by Will Deutschendorf | Jul 12, 2018 | Uncategorized
A parent came into our school this week and was very open and honest about the experience. They live in Rancho Bernardo. She explained her child had been bullied at school and saw an ad for martial arts helping with bullying. She brought her child in but honestly didn’t see how martial arts could help. I couldn’t help but agree with her understanding of martial arts. It is not like we can teach her kids to hit someone in the throat if they hurt her feelings. Listening to her describe the situation intently, I thought of my own daughter and what I intended martial arts do for her. I don’t feel I adequately answered her question, never being great at verbally describing things without first writing it out. So here is biggest factor for bullying I could come up with. Rancho Bernardo is a very safe neighborhood, but not from the things are kids worry about. Our kids worry about making friends, fitting in, and being socially accepted. We worry about that too, which is why we teach them to be respectful, disciplined, honest, and have self control. All of these things help them interact and become valuable members of society. Something that isn’t usually socially acceptable though is confrontation. Arguing, or confronting others, is not something we endorse. I was bullied in elementary, middle, and high school. I did not want to confront my bullies elementary school, I wanted them to be my friend. Eventually I learned after being bullied by them for a year or so they were not my friends. Well one kid wasn’t, the others...
by Will Deutschendorf | Jul 10, 2018 | Uncategorized
There are a couple of things that I have learned over the years from teaching kids and adults in Rancho Bernardo and 4S Ranch. There are so many martial arts schools around here, and you really don’t need to find “the best” one. There are plenty of good ones. I have made friends with a lot of instructors around here. The only schools I wont befriend are ones that I don’t believe teach their kids to defend themselves. I just don’t stand by that. At the same time, some of the schools I thought were more based on games than learning have taught me how to disguise repetition to make kids have a good time. If you are having fun learning becomes so much easier. I mean when my daughter and I play pokemon go walking around Rancho Bernardo, if she isn’t catching pokemon and we are just walking, she quits pretty quick. She knows it just exercise at that point. So here is a quick list of what makes a good instructor. 1. They have to care-if your instructor isn’t learning your name, isn’t active and keeping track of your progress, and isn’t trying to make you better in the manner you wish, they aren’t a good instructor. 2. They teach to you the way you learn-We all learning differently, I am a kinesthetic learner, or kinetic if you want to be all auto correct about it. That means I learn by doing, among other things. If you talk to me really fast, and I am not energized with you I have no clue what your talking about. ...
by Will Deutschendorf | Jul 5, 2018 | Uncategorized
I don’t know about you, but in Rancho Bernardo, I can’t help but feel like things are expensive. I have friends who live up in Orange County, and we are always talking about how expensive it is to live in the areas we do. It is worth it though. There is a difference between cost and price. There is a high value to living in Rancho Bernardo. You have Poway Unified Schools, a safe neighborhood for your kids to grow up, and you can walk outside and play Pokemon Go at night and not worry about being mugged(I will catch all the ghost pokemon some day). The cost of something is different. For example, when we moved to Rancho Bernardo I hired a cheap contractor to remodel our bathroom. I will never forget the cost of this mistake. My family waited four years for that bathroom to be finished, and the guys still owes me $2,000. I ended up hiring a much more expensive general contractor to fix all of this guys mistakes. The cheaper contractor cost me much more. The price of the second contractor was much higher, but it did not cost me nearly as much(I am still getting flack from my wife). Choosing a martial arts school for your kids is no different. We believe that if a computer repair man is charging $25 an hour he must not be very good, but if someone charges $100 an hour he must be amazing. Don’t be fooled. Just because you are paying a higher price for your kids martial arts training does not mean that it is...
by Will Deutschendorf | Jul 2, 2018 | Uncategorized
If your like me, having two daughters, you want them to be able to protect themselves. So what is the best martial arts system for self-defense? I always find this question funny. Brace yourselves, I am going to reveal the best fighting system for self-defense… It’s a weapon. Learning how to use a gun or a knife at close range. I mean are we still debating this? Weapons have been around for centuries. I hate to break it to all of our die hard martial artists out there but your system is not going to protect you from bullets or knife wounds. I have heard so many stories from martial artists where a knife was involved and it changes everything. I think of knife techniques like duck and cover drills during the Cold War. It’s better than nothing. You might be asking me, “Then why do I teach martial art?” My family loves guns, I have never really been that interested in them. I live in Rancho Bernardo. Do you know how many people I worry about in Rancho Bernardo attacking me? No one. You know why? I worked hard my entire adult life so I can live in Rancho Bernardo! The crime rate is ridiculously low. This year there are no reported murders in Rancho Bernardo, one case of rape. That doesn’t mean bad things aren’t happening, being a criminologist I know that stats from the UCR are not all inclusive, but I do think I will take my chances. Why do I train martial arts? I enjoy doing it! I always find this silly, like in 2018...
by Will Deutschendorf | Jun 29, 2018 | Uncategorized
Bullying Bullying is a hot topic these days. Now you can even be bullied 24/7 with social media. Whether it is because of the media, school shootings, or overzealous parents. I hear people saying they want to end bullying, I think it is admirable but misleading and missing the point. I did my graduate paper on bullying and programs that reduced it. There was a lot of good programs out there that helped. Creating a community that cares about all it’s members. Promoting activities that keep kids involved like after school programs. These all helped cut down on bullying, but there was no program that came close to eliminating it, That’s because you can’t remove the causes of bullying. Some kids bully to get negative emotions out, some do it for the control over another person, some do it because they are abused. The point is there is nothing you can do about the way it is out there, with the kids trying to bully. What you can do is teach your kids in a manner that prevents them from being bullied. Being involved in your child’s life is the only way that is going to happen. I’m very lucky that my martial arts school was well established before my kids were born. My two daughters are surrounded by kids with strong moral values and a sense of integrity. Sure my daughter’s are going to learn how to defend themselves but they are also already a part of a group. When I joined my first martial arts school, that sense of community the class offered was great. It was...
