Last Month    

5 New Black Belts!
Congratulations to Douglas Kolb, Megan Manha, Austin Quinlan, Jaimie Cates, and Elisabeth Wilson. They all passed their 3^rd Black Belt exam and were promoted to first degree Black Belt on May 22^nd. As is our tradition, our new Black Belts invited their friends and families down to witness the promotion, and were welcomed into the Black Belt class by our currently active Black Belts. Former member and 3^rd degree Black Belt Shad Smith even came down for the event.  After the promotion, everyone gathered in the back room for some pizza, cake, and some good conversation. Please visit our website to view photos of the event.

Spring Gala Parade and Demo!
This year, The Town of Mont Vernon said hello to Spring with a great big ALOHA!. This years Spring Gala had a Hawaiian theme to it, and MVKS students passed out leis to the crowd in addition to candy this year. Everyone in town was in the spirit of the event, including Mother Nature, who provided us with the kind of perfect Spring day that New Hampshire should be famous for.  I even found an old tye-dyed karate jacket that couldn’t have looked more Hawaiian.

After the parade, we put on an impromptu demo on the side lawn, showcasing our beginner, intermediate, and advanced students’ favorite Kenpo forms and self -defense techniques. It was a pretty good show, and I’d like to thank all of the students who participated. You really helped show the town what MVKS is all about - a fun place for everyone to learn Karate. For photos of this event, visit our website.

Women's self - defense course
In honor of Mother’s Day we held a womens self - defense course last month. Mr. Coughlin helped assist the class, and we had quite a few MVKS Moms and their friends show up.The course was well - received and appreciated. It’s a course that I strongly believe in, as it covers a lot of attack scenarios, but uses the same simple concepts throughout for better retention. The mental preparation side of the course is very valuable as well. You might even say it’s as easy as ABC. We offer this course a couple of times a year, so if you missed it, don’t worry, we’ll offer it again in the late Fall

This Month...    

It’s Dad’s Turn!
In honor of Father’s day, we are offering a ground fighting clinic for all MVKS male members and their Dads on Wednesday, June 24^th,  at 7:00. Look for the sign up sheet on the bulletin board And join us! It’ll be a lot of fun!
                                  

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Happy Birthday!!!
- Another year older and wiser…..

Happy Birthday!!! - Another year older and wiser…..

6/ 01... Erin Quinlan

6/ 02…Davis Balke

6/ 06...Tony Edvalson

6/ 15 …Jed Jones

6/ 19 …Jaimie Cates

6/ 27... Chase Patton, Joshua Manha,

6/ 28... Zach Peacock

Welcome New Students

Beginner Kids: Jude Roberts, Louis Vinton

Beginner Adults: Alex Frank

New Ranks!  - Congratulate these fine students for a job well done in achieving their new ranks!

 !st Degree Black Belt:    Douglas Kolb, Megan Manha, Jaimie Cates, Austin Quinlan, and Elisabeth Wilson

1^st Dgree Brown Belt:   Dylan Amadon

Brown Belt    Tamanna Gandhi, Jacob Williams

Blue Belt:   Jed Jones, Tim Trzepacz, Daniel Trzepacz

White Belt ( from tigers ): Taryn Quinlan. Teoighan Othot

Tiny Tiger Purple: Hannah Bennett, Aiden Bowie, Adeline Macdonald

 Other News and Notes:

-Summer’s Here! That means we’ll be having classes on the side lawn every Saturday, weather permitting. Bring your bug spray and sunscreen. No uniforms needed, just an MVKS t-shirt and your belt.

 -Summer also means vacations. Please be reminded that MVKS will be closed for 2 weeks this summer, 4^th of July week and August 1^st - 8^th. If your vacations don’t match, see me for some tips to stay on track. Please let me know if you’ll be out for more than a week.

-At our Teachers meeting scheduled for Friday, June 5^th we’ll be watching the movie “ The Perfect Weapon “ It’s rated R for violence and language, but should be ok for all of our teaching staff. The movie starts at about 7:45 and will go until about 9:15.

-The Summer Adventure Camp registration packets went home last month. The balance for the Camp is due by June 19^th. Please let me know if you didn’t receive yours, and remember, there will be no day classes that week.

-When classes resume after our 1^st Summer break, we will be offering 2 day classes on Mondays and Thursdays. Beginner and Intermediate ranks will be from 9:30 - 10:15 and advanced ranks including Black Belts will be from 10:15 - 11:00. I’m sure some of you parents will appreciate the nights off!

Kenpo Views

Growing Good Corn - Author Unknown

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.