Goju-Ryu: Congrats to Aric Cates in earning his brown belt. Aric was on form, worked hard, and impressed the entire promotion board. Nice work Aric!
Dog Days of Summer- In Westlake residents fill their summers with travels, sports, and in general keep their schedules very busy. We’ve certainly seen a growth slow down, and we’ve noticed students missing more classes than normal. However, this has been a great summer as families are making a sincere efforts to attend martial art classes as much as they can. In other words, this is the first summer that it feels as if most of our student body is making an effort to include Jett Garner Martial Arts in their planning. It’s a great feeling. In the past, sometimes classes felt like a ghost town. This summer has been completely different. I think it boils down to a couple of reasons. We are more visible in our end of town now as we’ve made 2010 the year Jett Garner Martial Arts starts becoming a solid business with a specific marketing plan. Secondly, I think the core of our students in both the Krav and Karate programs understand the values and benefits of continuous training. Lastly, I think it boils down to the quality of the programs. We are a challenging school that has a lot of fun training hard. We train very hard, yet we maintain the balance of fun, entertainment, and teaching two disciplines that truly give students the tools to improve themselves through fitness, competent fighting skills, and realistic yet simple self defense techniques. In the past Jett Garner Martial Arts was a part time operation with a quality versus quantity mindset. Now, we’re a full time operation, which is seeking both quality and quantity. 2010 has been a banner year for us in growth. Adding the Krav Maga program has had a massive influence on JGMA. We’ve certainly had some growing pains, which will continue as we head into the new school year. But, we will handle those growing pains and make schedule changes as necessary. With summer nearly over and the fall swiftly approaching I believe our Traditional Karate goals for total students will be met this year, and I believe that our Krav Maga enrollment goals will be met by January of 2011. So, to all of you students and families whom have made this possible- I thank you. What I offer in return is that I will perpetually seek knowledge, training experiences, philosophies, drills, ect to keep every class fresh, exciting, unique, and dynamic.
Cheers,
