you would like to learn more about Red Dragon Martial arts center, or take advantage of our FREE two week trial of our karate, brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts (mma) classes, give us a call at 423-587-3755 or click on the link below:

FREE TWO WEEKS OF TRAINING AT RED DRAGON MARTIAL ARTS CENTER IN MORRISTOWN, TN

Students at Red Dragon Martial Arts Center enjoyed a little fellowship around a bonfire this weekend here in Morristown, TN. We owe big “Thank You’s” to the Sams family for hosting us at their beautiful farm, the Richards family for the bonfire wood and all the parents that helped serve hot chocolate and s’mores! Check out some photos below the break of students making the worlds largest spider webs.

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A 2 week free trial of our incredible martial arts, karate, brazilian jiu-jitsu and mma training here at Red Dragon Martial Arts Center in Morristown, TN is a great way to start you and your family on the path to personal excellence.

Members of the Victory BJJ and Fortress Mixed Martial Arts programs travelled under the Team Victory/Phil Hurst BJJ banner to Columbia, SC this weekend to compete in the 12th annual South Carolina Submission Championships. This was the biggest grappling event ever in SC with over 250 competitors from all over the Carolina’s and the Southeast.

Team members fought in both no-gi and gi grappling matches. The SC submission tournament is unique in that there are no points kept during matches – the goal is for all matches to end with a submission, or “tapout.”

By the time the day was over, Team Victory had won more medals than any of the other 32 teams represented, and was presented with the overall Team Championship trophy.

For individual results and photos, continue reading below the break:

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The 2 week free trial of mixed martial arts, karate and BJJ training here at Red Dragon Martial Arts Center can’t be beat!

This past weekend we had our monthly Battle of the Chux competition for our karate and martial arts students here at our Morristown location. Good, healthy competition in a positive environment is a great way to help students build their confidence and self-esteem.

Learning to use the totally safe, padded nunchaku is an important part of our students martial arts training. We have found few things that do a better job at facilitating right brain/left brain communication and helping students make major leaps forward in coordination and focus abilities.

In Battle of the Chux, students play a type of martial arts “tag” with their padded chux, keeping all contact on the leg. The last person left untagged in each round wins the round and gets a certain number of points, with the next to last player getting a smaller amount of points. The game takes a lot of concentration and focus, and burns of a lot of energy as well.

Championship belt winners for October included: Dennis Klein, Cassidy Wolfe, Mattie Bryant, Spencer Wells, Poojan Shah, Logan Shafer and Jeremy LaFraniere.

To get you or your child started on our no hassle, no obligation FREE 2 week trial of our awesome martial arts classes, give us a call at 423-587-3755 (or my cell at 865-591-3077) ASAP, or click on the link below for more information:

2 WEEK FREE TRIAL OF MARTIAL ARTS, KARATE OR BJJ TRAINING IN MORRISTOWN, TN