June is Black Belt Month

The semi-annual Regional Black Belt test takes place in December aaaand JUNE (next weekend, in fact) so we've decided to dedicate this month to Black Belts and Black Belt Testing.

VShrews has four brave Brown Belt students headed to next week's test who have spent the past six months working on their material, practicing their skills, and overcoming the fear or anxiety that builds when one is about to face a major challenge.

The good news is that we've spent the past several years discussing what wonderful opportunities challenges are, how they can push us to be our best selves and help develop problem-solving skills. When overcome, challenges bring confidence and esteem but even when we don't succeed, we can learn humility and perseverance, flexibility and acceptance.

And here at VShrews, we make sure we present our challenges in a safe and supportive environment so that by the time we send our students off to the Regional Test--among a larger group of students and instructors from other schools with different rules--they've had plenty of practice being resilient, humble, and refusing to give up.

This Black Belt Month is all about Perseverance, Grit, Resilience, and Effort and we'll be talking strategy and attitude in classes all month long. We've got some exercises and activities for class, some reading material in the lobby, and look just below for some handy internet resources for adults and kids!

A great big GOOD LUCK to our Black Belt Test Candidates, although, we know how prepared you are so you don't really need it. We can't wait to hand you your Black Belts next weekend and watch you continue your martial arts journey at this new and exciting level!

Resources

Check out some of the helpful articles we found this month:

10 Tips for Raising Resilient Kids

PsychCentral.com, Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., 8 Oct 2018

27 Resilience Activities and Worksheets for Students and Adults

PositivePsychologyProgram.com, Courtney Akerman, 13 Jun 2017

9 Activities To Build Grit and Resilience in Children

BigLifeJournal.com, Ashley Cullins, 14 Jun

The Motivation Equation: Understanding a Child's Lack of Effort

Mom-Psych.com, Kenneth Barish, Ph.D., Nov 20, 2012

Listening to Shame TED talk video

TED.com, Brene Brown, March 2012

News and Events

Summer is almost here and it's finally starting to feel like it! Seems like a good time to bust out those Villari's logo t-shirts for summer classes! As of June 1, we do not yet have the t-shirt orders in from this Spring but we will get them soon and we will ABSOLUTELY let you know the moment they arrive!

Official VShrews Summer starts June 10 at which time you can absolutely wear those Villari's logo t-shirts to class along with your uniform pants and belts. We also have freeeeeezepops as treats for those well-behaving classes.

If you missed the t-shirt order deadline, not to worry! We ordered some extras. They are first come, first served and the quantity is limited so come and get 'em right away.

We will be closed for Independence Day Weekend this year Thursday July 4 through Saturday July 6 but we will reopen on Monday July 8 and be open for regularly scheduled classes for the rest of the summer.

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