Warrior Arango Wows the
By Mike Allen, EFC UK General Manager
Clockwise from Above:
Anthony Arango; Meeting of
Minds in progress; attendees
of the UK Meeting of Minds
USA Advisory Board Member
and top school owner Anthony
Arango was the guest presenter
at EFC UK’s most recent Meeting of Minds Seminar held at
Vince Cassar’s beautiful new
Cassar Academy of Choi Kwang
Do in Morden, near London.
We were surprised to learn
that Anthony still competes
in tournaments at a very high
level, winning the silver medal
in the 2009 W.A.K.O. World
Championships in Italy. Anthony teaches a traditional style
where Black Belt takes seven
years to achieve, but he has fully
incorporated the modern EFC
system of school management
and is a keen student at MAUI.
Everyone warmed up to the
enthusiastic style of the karate
warrior, as he asked the attendees, ‘Would you join your own
school’? Anthony then covered
in depth his practical systems
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Eagle Express | 2010 Issue 8
for the intro program, class
schedules, internal events, VIPs,
marketing, belt promotion
success, fitness goals, testimonials, staff responsibilities and
leadership profile. Later the
attendees spent an hour on the
mat, where Anthony covered
different ways of teaching a
punch technique, in order to
disguise the repetition.
Next morning, Anthony covered leadership programs, girl/
boy scout, sport team & camp
seminars, adult seminars, end
of class message and becoming the safety expert in your
community. The information on
child safety, however, had the
biggest impact. Everyone was
shocked to learn how predators
operate and how easily they can
Vince Cassar’s long-term friend,
movie star Silvio Simac called in
to say hello. Silvio’s first major
He asked the attendees, ‘Would
you join your own school’?
seek out their victims. Anthony
passionately made the case that
all attendees should become the
safety experts in their communities, providing a much-needed
public service, which would
inevitably benefit their school.
The meeting ended with a
lively Q & A session.
We were all very pleased when
appearance in a Hollywood
movie was in “Danny the Dog,”
starring Jet Li, where he played
an underground fighter. He
was also a character in the film
“DOA: Dead or Alive”.
On behalf of all the attendees
I thank Anthony and Vince for
their commitment to helping
their colleagues succeed!
UK!
did you
?
know
Colorado
Spring 2010
You’ve Come
A long WAY BABY
This weekend was
a big hit. Here
are extracts
from attendees’
feedback:
“We would like to thank Anthony Arango for taking the
time to come to the UK and
to so freely give the information that he has. We are
certain that the ideas with
have taken away will enable
our academy to grow in the
near future.”
—David and Jayne Pawson
Kokoro Academy of Martial Arts
“Anthony Arango managed
to pull all of the systems that
we use together to work
fluidly and with comprehension. Keep up the good
work!”
—Pil Suhng and Chris Ellis
CKDMAI International Examiner
“Just wanted to say a big
thank you for everything you
did for us over the weekend.”
—Paul and Heather Drury
Paul Drury’s Black Belt
Academy
Devotion
“Alegría Living,” a Colorado lifestyle
magazine, recently featured Bridget
Johnson, co-owner of Universal
Kempo Karate schools at Stetson
Hills and Fire Station in Colorado
Springs, in an issue about women
achievers. Here you see her on the
cover with other strong and successful women. The story focused on
how she teaches women’s self-defense. “The Personal Protection Workshop focuses on getting women to
build confidence and encourages
behavior that counteracts the ‘victim’
mentality,” wrote Cinnamon Lynn,
the author of this piece.
Moving Mountains
Spring 2010
$3.95 www.AlegriaLivingOnline.com
INSTINCT
know your enemy
By Cinnamon Lynn
Photos by Paul D deBerjeois
in·stinct
\ˈin-ˌstiŋ(k)t\
below the
Pronunciation is mediated by reactions
lse
ude, or impu
that
inherent aptit
1: behavior
re, to incite.
l; a natural or
conscious leve s impulse, from instingue
nctu
2: Latin insti
We often hear “trust your instinct.” In a world of reason,
many times this phrase gets put away because emotion and
instincts are defined through statistics or scholarly theory.
Bridget Johnson, Assistant Professor of Chinese Kempo-Karate of Colorado Springs, stressed the true definition of instinct as she started her Women’s Personal Protection Workshop with three important tips for safety: 1)
Instinct - if it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not right, so
trust your gut; 2) Awareness - don’t walk around with
tunnel vision. Pay attention to your surroundings; 3)
Common sense - don’t place yourself in potentially unsafe situations.
“I was 16 when I first started thinking how I would protect myself,” Bridget said. With this in mind, she signed
up for a Kempo-Karate class and after twenty-five years
of martial arts, Bridget is now teaching others how to
defend and protect themselves.
“I think now – about attackers – try to touch me, because I have the confidence and ability to defend and
protect myself and family”
Many older generations of women were raised to be
victims. They were conditioned not to raise their voices,
don’t kick, and keep your hands to yourself. The Personal
Protection Workshop focuses on getting women to build
confidence, and encourages behavior that counteracts
the “victim” mentality.
i think now – about
attackers – try to touch
me, because i have
the confidence and
ability to defend myself
and my family.
16
alegríalivingonline.com
gReen lIvIng
Home Cookin’
There are some startling facts about attacks. The number
one place where women are attacked is grocery store parking lots, and the second is in women’s bathrooms. Women
are also at risk of attack from male partners, unfortunately.
The workshop started with Bridget demonstrating the
first line of defense: yelling “STOP!” Around the room,
soft whisper-cries of “stop” barely sounded. Along with
Bridget, karate student Tanis Hinson, Black Belt Jennifer
Jimeson, and Assistant Professor Judy Maddox encouraged louder cries and slowly the students started to feel
comfortable shouting.
The next step was to follow the verbal warning with a
hit to the face using the palm of the hand. Each woman
took turns shouting and thrusting their palms into a padded dummy that instructors held. The shouts were weak
at first, and the palm thrusts looked like mere taps, so the
instructors shouted and coaxed the “mother bear” out of
each woman, trying to get them to get angry and protective, but still, the efforts were at first weak.
Bridget Johnson, Assistant Professor of
Chinese Kempo-Karate
Left: Student Stacy Gross practices “knee to the groin,” as Black Belt
Jennifer Jimeson holds blocking dummy.
Below: Bridget demonstrates self-defense moves.
The proTecTion workShop
STreSSeS TheSe ThingS:
• Be prepared – know your enemy.
• Use your instincts and if you feel
uncomfortable trust your gut.
• Develop awareness habits.
• Have a personal safe zone, keep
your distance.
• Give yourself permission to kick butt.
Women should react the same way
to defend themselves as they would
defend their children.
Basic physical skills for protection,
which include:
1) palm heel strike
2) ridge hand to brachial plexus
3) elbow to jaw
4) knee to groin
Real life scenarios, people you know,
grocery store parking lots.
Accessorize for safety: key chains,
pepper spray, firearms.
alegría living Spring 2010
Yolanda Kim, co-owner of William Kim’s Taekwondo
Center, Vallejo, CA, says:
I am lucky that I have three beautiful children. Our son
Will, now 23, is following his dad’s footsteps. He loves tae
kwondo and is pretty much running the studio. It makes
me proud to see him with so much patience and heart
with each and every student. Our daughter Rose is 21.
She is graduating from California Maritime Academy this
December. Rose is very motivated and determined (something she gets from her dad). And our youngest Victoria,
8, is full of life, always excited to learn new things and perfect them. She is very competitive, but has a heart of gold.
It tickles me to be a part of the studio with all the children
attending. I love bringing out the best in all of them. The
sound of their laughter is what keeps me going.
Eagle Express | 2010 Issue 8
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