This post is an amazing story about JG, the1st degree Brown Belt Karate-Do student above, who is practicing defensive Hook Kicks against the stretching bar.JG has studied at JRRMAS since he was a very small child. He has just successfully completed his first year at Deerfield Academy. He was also fortunate to get job at DA this summer as a life guard for the DA pool. Now for the ‘amazing’ part; Last week was JG’s second week as a life guard. He was guarding a 6th grade class swimming in the DA pool. All of a sudden he notices a 6th grader sinking below the surface. Much to JG’s amazement the 6th grader was sinking below the surface without struggling at all! Simply sinking below the surface with limbs limp and the boy was taking water into his lungs. In that very instant of recognition…..Without panicking……or freezing….JG leaped into action and saved the boy’s life. Wow….Amazing!I only hope that the years of training at JRRMAS contributed in some small way to JG acting decisively in that moment of crisis. Correct Martial Arts training is not merely designed to kick and punch others in self-defense but is more accurately designed to give the practitioner that little bit extra that one needs in such a crisis situation. JG’s ability to use the Life Guard Training, the confidence in his own abilities to swim and help others, that enabled him to act decisively, instead of freezing or panicking! You never know if the training is going to pay off until push comes to shove. Lesson 1:In Martial Arts it’s moments of crisis…that the training is designed to prepare you for….So that you…Don’t FREEZE!Don’t PANIC!So that you are able to ACT,able to stay CALM, to stay CENTERED and feel STRONG and CAPABLE….. So that you may act immediately and decisively!In a crisis…Yours or someone else’s life may depend upon your ability to…… act!!SifuJG ….All of us at JRRMAS are very proud of you……That SAVE was the ‘real deal’. Bravo from Sifu!!