The Red Corner || 05.30.23 ||

Happy Monday Tuesday Team!

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I spent the past few days in the nation’s capital celebrating a family wedding.  No complaints, but I’m ready to get back to the mats tonight and keep things moving forward.

On deck, a number of our students will be participating in the MOC Sparring Competition at 8 Limbs Academy this Sunday.  This is the last week of preparations and they are all looking sharp!

The following week, Trevon Scales returns to the ring on Saturday, June 10th at Gut Check Fighting Championships in Hockessin, Delaware.  It’s just a short ride away and always a great time.  Make sure to come out and support!  You know he’s been working his tail off.

June will see us staying super busy, with some great weather and packed mats.  With that said, now is a great time to remind everyone of some basic hygiene/etiquette rules that will keep us all safe and having a good time:

• All gis, uniforms, etc must be washed in-between uses.  Especially kids gis!  We recommend owning one uniform per day of the week training.
• All gloves, shinguards, etc must be allowed to fully dry out inbetween uses.  Do not throw them into a bag and forget about them.  They will start to smell and will be unusable.  Structurally fine, but stinky gear, is considered “unusable.”  You have been warned!
• Students must shower before and after training.  Deodorant is recommended.  Remember: you can’t smell yourself, but others can.  Be proactive 🙂
• Whenever possible, be on time and ready to go at the beginning of class.
• NO SHOES ON THE MAT
• NO BARE FEET OFF THE MAT (you have all been doing a great job with this by the way!)

The above policies are not just in place to keep everyone smelling nice (although, that’s a bonus).  They exist to prevent serious and potentially life threatening bacterial and fungal outbreaks from occurring on the mats.

Disregarding hygiene policies puts you and others at risk and must be taken seriously!  The greatest respect you can show your teammates and coaches is to come in prepared and eager to go — and this includes being clean.  Your compliance with all this is extremely appreciated!

Our Junior Samurai stripe challenge this week is Red!  Students can earn a red stripe by successfully completing the assigned workout for three days in a row!