Stress Relief In Melbourne

5/1/2022

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 ... 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀!!
Your subconscious is telling you one thing and your conscious is telling you another, that internal conflict is stress. Your muscles around your neck tighten, your hands start to curl inwards ha ha you know the feeling. But of course you can't do that... can you.

Can you? Well what if I said YES YOU CAN!!
And not only would it destress you but your health would really improve and after you've done it you'd be leaving relaxed and with a smile on your face.

Fitness Kickboxing Reduces Stress
You can kick and punch your way to a stress-free zone within minutes of our high-energy kickboxing routine. The movements in kickboxing challenge the core muscle groups where that tension sits and will give you a total body workout, fast. If you're stuck in a workout rut or looking for a motivating stress releasing fitness routine, you might consider adding a high-energy fitness kickboxing workout into your weekly fitness programme. Even just once a week.

Fitness Kickboxing workouts combine martial arts techniques with heart-pumping cardio, which means you can get a total body workout and whip yourself into shape in no time and you get to hit something, hard ... a lot.

All of that combines to melt away that pent up tension around your neck and shoulders and save you from a short stay at one of Her Majesty's hotels.

Whether you're a fitness newbie or long-time gym aficionado, undertaking a kickboxing workout even just once per week can help you feel completely relaxed.

For more information on trials https://www.guestsmartialarts.com.au/fitness-kickboxing.html

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50% Discount for Police, Military and Paramedics

18/5/2018

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Ok so I've been thinking about this for along time now and it's time to put this in place as a permanent part of our Guests Martial Arts policies. From now on all Police, Military and Paramedics as most often the First To Respond to violence will be permanently be entitled to a 50% discount on all fees and any associated costs for training conducted at all GMA dojos.

Over the years we have had many Police, Military and the occasional Paramedic study at our Dojos, From Officers on rotation at Simpson Barracks to VIC Police and PSO's currently serving our community. As many serving personal have told me over the years our Jujutsu techniques for Restraint and Removal have been extremely useful in real life situations with many current and prior students successfully defending themselves in unarmed situations and even against people with knives.

If you would like to study with us then we would love to have you at our school, simply fill in the form, let us know you're eligible for the 50% discount and provide some evidence that you are currently serving and we will take it from there.

Thanks for your time and your service

Craig Guest
Owner

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Bullying ... 6 things you can do about it & 3 things you can't

1/5/2018

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At Primary school age, schools actually can't do much to protect your child from bullies without exposing themselves to litigation. Aside from education, mediation and separating the children they have their hands tied by state government regulations.
It's extremely difficult to expel a primary school aged child, they have to have done something extreme in order for them to get permission form the education department to move a child on.

However as a parent there are a few things YOU CAN DO that can make a difference.

Document all meetings with staff, this can be with a diary during the meeting or you can ask to record the meeting but will need permission to do that i suspect.
Sometimes you can speak to the parent, they may be unaware and open to your point of view. Not all parents are receptive and sometime bullying is a learned behavior. I did see a women get punched by a "man" and knocked out cold in front of the school gate many years ago.
Start a file with the police just in case something happens and you need to go to court for an AVO etc. We did this with a violent underage neighbour and his father when my son was 13. Schools are not outside of the police jurisdiction they just prefer to hand ball it back to the principle.
Any marks bruises etc should be documented by a visit to the doctors and the information passed on to the school
Change schools, it sounds like a cop out but if it can't be resolved and your primary concern is your child's well being then change schools. Sometimes this is the best solution.
Build your child's confidence and physical responses by enrolling them in Martial Arts. Sometimes this can be enough just by itself, the bully finds out they know "karate" and the problem goes away.

Things YOU CAN'T DO legally

Confront the child, they are children and have very strong protection under the law, you could find yourself being arrested and charged.
Threaten anyone with harm
Hit or strike anyone outside of self defence

If it has reached any of these points you should be thinking about changing schools which is what we did with our oldest in grade 2 when after many attempts to resolve the issue with both the parent and the school but it became apparent that nothing was going to change.

What are your thoughts?

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Focus and Self Control

8/3/2018

Focus and Self Control in Martial Arts

Martial Arts

A little while ago I recieved a phone call from a concerned mum, she had on of our flyers and wanted to know about how Kids Martial Arts training could help her son improve with his Concentration and Self Control.

She was at her wits end and was thinking about taking her son to the doctors to be "assessed".

Apparently he has a lot of problems with being able to FOCUS, it was effecting home and school.Mum hoped we might be able to help. After listening for a while and asking a few questions we made an appointment to come down for a chat and to watch a class like we always do for someone that’s interested in finding out more.

He was a great kid, lot of energy and questions, but every time I tried to answer one of them straight away he would start to look around the school and fidget in his chair in a really uncontrolled way…….Mum just glanced at me with that “see what I mean” kind of look.

So I said his name a few times until I had his attention and we had a chat about the mind and the body that went something like this….

“Billy” in martial arts we learn lots of amazing things that normal people just can’t do, Awesome Kicks, How to do Somersaults and even for our best students Weapons training and the way that we learn them is by Focusing on each moment that we are at training, by Listening to our teachers and Concentrating on what we are doing when it’s our turn to practice.

In our attention stance, which is our learning stance, there are three things that you need to do

STOP moving
LOOK at your teacher &
LISTEN to what they are saying….. just like at school and at home.

I always link things back to school and home when I can because it’s important for people (kids and parents) to understand that this is not just about kicking and punching, but about life.

If your teacher at school says “Can I have everyone’s attention please “, then you need to Stop moving, Look at your teacher and Listen to what they’re saying so you can learn what to do.

However if you mind is thinking about what’s next or what you did last week then it’s not right here right now with your body in this moment. Your body is here at the table with me but your mind is not, it’s away thinking about other things.

So your Mind and your Body have to become one thing and do one thing at a time, not two things trying to do five things at a time. He nodded his head and then went back to looking around and fidgeting in his chair.

We then did our 10 minutes mini practice to help him get ready for the next time he comes in to do a 45 minute class with all the other students. He had trouble with his Concentration and his Focus but we’re working on it and I’m pretty sure we will see a big improvement over the next few months.

$300 for a Black Belt exam and the childs only been training less than 3 years.

17/5/2011

Wow heard this today, several local dojo's are charging $300 for a child to test for Black Belt pass or fail. Considering a Black Belt generaly costs about $10 - $20 to buy from a supplier or about $50 for their name embroided on it it seems very excessive.

Wonder if the parents thought to ask if grading fees are included in the training fees when they first went down for a trial......... Happy to say all our grading are free, always have been always will be.

Don't get me started on 2.5 - 3 years to Black Belt for a child, there are no short cuts.
Training Takes Time.

Kids Martial Arts

13/5/2011

Kids Karate

Kids Karate or kids martial arts as we prefer to call it, has many benifits for children, it improves their Concetration, Listening, and Confidence skills. At Guests Martial Arts this begins right from the first words we say when class starts......... our Student Creed................. I've put my interpretation below in brackets.

My Aim - I aim to develop myself in a Positive Manner , to increase my Mental Growth and Physical Health.
(A positive mental attitude and a healthy body)

My Plan - I plan to develop Self Dicipline in order to bring out the best in myself and in others
( We study martial arts not just for ourselves but for all our friends and family too)

My Promise - I promise to be Truthful, Respectful, Courageous and above all I shall always try to do my best.
(Live life in a way that you can be proud of and give it your best each and every time)

My Goal - My Goal Is Black Belt
(When commiting to something worthwhile have destination in mind)

We teach our students that being a Guests Martial Arts student means that you have both a purpose and values that you live by.

This student creed is said by our Ninja Star (5 - 7yr olds) and Samurai Warrior (8 -12yr olds) students at the start of every lesson. It's our way of starting the lesson right each and every time we step out onto the mats and of reminding ourselves that we need to Focus because training is about to start..........

Childrens Sparring

9/5/2011

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This will surprise many reading this but one of the things I strong disagree with in Martial Arts is sparring (kicking and punching not wrestling) for primary school aged children, the idea of small children hitting each other and being rewarded for it with a trophy I just find really unnecessary.

It’s the psychological aspect of it, that it’s a good thing to hit someone else and that you will be rewarded for it if you do it well.

check out this clip I came across on YouTube last week to see what I mean.

4 Year Olds Sparring

At 4 years old do they understand the real purpose of sparring, highly unlikely. What they do understand is that adults are applauding and smiling and congratulating them from the sidelines for the very thing that they would be in trouble at preschool for doing. If you read further down you see that their child (now 6) can do tornado kicks and launch complex strategies for defeating an opponent.

Any psychologist will tell you that you reward the behaviour that you are trying to instil.

A fantastic children’s programme will offer relevant self defence training and gross motor skills development as well as an amazing character development programme. It’s focus will be on making the children better equipped for life and the daily challenges that they face at school and at home.

I know I’m at odds with 99% of martial arts teachers on this but what are your thoughts as a parent or concerned adult?…………. Should 6 year old little Johnny with all his life experience and ability to reason take his tornado kick to school or not?

If we sound like the right Kids Martial Arts school for your family and you would like a free 3 lesson trial please call Guests Martial Arts on 9495 1929 and we will be happy to arrange a time for your first introductory class.

Regards

Craig Guest

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Martial Arts Melbourne traveling to classes

11/10/2010

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At Guests Martial Arts in Melbourne, we are used to students coming from all over Melbourne for Adults Martial Arts and Kids Martial Arts classes. Our reputation as a birthday party venue also has people attanding from a large area.

Suburbs we service include Fitzroy North, Viewbank, Heidelberg, Ivanhoe, Bellfield, Eaglemont, Ivanhoe East, Bulleen, Kew, Abbotsford, Carlton, Kingsbury, Macleod, Bundoora, Heidelberg West, Heidelberg Heights, Carlton North, Princess Hill, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Pasco vale, Fitzroy, Brunswick East, Thornbury, Preston, Northcote, Coburg, Coburg North, Reservoir, Rosanna, Fairfield, Alphington, Brunswick. A mix of adults and children attend from these areas. Lately we have also begun to have parents drive their children to classes from as far away as Surry Hills.

Adults have traveled or continue to travel from Geelong, Dandenongs, Hurtsbridge and even further, but i think the record would be for a student that came all the way from Leongatha (near Inverloch) for 3 years which is about 150km each way or 2 hrs travel time each way and he attended 3 times a week.

Myself I have flown all over Australia, and when able flying to Japan for training and even moving to the UK at one point all to learn how to improve my martial arts skills. It take a willingness to commit and a certain amount of self sacrifice to achieve to results you are after no matter what you want in life.

Martial Arts is no exception

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Martial Arts Weapons Training

15/9/2010

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Hanbo 3 foot staff

Our Hanbo 3 foot staff training comes from the Kukishinden Ryu school of martial arts. There are several Kata defences against sword and also some defences against a Shoto (short sword) .

Here’s the first two techniques, they’re really similar in application and are fairly simple to learn.

1 Omote Gaeshi

Uke Dai Jodan with the Sword – Steps forward to cut straight down

Tori Musen Muso no kamae (like a walking stick)

Step out to the left and while taking your right foot straight back same time over head strike to the top of Uke right wrist to break the grip on the sword

2 Omote Otoshi

Uke - Dai Jodan with the Sword – Steps forward to cut straight down

Tori - Musen Muso no kamae (like a walking stick)

Step out to the left and swing the Hanbo across the front of your body and around to strike to uke right temple with the bottom of the Hanbo

Now I’ve left out a few key points in both techniques, but if you come along to class and train we can fill in the gaps easily enough.

Hanbo also has a lot of unarmed applications such as Striking, Locks, Chokes and Throws. While the majority of time is spent learning the locks and throws this is only because they take a longer time to learn. In reality striking with the Hanbo (and in general) is always easier to do.

Personally I would rather lock and control an attacker because hitting someone with a stick usually isn’t looked on to well and can do real permanent damage. Locking and Controlling i.e. arresting, is always more a more compassionate approach.

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Free Gym

5/8/2010

Free Gym

Martial Arts

It's got my name on the door but Guest's Martial Arts is only possible due to a lot of help from a lot of people.

Over the last 7 years I’ve had so much help from so many people, from first getting started to running the school, filling in for me when I’ve been sick, painting, plumbing and personal training, artwork, friendship and moral support, financial assistance, free equipment and non returnable favours the list goes on ….

I’m writing about this today because as I type I’m also watching another long time student setting up about 5 thousand dollars worth of gym equipment in the gym that he’s letting me keep here for free. He also has another 15K worth of equipment due in about 4 weeks depending on delivery times. The gym equipment that we already have was the another free loan from another student at the start of the year.

So there you go, one 25K gym, free of charge for parents and members.

Thanks to everyone, you know who you are.