The Right Summertime Activity Provides Learning and Safety
Posted: July 03, 2019
Everyone loves the summer! A time when the schedule is a bit more relaxed and everyone can more easily enjoy recreational activities. Keeping your child from being a couch potato in the summer is important, but equally important is giving them the right kind of mental and physical stimulation.
While traditionally no one likes summer school, martial arts at Personal Best can be a very rewarding activity. Students have a more flexible schedule which allows each student to easily make progress at the same rate they do year round while still having plenty of time for the sun. It also provides a level of structure and reinforcement of vital self-defense skills to balance off the mounds of uninterrupted free time.
For the students craving a camp-type feel, we also have martial arts day camp which includes a variety of enjoyable fun themed days. The camp combines martial arts with awesome activities including super soakers, arts and crafts, relay races all run by professionally trained in-house Personal Best instructors who know how to reinforce the life lessons and codes of conduct you value. It is the benefit of keeping the mind sharp, the body strong, the stress down and the role model behavior firing on all cylinders.
The New Tough
Posted: June 22, 2019
By Master Christopher Rappold
As parents we want the best for our children: do well in school, keep healthy plus have a strong social network of good friends. We also want our children be “tough”. In times past, that meant that young boys needed the courage and skill to fight the bully behind the building after school.
Like with almost everything, the definition of what “tough” means is more complex. Tough now means that we want our children to be able to be tough enough to not follow the crowd, tough enough to hear the criticism and not lash back in anger, tough enough to stand tall against someone who is being picked on and be tough enough to be above having to resort to physical confrontation.
It’s not about the bed
Posted: June 18, 2019
Having a front row seat to some phenomenal parents over the past 20 years at Personal Best Karate has reinforced a lot to me. One of the most valuable items has been the concept of the routine. Students of all ages who grow and progress in our program often do so because they have made their martial arts training a way of life. They schedule the time to train on a regular basis, and although they have a choice to come any of six days a week, most adhere to their predetermined schedule. If their routine is Monday and Wednesday for their classroom training they stick to it. Because of this there is no energy wasted in thinking, “when will I train this week”, they “set it and forget it”
Simple acts of daily routines can also create positive life habits. Since the beginning of Personal Best Karate I have advocated the habit of making your bed in the morning. The reason is that it takes personal discipline to do so. I believe that self discipline is like a muscle in that the more you use it, the bigger and stronger it grows; conversely, the less you use it the weaker it becomes. In the long run, it is well worth the energy it takes to put your success habits and the success habits of your children on automatic pilot. You can start with simple tasks like making your bed then extend it to exercise, nutrition or whatever else you value. What you choose is up to you, it’s about being the very best you can be, it’s not about the bed.
If you would like to have your child try our award-winning character based martial arts program that will reinforce family value and teach mental and physical skills to ensure they are safe, please go to the registration page to sign up today. I promise you that our team of highly-skilled martial arts teachers and mentors will make you and your family feel right at home.
PBK Teen Leadership Team ready for new year
Posted: June 01, 2019
The Personal Best Karate Teen Leadership Team has been quite busy since forming this past spring. They have already met a few times, established their peer support sessions and held their first charitable fundraiser.
Being on the ground floor of this team sure to have longevity has been very rewarding, said Team Director Paul Relyea, a student at the Personal Best Karate School in Foxboro and one of the founding Board members. "We really want to offer teens the opportunities to lead in fun and impactful events in the community," he explained.
"(Founder) Master Christopher Rappold and I spoke about creating the group and what we could offer for the members," Relyea said. The vision of the group was to create a social atmosphere but still be the support for each other. "We facilitate meetings where kids can bring their problems and we work together to offer our support," said Relyea.
She's been fighting since she was two
Posted: June 01, 2019
The powerhouse Grace Jarboe is an 11-year old natural-born fighter. Yes, she just earned her 1st Degree Black Belt in June. Yes, she is currently a lacrosse and ice hockey player. And, yes, she fought cancer and won - but she did that when she was 4 years old.
A conversation no parents wants to have with their pediatrician, Grace was diagnosed with Bilateral Wilms Tumor when she was two years, nine-months old. A form of kidney cancer, Grace went through treatments until she was four and continues with scans. Though she has since recovered, Grace was left with the use of only 80 percent of one kidney.
St. Jude's Hospital was such an integral part of her journey, that when choosing a charity for the charitable giving portion of their Black Belt Training Cycle, the class elected to donate to the organization. "If it wasn't for St. Jude's I wouldn't be here," she said emphatically.