Texas Heat - Safety and symptoms

Summer seems to have hit us early this year in Texas, so a reminder about working out in the heat and precautions to take to avoid heat related illness seemed an appropriate topic for this week.

Heat related illness can affect anyone, no matter their physical condition, and people who exert themselves and workout in the heat need to be especially careful.

• While working out make sure and drink plenty of fluids, either a sports drink, or water. Avoid drinks that have caffeine since they dehydrate the body.

• Wear lightweight clothing and avoid layers. Layers help trap heat next to the body and can cause you to overheat faster.

• Take regular breaks.

• If you become dizzy, nauseated, or develop a headache stop immediately and move to a cooler place to rest.

"[Signs of Heat Exhaustion are] cool, moist, pale, flushed or red skin; heavy sweating; headache; nausea or vomiting; dizziness; and exhaustion. Body temperature will be near normal." (1) You should go to a cool place and rest and drink small quantities of water in about 15 min. Intervals. Avoid drinking the water too fast as this could cause you to vomit. You should also apply cool damp cloths to help cool the skin.

"[Signs of Heat Stroke] include hot, red and dry skin; changes in consciousness; rapid, weak pulse; and rapid, shallow breathing. Body temperature can be very high--sometimes as high as 105oF." (1) THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING CONDITION. Call 9-1-1 Immediately. Wrap the person in wet sheets and have them lie down and fan them. If possible, wrap ice packs in thin cloth and place them on the person's wrists and ankles. Keep them lying down.

We want to make sure that we train safely, so if you experience any of the symptoms above while working out, please let an instructor know immediately.

(1) http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/tips/heat.html

New Student Information

It occurred to me today that potential students might want to know what they're in for as a beginner at Rose and River. First off I will say that we offer the first two classes FREE so as to encourage people to come by and check us out, and to let them see what they will be getting into before committing any money.

The first class that a new student takes will be a private lesson with one of the instructors. The class itself lasts about an hour, and the student should show up 10-15 minutes early to fill out paperwork before hand. This also gives them time to ask any questions that they may have in advance. Students should wear comfortable loose clothing, a uniform is not required for the first few classes. Shoes are not allowed on the mats. Students under the age of 18 should be accompanied by a parent or guardian to their first class to watch class and sign paperwork.

The first class that a student takes covers safety in class, falling techniques, various kinds of rolls (front, back, sideways etc.) and part of the first week of self defense material. The self defense material is divided into 18 weeks and covers 100+ self defense situations. This first class is done as a private class so as not to interrupt other students training every time a new student joins the school.

The second free class is held with the regular class to give the student a true feel for what they are signing up for.

For more information about starting classes at Rose and River Martial Arts please email info@roseandriver.com

"Gotong Rojon" vs. "The instructor's right to withhold information"

In talking with one of our students, (I ask them occasionally what they’d like to see me address in my blog) he said he’d like me to address the “dichotomy between the philosophies “share and share alike” and “the instructor’s right to withhold information because they want to stay better than their students.” For anyone reading who is not in one of our classes I should say that we end every class by saying “Gotong Rojon” meaning “share and share alike”

I cannot address the second half the statement “the instructor’s right to withhold information because they want to stay better than their students” because that is personal to every instructor, some instructors (many) do feel the need to stay better than their students in all areas, and may withhold information to retain their edge, but not all instructors feel that way, and not all instructors withhold information for that reason.

I can address “share and share alike” vs. “the instructor’s right to withhold information”.

The concept of Gotong Rojon as used in our style of Martial Arts is thusly – “The Javanese term gotong rojong--literally "collective bearing of burdens”” (1) we translate it as “share and share alike” to mean that the class as a whole shares everything in class; knowledge, rewards, punishment, laughter and tears. We are there to train in the Martial Arts, but we are also there to be “family”, albeit a tough love family. Higher ranked students are encouraged to teach lower ranked students the material appropriate for their level, conversely, if one student in the class is disciplined, the entire class gets to participate in that discipline (i.e. if one student is assigned pushups, the entire class does pushups). We are, for better or for worse, working together to achieve our collective goals.

The “instructor’s right to withhold information” is more of a responsibility than a right. It is the instructor’s job to determine if a student is ready for new material, and it is also their job to determine the level of detail at which they impart that information. One example would be the teaching of forms; at the lower levels if an instructor gives the student too much information the student can become overwhelmed, and may not remember any of it, thus wasting both their times. If however the instructor imparts the general knowledge (basic moves etc) without the more detailed analysis, the student has time to assimilate the information without feeling as overwhelmed, then at a later date (perhaps a higher sash level) the student will be taught the more detailed aspects of the form, as well as analysis.

The instructor generally works off of a curriculum of what the student is required to know in order to proceed to the next level of training, and for the vast majority of students, proceeding to the next level is their driving goal. With this in mind, many instructors do not feel that they need to teach the “extras” that they may have learned, until such a time as the student is no longer focused on “reaching the next level”. Some students however do warrant the extra attention, at which point it is at the instructor’s discretion if they want to teach that student the “extras”. Some instructors also like to encourage their students to think about and come up with explanations for “why we do such and such move” on their own, as part of their learning process, and so do not give them detailed analysis, preferring instead to have the student come up with and explain it on their own.

In the end, the two concepts “Gotong Rojon” and “the instructor’s right to withhold information” are almost totally unrelated. The former speaks to the class as a whole in how they should treat one another (including the sharing of knowledge) the latter speaks just to the instructor and their responsibilities therein.

(1) http://www.iwp.uni-linz.ac.at/lxe/sektktf/gg/GeertzTexts/AsianStudies1962Review.htm

For more information on the concept of “Gotong Rojon” the first paragraph of the website above has a brief overview of what the term means to the Javanese people.

Server Maintenance

Our Webhosting service will be performing server maintenance over the next few weeks, so our website may be down at times while they complete their upgrade.

Self Defense Awareness

While this article is talking about hand gun preparedness, and in that respect is not related to martial arts, their color alert scale for levels of awareness is perfectly applicable.

http://www.teddytactical.com/SharpenBladeArticle/4_States%20of%20Awareness.htm


Mas Jessica