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BULLY?

Bully Prevention
The number one reason for enrollment in the past few years has been a growing problem with bullying in the schools. This has been brought to our attention by the parents that are actually aware. We are sure there are parents that do not even know it is happening.
Why is there an increase in bullying occurring?
For a number of reasons, and today is our first step in making sure of two things. First, that the bullying stops, and second that if a child is ever faced with this type of situation, he or she will know how to react!
When we look at the type of children that tend to be bullies it is very clear that they are children who lack self-confidence. Hence, they take their anger and frustrations out on someone else. This not only happens to children at school, it happens in relationships, work and sports, as well. The reason it happens is because these individuals lack self- control. Every one has a bad day, or goes through a bad stretch in life, but those who have self control, are able to channel their anger. Maybe you are reading this and saying, “I am angry. I am not releasing my frustration on an activity like martial arts. I’m releasing it on my family or friends.” Well, if that is the case then you should be talking to an instructor today about getting involved in one of our programs.
When I first started training in the martial arts, I had a temper. However, I was never a bully towards other people. The arts showed me how to use my self control. It showed me how to count to 10 and take a breath before reacting. There are many people around me who have gained self-control and self-confidence from training in the martial arts, as well. By building a high level of self confidence, one is able to prevent bullying. This is done through individual accomplishments. When a student makes it through Black Belt Testing, it should be a transformation. For me it was a life changing experience. After finishing my test, I knew that I could do anything I wanted. Also, after going through the fighting part of the evaluation, I felt confident in the fact that I could defend myself. I noticed changes in situations or confrontations with others. I was not nervous; I did not get loud, just a cool, calm, and collected approach to resolving the situation.
What are we going to do to prevent this behavior amongst members of the school and the community?
We are going to offer a Bully Prevention seminar to help our members take care of these challenges with bullies, in a cool, calm, and collected manner. Self- defense will be a last resort; first we will take a few countable measures that can prevent an altercation. But first, we must start with self-confidence; this is the single most important attribute of defense!
When your children go to high school, unfortunately it is even more difficult. Bullying, peer pressure, and social activities can become major obstacles for them. And one thing that I have noticed is the children who make the martial arts a life long commitment and train from a young age all the way through high school, have far less challenges than children who stop training. The point is that in order to reap the benefits of the martial arts, one must keep active.
Bullying will continue, until we reach a level of self-confidence where bullies will avoid us. There is no quick karate or martial arts move that can stop it. It is a life commitment of confidence, self-control, and self-defense training that can take years to develop. So start now the most important move is taking the first step. Call us today and set yourself or your child up for our free seminar.
Dedicated to your success,
Ashley Sparks
Inferno Fitness & Mixed Martial Arts
479-715-6625
http://www.MyInfernoFitness.com

Quality or Quantity??

“If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. Its how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit……“ Bill Clinton

We live in an age of quantity. The media shapes us with the notion that larger, faster, and more are often synonymous with better. We are told that we need to find more time, more possessions, and more love to be truly happy. A smaller quantity of anything that is high in quality will almost always be more satisfying. A single piece of our favorite chocolate or a thin spread of freshly made preserves can satisfy us more than a full bucket of a product that we aren’t very fond of. Similarly, one fulfilling experience can eclipse many empty moments strung together. It is not the quantity of time that matters, but the quality that you experience during each moment. Every minute is an opportunity to love yourself and others, develop confidence and self-respect, and exhibit courage.

Ultimately, quality can make life sweeter. When you focus on quality, all your life experiences can be meaningful. A modest portion of good, healthy food can nourish and satisfy you on multiple levels and, when organically grown, nourish the earth as well. Likewise, a few hours of deep, restful slumber will leave you feeling more refreshed than a night’s worth of frequently interrupted sleep. A few minutes spent with a loved one catching up on the important details about family, work, or community can carry more meaning than two hours spent watching television together.

Often, in the pursuit of quantity we cheat ourselves of quality. Then again, quantity also plays a significant role in our lives. Certain elements, such as hugs, kisses, abundance, and love, are best had in copious amounts that are high in quality. But faced with the choice between a single, heartfelt grin and a lifetime of empty smiles, most would, no doubt, choose the former. Ultimately, it is not how much you live or have or do but what you make of each moment that counts.

Have a great day!
Ashley Sparks
Inferno Fitness & Martial Arts
http://www.InfernoFitnessNWA.com
http://www.InfernoMMA.com
479-715-6625

10 exercises for better FOCUS and CONCENTRATION! Part 1

Practice these skills to improve your own focus and concentration an then help your children improve theirs.

You can find strong powers of concentration in yourself. When you are decisive and sincerely want to excel in your studies, pass an important exam, or playing one of your favorite games; the power of concentration becomes available to you. This kind of concentration is raised because of some need, or desire. Increasing it in a systematic way, brings it under your control, and grants you the ability to use it easily, with no exertion whenever you need it. Real and good concentration is developed slowly, through daily work, and with special exercises. It has to be approached in a reasonable and practical way.
When starting to learn to concentrate you have to find a suitable place where you can be alone and undisturbed. You can sit crossed legged on the floor if you can, or on a chair. Sit with spine erect. Take a few calm deep breaths and then relax your body. In your mind go through each muscle and part of the body and relax it.
The following exercises should help you develop concentration skills:

Exercise 1:
Select some thought and see how long you can hold your mind on it. It is nice to have a clock at first and keep track of the time.
Suppose you decide to think about health, think of health as being a great blessing in the world. Do not let any other thought drift in. Just the moment one starts to obtrude, make it go away. Make it a daily habit of concentrating on this thought for, maybe ten minutes. Practice doing this until you can hold it to the exclusion of everything else. You might have to do this exercise regularly for 10 days or more in order to sharpen your concentration skills.

Exercise 2
Take a book and count the words in any paragraph. Count them again to be sure that it was correct. Start with one paragraph and when it becomes easier count all the words on the page. Perform the counting mentally and only with your eyes

Exercise 3
Take a small simple object such as a spoon, a fork or a glass. Concentrate on it and watch the object from all sides without verbalization, that is, with no words in your mind. Just watch the object without thinking with words about it

Exercise 4
Draw a small geometrical figure, about 3 inches in size, such as a triangle, a rectangle or a circle. Paint it with any colour you wish and concentrate on it. Only see the figure. Do not think any words, only the figure exists. Watch the figure in front of you and try not to strain your eyes.

Exercise 5
Concentrate on the Within. Lie down and thoroughly relax your muscles. Concentrate on the beating of your heart. Do not pay any attention to anything else. Think how this great organ is pumping the blood to every part of the body; try to actually picture the blood leaving the great reservoir and going in one stream right down to the toes. Picture another going down the arms to the tips of the fingers. After a little practice you can actually feel the blood passing through your system.

All the best!
Ashley Sparks
479-715-6625
http://www.InfernoMMA.com

Blog title…

Practice these skills to improve your own focus and concentration an then help your children improve theirs.

You can find strong powers of concentration in yourself. When you are decisive and sincerely want to excel in your studies, pass an important exam, or playing one of your favorite games; the power of concentration becomes available to you. This kind of concentration is raised because of some need, or desire. Increasing it in a systematic way, brings it under your control, and grants you the ability to use it easily, with no exertion whenever you need it. Real and good concentration is developed slowly, through daily work, and with special exercises. It has to be approached in a reasonable and practical way.
When starting to learn to concentrate you have to find a suitable place where you can be alone and undisturbed. You can sit crossed legged on the floor if you can, or on a chair. Sit with spine erect. Take a few calm deep breaths and then relax your body. In your mind go through each muscle and part of the body and relax it.
The following exercises should help you develop concentration skills:

Exercise 1:
Select some thought and see how long you can hold your mind on it. It is nice to have a clock at first and keep track of the time.
Suppose you decide to think about health, think of health as being a great blessing in the world. Do not let any other thought drift in. Just the moment one starts to obtrude, make it go away. Make it a daily habit of concentrating on this thought for, maybe ten minutes. Practice doing this until you can hold it to the exclusion of everything else. You might have to do this exercise regularly for 10 days or more in order to sharpen your concentration skills.

Exercise 2
Take a book and count the words in any paragraph. Count them again to be sure that it was correct. Start with one paragraph and when it becomes easier count all the words on the page. Perform the counting mentally and only with your eyes

Exercise 3
Take a small simple object such as a spoon, a fork or a glass. Concentrate on it and watch the object from all sides without verbalization, that is, with no words in your mind. Just watch the object without thinking with words about it

Exercise 4
Draw a small geometrical figure, about 3 inches in size, such as a triangle, a rectangle or a circle. Paint it with any colour you wish and concentrate on it. Only see the figure. Do not think any words, only the figure exists. Watch the figure in front of you and try not to strain your eyes.

Exercise 5
Concentrate on the Within. Lie down and thoroughly relax your muscles. Concentrate on the beating of your heart. Do not pay any attention to anything else. Think how this great organ is pumping the blood to every part of the body; try to actually picture the blood leaving the great reservoir and going in one stream right down to the toes. Picture another going down the arms to the tips of the fingers. After a little practice you can actually feel the blood passing through your system.

All the best!
Ashley Sparks
479-715-6625
http://www.InfernoMMA.com

3 Steps: A look at teen bullies. Step 3

Step Three: Respect
As your teen develops this awareness, give them the freedom to make their own choices with your guidance. Follow it with an overt demonstration of your respect for their choices, even if you do not agree with them.
Without these most basic skills, no teen can successfully navigate the rough seas of peer pressure.
If some of this is already in place with you and your child, keep building on it and guiding your child into greater abilities to make good choices for themselves. If its not there, start today. No matter what age your child is you can begin today to build a rapport with them that will in the future, help them make good decisions for themselves.
Respect and communication are important life skills. Children who learn these skills early are more likely to excel later in life. They are also better prepared to withstand the negative peer pressures they will face.
Give your child a head start by enrolling them in a quality Martial Arts school. The programs offered at these schools build a strong foundation of respect and communication that your child will draw on throughout their life.

All the best!
Ashley Sparks
http://www.InfernoMMA.com

Bully Statistics

http://ping.fm/lQZwb

Defeating the Bully the Smart Way�

 Author: Dr. Terrence Webster­Doyle

We need to look no further than a handful of recent news reports to realize the dangerous
social conditions facing our youth today.
Dekalb, Missouri: Twelve year old Nathan D. Faris pulled a gun from a duffel bag, fatally shot
Timothy Perrin, thirteen, and took his own life by shooting himself. Faris had been the victim of
relentless teasing by classmates.
Edinboro, Pennsylvania: A month before shooting students at an eighth grade dance, fourteen
year old Andrew Wurst reportedly led friends to a dresser drawer, pulled out a gun, and told
them he intended to kill people who had made him feel small.
Jonesboro, Arkansas: Friends said Mitchell Johnson, age thirteen, was angry about being
rejected by a girl and warned a day before the tragedy that “he had a lot of killing to do.”
Johnson, whose parents were divorced, was known as a bully and a braggart, but he was also
teased for being fat.
Springfield, Oregon: Kipland Phillip Kinkel, a fifteen year old who’d been arrested for
possession of a stolen firearm, walked into his school cafeteria, pulled a .22 caliber rifle out
from under a khaki trench coat and calmly fired more than fifty rounds among the 400
teenagers present. Two boys died and 23 other youngsters were injured. Later, a search of the
Kinkel family home turned up the bodies of his parents, William Kinkel, 59, and Faith Kinkel, 57.
News reports said Kinkel was angry at being teased by older students.
Littleton, Colorado: “This is for all the people who made fun of us this year,” Dylan Klebold,
seventeen, and Eric Harris, eighteen, said as they fired on fellow students. “There was blood
everywhere.”  
Harris and Klebold, two high school students at Columbine High School, armed with guns and
bombs, laid siege to their fellow students with a relentless and terrifying fury for hours, killing
twelve students and one teacher and wounding 23 other students. Harris and Klebold casually
decided which of their classmates should live and which should die, and laughed triumphantly
as they dealt out their fate. They made at least two female hostages answer a question: Did
they believe in God? When they answered yes, the gunman executed them at point blank
range.  
The bloodbath ended only when both of the gunmen ended their own lives by shooting
themselves. It took days to find the homemade bombs these teenage killers left at the school in
order to create more carnage. This was the most lethal school shooting in history. These two
young boys who killed their fellow students with an insane rage were school outcasts who had
been picked on, taunted and harassed by a certain segment of popular students.The same week of the Santee, California, school shootings earlier this year, there were three
other reported incidents of similar threats, with lists of people to be hit, three of which were
actually carried out. And as the violence goes on, we all wonder: Where does it end?
Violence and Victims. Violence and aggression are rampant in our society. Indeed, they’re
among the most critical issues facing our children. Unfortunately, young people are victimized
more than any other age group and thus face a significant risk of harm.  
Juveniles compose 1/10 of the U.S. population, but they are victims in one out of every four
violent crimes. Schools are experiencing a proliferation of violence. Recent statistics from the
Department of Justice indicate that 25% of children are fearful of being attacked in school.  
Bullying is often ignored by both parents and teachers as a serious problem. In a recent survey
of 204 middle and high school students conducted in several Midwestern communities, 75% of
those polled said they had been bullied. Bullying not only affects the lives of our children but
also sets a pattern for adult life. Gang related violence is a form of bullying, as is global conflict.
To put it simply, bullying needs to be addressed.  
I am an educator, an author, a former school principal, a martial artist and a parent of five
daughters. As a professional and a parent I am naturally concerned about children’s welfare. In
all I’ve learned, the martial arts, if properly taught, has the best opportunity to address this
urgent social concern. It is time that we martial arts teachers recognize our unique capabilities
in dealing with conflict. We have the possibility to successfully address the problems of violence
and bullying with our young students because we, like no other professional in the lives of
children, can help them understand and avoid conflict at all levels.  
It’s what I call ARMing them with knowledge. The acronym stands for Avoid conflict by learning
to prevent it through developing awareness and sensitivity to its causes. Resolve conflict by
developing mental skills that give the confidence to neutralize potential hostility by alternative,
nonviolent means. Manage conflict if it gets to the physical confrontational level by the proper
and humane use of physical restraint. ARM thus means Avoid, Resolve and Manage.
And no one is really doing this! No one really helps young people understand the causes of
conflict, and no one is combining understanding with conflict resolution skills and physical
martial arts skills.  
Physical Self Defense Is Not Enough. Physical self defense has a place in giving students the
confidence to be able to defend themselves when it gets to that point, which is after it becomes
a physical confrontation. But the intention of the martial arts is to stop conflict before it
becomes one; that is, to avoid and therefore prevent it. This takes a different kind of training,
one that would naturally compliment physical self defense, which is what I call Mental Self
Defense, the other half of a complete martial arts training. For the martial arts is a holistic
educational endeavor, encompassing the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of being human.By combining physical and Mental Self Defense, our children are being taught not only physical
skills for confidence but, at the same time, mental skills of nonviolent alternatives for
confidence, to enable them to reason their way out of a potential conflict. This is then the right
combination of brawn and brain, the combined power of muscle and intelligence, the balance
between brute force and reason.
Teaching only physical skills can be dangerous because young students think that by themselves
these skills can end conflict, when in fact, they can all too often escalate it. All they know is how
to end fighting by fighting. And in today’s world of fighting, with young people having easy
access to weapons, what would be thought of as a relatively simple and harmless physical fight
in my day is now met with knives and guns, ending up with serious injury and even death.
It is therefore essential that we teach the martial arts both physically and mentally, which is
precisely the way they were originally taught. If we want to help our children to successfully
cope with conflict at all the levels mentioned above, which is the only intelligent way to do so,
then we must begin to train our students at the levels of avoiding and resolving conflict to
balance their current training in the physical level.
The Next Step in Martial Arts Evolution. The martial arts need to evolve in order to meet the
challenges of violence and the decline of values in the modern world. The martial arts teacher
has primarily been trained as a self defense instructor or coach, giving the skills and training to
students to defend themselves and to enjoy the sports aspect of the martial arts. This was a
necessary and important stage in the development of the martial arts.  
But now, in the natural and inevitable evolution of the martial arts, from being primarily a self
defense and a sport, we need to develop Martial Art Educators, trained to teach students the
educational aspects of the martial arts. That is, how to use reason in order to cope with brutal
aggression before reacting physically. In other words, Martial Art Educators need to get the
training and resources to be able in turn to train their students in understanding and avoiding
conflict, which is the primary intent of all martial arts.
Learning only physical self defense defeats this intent. In Mental Self Defense, learning to use
the most powerful muscle in their bodies, their brains, children learn how to avoid conflict by
employing nonviolent alternatives. It’s a far better choice than resorting to the limited
alternatives of brute force and possibly getting hurt physically, or running away and feeling
emotionally hurt.
These nonviolent alternatives to conflict include, among others, being able to talk their way out
or to make friends; to use humor; to call a proper authority; to ignore threats; or even have the
confidence to refuse to fight and walk away. These nonviolent alternatives are mental skills that
need to be taught along with the physical skills. The method of teaching them is role playing, a
skill in which the modern Martial Arts Educator needs to be trained.Summary. We all want our children to be safe and happy. Teaching them physical self defense
is only half of their education. It is like giving them a firehose with no water to put out the fire.
Worse, it is potentially harming young people by not giving them a first line of defense, the
mental skills to avoid conflict and therefore to stop it before it occurs.  
We all wish violence would go away. But we cannot avoid it by pretending it doesn’t exist. We
can begin to reverse this terrible trend of violence that young people face daily, but only if they
get the proper training and resources for a complete mental and physical martial art education.
The best education young people can ever receive is one that has the potential to create a safe
and peaceful world for them and, in turn, for their children for generations to come.  
The martial arts has that potential, if it educates its students in the totality of these creative and
peaceful arts, to not only have the confidence to manage conflict by the humane application of
physical restraint, if it becomes necessary to do so, but much more importantly, to have the
skills and presence of mind to resolve and avoid conflict before it becomes one.
Dr. Terrence Webster‐Doyle is an educator, author and black belt who has drawn on his diverse
background of over fourty years of experience in Martial Arts Safety Awareness Fitness
Education
TM
(MASAFE) to develop the unique Bully Buster Kids Program
TM
It is based on his .
best selling book, Why Is Everybody Always Picking on Me: A Guide to Handling Bullies. He can
be reached at (800) 848‐6021 or emailed at mapp8@aol.com. Or check his website at:
http://www.martialartsforpeace.com.

CHAMPIONS are FOCUSED!

What is one of the most important qualities you will see in Top Performance Black Belt Champions?

It is their ability to stay focused and keep their primary goals and objectives clearly on their mind.

They always have clarity of what they want to accomplish and what they have to do to succeed. They have a laser beam focus on what they want and what actions need to be taken to achieve their ultimate victory!

CHAMPIONS condition themselves mentally to stay alert and they develop a high level of concentration.

They have learned how to turn their mental switch “ON” when it is time to take action.

They also know how to turn it “OFF” when it is time to rest & recover. They are able to focus and aim their time and energy in a positive and purposeful direction.

CHAMPIONS condition their bodies to stay healthy, strong, flexible and fit.

They strive to be their best in everything they do. They train hard to improve their strength, flexibility and overall endurance. They know how to maximize their energy for peak performance in and out of the dojo.

CHAMPIONS condition their spirit to be strong under any circumstance.

They have a non-quitting spirit that never gives up. This gives them the ability to overcome all obstacles that get in their way.

CHAMPIONS stay focused on the positives and have the internal strength to defeat any and all negatives that stand in their way!
Dedicated To Your Success,

Ashley Sparks
http://www.InfernoMMA.com
479-715-6625

THE NON-DIET APPROACH TO HEALTHY EATING

THE NON-DIET APPROACH TO HEALTHY EATING

In the United States, bookstores are packed with best-selling diet books, and magazine racks overflow with diet plans and promises. Yet more than 90 percent of dieters regain their lost weight, and then some. With such a profusion of creative diets, why does the obesity rate continue to grow?

It turns out diets themselves may be the problem. Some experts believe people become so accustomed to dieting as a way of life that they lose touch with their natural relationship with food. Caught in a vicious circle of weight cycling, they punish themselves with dieting, rebel by overeating and shamefully return to dieting. Some research has shown that in addition to causing negative psychological effects, weight cycling can increase a person’s risk of developing diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

Controversy is also growing over the true health consequences of obesity. Various studies now indicate that being heavy, fit and healthy may indeed be possible. Accepting your body size, staying active and learning to eat in a natural, unrestrained way may be a healthier route than a lifetime of dieting.

Getting Out of Diet Jail

So how can you break free of dieting Aprison and learn to eat in a healthy, natural way? Karen Carrier, MEd, director of the Houston Center for Overcoming Overeating, suggests taking these steps, adapted from the Overcoming Overeating approach developed by psychotherapists Jane Hirschmann and Carol Munter more than 30 years ago:

1. Look at Food as the Solution, Not the Problem. Instead of restricting and controlling your food intake, practice demand feeding, an unrestrained style of eating that involves eating consciously in response to internal cues. Try to ignore all the societal pressures to diet (such as media images of super thin models), and begin to listen to your body.

2. Eat in Response to Physical Hunger. You may currently be following family or cultural eating habits, or old dieting and overeating patterns. Instead, try to identify when you are truly hungry. (You can rate your hunger on a scale of one to 10.) Your goal is not to judge or control your hunger, only to recognize and respond to it.

3. Recognize and Respond to Emotional Hunger. Don’t judge yourself when you eat to fulfill emotional needs. Find the kind of food you want and eat it without hiding it.

Remind yourself that the closer you come to ending the cycle of depriving and judging yourself, the less need you will have to eat out of emotional hunger.

4. Eat Exactly What You’re Hungry For. Check in with yourself and determine what you really want. Something cold, hot or room temperature? Crunchy, chewy, soft or liquid? Sweet, salty, bitter or spicy? Permit yourself precisely what you want.

5. Learn to Know When You’re Full.This often takes time. You will initially eat way past fullness but will gradually learn to stop eating closer and closer to fullness.

6. Practice Size Acceptance. It isn’t easy to tune out messages that encourage the relentless pursuit of unattainable physical goals. Learning to recognize when you are negatively judging your body and when you are accepting and nurturing it is an important start. The more you practice self-acceptance, the more comfortable it will feel. Publications such asRadiance: The Magazine for Large Women (510-482-0680) and organizations like the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (916-558-6880) and the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination (914-679-1209) can help.

7. Explore Movement as a Way to Nurture Yourself . Don’t exercise to punish yourself or compensate for overeating. Instead, find movement you enjoy, and commit to an active lifestyle.

8. Get Help. You can’t change your relationship with food and your body overnight. Remember that assistance is available. Fitness professionals, dietitians, psychotherapists, nurses and physicians are beginning to use nondiet and size acceptance approaches with clients. Books that can help include Overcoming Overeating: Living Free in a World ofFood (Fawcett/Columbine, 1989) andWhen Women Stop Hating Their Bodies: Freeing Yourself From a Food and Weight Obsession (Ballantine, 1995) by Jane Hirschmann and Carol Munter. You can also call the Centers for Overcoming Overeating (212-875-0442).

Learning to eat in response to your hunger–instead of endlessly trying to sort out what you should and should not eat–will free you to move on to more satisfying endeavors and a healthier, happier life.

I found this article at kickboxing.com
Its a good read!

All the best!
Ashley Sparks
http://www.InfernoMMA.com
479-715-6625