November 2008

Academy Updates! - 11/24/2008

Holidays:
The academy will be closed Weds and Thurs Nov 26th and 27th for
thanksgiving but will re-open on sat the 29th.

There are gift certificates available at the school if you want anything
for the Holidays, just have someone in your family contact me at 201
906-7388 and I’ll take care of it.

RGDA Tournament:
I would like to express to everyone again how proud I am of everyone who
competed in or attended the RGDA tournament last week. I was happy to
see you guys bond as a team and support each other. You put on a great
showing, our Academy tied w/ Dave Adiv’s school for the # of medals won
among the whitebelts, which most of our students are. This is a
testament to us as a group and the great enviornment in which we train
and conduct ourselves every day. we conducted ourselves w/ honor and
class. Congrats to all of you who medaled or just stepped up to compete
for the 1st time, you are all winners.

Promotions:
I would like to send congrats to the following on their recent promotions:
Jason Catellanos-1st stripe whitebelt
Gabe Silverio-1st stripe whitebelt
John Demopoulous-1st stripe whitebelt
Andrew Settembrino-1st stripe whitebelt
Dan Hitchcok-1st stripe whitebelt
Bill Sayer-2nd stripe whitebelt
Rob Melendez-3rd stripe whitebelt
Tom Calnan-4th stripe whitebelt
Mike Hanley-BLUEBELT
Ron Stella-1st stripe bluebelt
Sean “Spuds” Bermudez-3rd stripe bluebelt

Reminders:
Joseph is teaching a gi class on Wednesday nights. Class BEGINS AT 6:30,
not 7pm. I would hope everyone uses this day as a extra day or to fill
in for days you might miss during the week.

Gear:
For tuesday no-gi classes, I would like ALL members to stop wearing
basketball shorts to class and purchase either a pair of boardshorts at
a target or KMart or purchase fightshorts. You can find them at
nhbgear.com, sprawl.tv, jiujitsuprogear.com..etc.
I am now carrying Gameness boardshorts in stock. The boardshorts come in
black only and come in sizes 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40. Price is
$40. (see attached pic)

I am having a sale on the school gear sold at the school. The gear will
be sold at the following prices:
Savarese Hoodies-$20
Savarese sweatshirts-$15
Savarese baseball hats, skullies and winter hats-$10

Promotions:
Promotions in BJJ are based on more than one thing:
Belts (especially upperbelts) are not just competition or success in
fighting or sparring in the Academy.
It’s about character and attitude.
It’s about integrity and loyalty.
It’s about knowledge (are you learning AND REMEMBERING what you are
being taught? Keep a book)
It’s about a willingness to give back to your school and teammates (are
you helping the new student transition go smoother,
are you helping your training partners through weaknesses or training
slumps? Are you helping your teammates train for their upcoming tourns?)
It’s about self-control and discipline.
It’s about dedication. (are you coming to class enough? Are you putting
yourself in a position to succeed)
It’s about patience. (Rome wasn’t built in a day, have realistic
expectations, you can’t learn everything in 1 month.
There is an old saying in martial arts..”the quickest way to show
somebody nothing is to show him everything”)
Abandoning these traditions reduces BJJ to “simple fighting techniques”
And lastly…RESPECT
Respect is what BJJ and other martial arts are built upon. Respect for
the discipline, respect for the instructor,
respect for the school, respect for your fellow students and respect FOR
THE SWEAT AND KNOWLEDGE
THAT EACH LEVEL OF LEARNING REPRESENTS.