No Blog this week, way too busy with the move. Have a great week!

Women's Self Defense Booklet

This fall we will begin teaching a Women's Self Defense class at the Pflugerville YMCA and we are developing a booklet as a supplement to the class. This weekend we made a major leap forward in the production of this booklet.

Two of our students came in on Saturday and helped with the photos to demonstrate the various self defense moves. Most of the photos look fantastic! This was one of the most time consuming areas of the booklet to put together, so I'm glad that it's almost done. We may still need to re-take a few of the photos to clear up a few issues though. The editing thankfully went smoothly now that our computers have been upgraded. So far the booklet is up to 35 pages!

Thanks to Sean and Maranda for all their help!

We are still waiting to see what the schedule at the YMCA will look like, but as soon as we have it we will update the website.

Moving To Pflugerville Cont.

Preparations for moving into our Pflugerville location are underway. We anticipate holding our first class at the Pflugerville location the first weekend of August, followed by a workday to get the property up to shape. We will provide lunch and drinks to students helping with the work.

Official Move-in date will be August 12th. We will not have classes that day. Lunch will be provided to students who help us move. All classes after August 12th will be held in one of the Pflugerville locations (YMCA or our Private Studio).

For information about about classes contact us at 512-587-9189 or check out our website at www.roseandriver.com

Poekoelan and the YMCA Pflugerville

I am happy to announce that we will begin teaching at the YMCA Pflugerville location as of September. We will be teaching kids classes, adult classes and self defense classes.

Our Kids program will be aimed at ages 8-16. The kids classes will be divided up by age bracket (ages 8-12 and 13-16) and will be on a belt system instead of a sash system. Kids will be able to transition to the adult program starting at age 16. Since it is the policy of Rose and River Martial Arts not to award black belts to people under the age of 18, students will have to transition to the adult class before they are eligible.

The adult classes at the YMCA will follow our current curriculum. Current students have the option of transitioning to classes at the YMCA or maintaining their current schedule, but prices will differ and the fees at the YMCA will not cover classes outside of the Y.

We will also begin teaching a Women's self defense course. The course will run once a week for an hour and a half over a 5-6 week period, possibly on a recurring schedule. (Depending on interest).

That's the news for this week! Check back here for more updates. As always, anyone interested in taking a class, or observing a class should call in advance 512-587-9189 or email us at info@roseandriver.com

Independence Day - Fun Facts

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.

2.5 million-In July 1776, the number of people living in the colonies. (1776 population from Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.)

300 million-On this July 4th, the population milestone our nation soon will be closing in on.

Fourth of July Cookouts
150 million-Number of hot dogs (all varieties) expected to be consumed by Americans on this holiday. (That’s one frankfurter for every two people.) There’s more than a 1-in-4 chance that the hot dogs made of pork originated in Iowa, as the Hawkeye State had a total inventory of 15.2 million market hogs and pigs on March 1, 2006. This represents more than one-fourth of the nation’s total. North Carolina (8.5 million) and Minnesota (5.8 million) were the runners-up. (Data on hot dog consumption courtesy of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.) Data on hogs and pigs at <http://www.nass.usda.gov>.

7.3 billion pounds-Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2005. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for over one-sixth of the nation’s total production. And if they did not come from Texas, they very well may have come from Nebraska (4.5 billion pounds) or Kansas (4 billion pounds). <http://www.nass.usda.gov>

6-Number of states in which the revenue from broiler chickens was $1 billion or greater between December 2004 and November 2005. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken. <http://www.nass.usda.gov>

Better than 50-50-The odds that the beans in your side dish of baked beans came from North Dakota, Michigan or Nebraska, which produced 60 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in 2005. Another popular July 4th side dish is corn on the cob. Florida, California and Georgia together accounted for 51 percent of the sweet corn produced nationally in 2005. <http://www.nass.usda.gov>

Please Pass the Potato Salad-Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at July 4th barbecues. One-half of the nation’s spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington in 2005. <http://www.nass.usda.gov>

More than 68 million- Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day. See Table 1230, 2006 edition: <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.html>

Fireworks
$201.9 million -The value of fireworks imported from China in 2005, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($211 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $14.9 million in 2005, with Australia purchasing more than any other country ($4.4 million). <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/>

$17.3 million-The value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks in 2002. <http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/ec0231i325998t.pdf>

Flags
$5.5 million-In 2005, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags; the vast majority of this amount ($5 million) was for U.S. flags made in China. <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/>

$993,000-Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2005. Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $529,000 worth. <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/>

$349 million-Annual dollar value of shipments of fabricated flags, banners and similar emblems by the nation’s manufacturers, according to the latest published Economic Census (2002) data. <http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/ec0231i314999t.pdf>

Patriotic-Sounding Names
30-Number of places nationwide with “liberty” in its name. The most populous one is Liberty, Mo. (28,528). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

• Thirty-two places are named “eagle” — after the majestic bird that serves as our national symbol. (Places include cities, towns, villages and census-designated places.) The most populous such place is Eagle Pass, Texas, with 24,847 residents. There is also Eagle County, Colo., with a population of 47,530.
• Eleven places have “independence” in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Mo., with 111,023 residents.
• Five places adopted the name “freedom.” Freedom, Calif., with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
• There is one place named “patriot” — Patriot, Ind., with a population of 195.
• And what could be more fitting than spending the Fourth of July in a place called “America”? There are five such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, population 22,387.

<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/005268.html><http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/006563.html><http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en>

Coming to America
34 million-In 2004, the number of foreign-born residents in the United States; they accounted for 12 percent of the nation’s total population. Another 30 million Americans were “second-generation,” meaning that at least one of their parents was born abroad.<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/foreignborn_population/003969.html>

53%-As of 2004, the percentage of the nation’s foreign-born population born in Latin America. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/foreignborn_population/003969.html>

946,000-Number of immigrants granted legal permanent residence in the United States during fiscal year 2004. More than 1-in-4 settled in California. <http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/yearbook/YrBk04Im.htm>

537,000-Number of people who became naturalized U.S. citizens during fiscal 2004 (Oct. 1, 2003 to Sept. 30, 2004). Mexico contributed the highest number of naturalized citizens in 2004 (63,800), followed by India (38,000), the Philippines (31,400), Vietnam (27,500) and China (27,300). <http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/publications/NaturalizationFlowReport2004.pdf>

Thanks to the Census Bureau for their list of Fun Facts.