A Turkey Brigade Program to feed needy families at Thanksgiving is an important and traditional event at many martial arts schools. This month’s Black Belt Promotions Report provides a step-by-step explanation of the entire process, as successfully held the last 11 years at Chris Rappold’s Personal Best Karate Schools. This year, Mr. Rappold and his staff, students, parents and volunteers expect to feed 2,000 families.

Your goal may not be that ambitious, but, regardless of how many families you feed, a Turkey Brigade is an excellent activity to teach the experiential lessons of service and leadership and build a community spirit inside and outside your school.
The following support documents are included on the Media Master CD-ROM: a letter to community organizations, asking for names of families; a letter to students and their parents and families; a sign-up chart, so students can provide names of families they may know who would appreciate your school’s support at Thanksgiving; and a customizable press release.

NAPMA provides a “bountiful harvest” of drills for your fall classes in this month’s Black Belt Teaching Report. Your students will develop better coordination, greater strength and improved blocking skills—there’s even a method to help your students enjoy calisthenics!

Although you must keep it serious, students will have great fun with the Crab Karate Game. Improve your students’ reaction time with the Three-Student Reaction Drill.

Tom Callos delivers another compelling G.O.L.D. Team Leadership Report this month, “If You Were In My Movie.”

You might choose to be in a move with Jack Nicholson or Scarlett Johansson, but you wouldn’t be the star; however, in Mr. Callos’ movie you could be the leadership star—if you follow his direction.

Take One: you lead by example in the role of Servant-Leader.

Take Two: your leadership team members learn as much from teaching a class, as students seek to learn from the class—and Mr. Callos provides specific ways to achieve just that.

Take Three: a complex scene, with many pages of actions and tasks that could make your leadership team legends of the classroom.

Take Four: the drama expands with leadership team vocabulary flash cards, watching movies on leadership and management and interviewing local community leaders.

When Director Callos yells, “Action!” he has three leadership assignments for you to complete that could put your name in lights. Lunch break, anyone? Where’s the caterer?

Potential is the featured word of Words of the Week by Solomon Brenner. Potential is also a strong component of every class you teach, and these four lessons will help you help your students to reach their full potential.

Lesson #1 teaches students to focus on their potential instead of their limitations—to believe they can really achieve!

Lesson #2 explains that your students have unique talents that will allow them to do many important things, even if they can’t do everything.

Lesson #3 addresses the concept of effort and why it has more to do with realizing one’s potential than wealth. Without effort, even the rich cannot achieve their goals.

Lesson #4 centers on George Bernard Shaw’s famous quote about asking oneself, “Why not?” It teaches that challenges are often opportunities, which should cause your students to shout, “Bring it on!”