High School Program

“STREETWISE SUCCESS

AND ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAM”

As children of a more gentle era or place, most of us remember our childhood as a happy and tranquil time. But, few children today are allowed the luxury of the same carefree life-style we enjoyed in our youth. Today's young people have been confronted from their very first encounters with a world that is full of fear and violence.

Child experts in Chicago recently stated that they have observed several major psychological problems, which seem to arise in children who grow up in violent environments. These include severe depression, general anxiety and post traumatic stress syndrome (which normally only plagues war veterans). These experts also stated that because children believe that their life spans will be brief they set severe limitations on their own capacities to achieve. This, obviously, produces in them a diminished view of the value of education.

Although most of our local schools are housed in far less violent environment than those the above experts describe, few places today are free of the constant threat of some level of violence. Children see the faces of boys and girls who have been abducted locally as they drink their milk each day. The number of sexual assaults was reportedly up 59% last year.  And the latest report from the Justice Department showed that they country's violent trend was not going down. In fact, violent crime rose 5.6%.

Also, drugs, gangs and weapons can probably be found in every school in America today, no matter how affluent or poor the community it represents. We can't help but to be concerned about the effect all of this is having on the children entrusted into our care. Their legacy is to become the first generation of Americans forced to live their entire young lives under the constant threat of violence. How they deal with it will determine the future of this nation.

In the mid-50's and early 60's, psychologist Abraham Maslow presented what he believed to be the hierarchy of man's basic needs. He held that as long as lower needs remained unfulfilled, higher needs - such as a quest for greater knowledge - would not be pursued. One of the most basic needs of all is personal safety. Maslow held that everyone needed a predictable and safe world. If a child's need in this area went unfilled, he or she would feel mistrustful and insecure. Mistrust and insecurity would cause him or her to seek to establish, by whatever means possible, a greater degree of security. For many, this quest for security can lead them in a very dangerous direction.

From an educational standpoint, there are at least three problems, which can arise when a child feels - or - is vulnerable to violence. One, his or her performance can be reduced through a lack of focus, created by the necessity to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy worrying about being assaulted. Two, his or her performance in school can be reduced as a result of injuries received from an actual assault.  Three, he or she may engage in negative behavior in order to fit in and gain the social acceptance and security of his or her peers. Some children's solution will be to join a gang. Although this may offer them a level of immediate security, it will do so at the expense of involving them in criminal activity - perhaps putting them at a far greater risk than they were before and encouraging them to drop out of school, thereby robbing them of any chance for later success.

The American Black Belt Academy’s Streetwise Success Program offers comprehensive fixed length and on-going courses in personal protection and success training for today's women, teens and children. By learning how to protect themselves, both mentally and physically, students gain a far greater degree of empowerment over their environment and obtain a decrease in stress level, allowing them to set their sights on higher personal achievement.

Our Emphasis is Always on Being Proactive,

Not Reactive

The famous Chinese general Sun Tzu, author of the classic The Art Of War, said that the greatest general is not the one who can defeat 100 armies in 100 battles. Rather; it is the one who can control things so well that the need to fight never arises. Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People identifies being proactive as the first step. Both of these ideas are based on the same age-old principle. Our program combines key principles from classical martial arts, modern sport psychology and proven success principles, to lay the ground work for each of our students to enhance their human performance by knowing the proper course of action in handling conflicts in their lives. Our Streetwise Success Program utilizes our unique Five-Step Approach to Personal Safety and Productivity. These five steps enables our students, unlike those of other self-defense courses and martial arts programs, to avoid trouble altogether rather than to simply be taught how to respond to it physically.

This unique approach begins by first creating an awareness of various precautions which a person can take to greatly reduce the probability that trouble will arise in the first place. Sec­ond it teaches awareness skills which allow a student to spot potential trouble before it can fully develop, enabling him or her sufficient time to take logical preventative measures, instead of reacting to a situation emotionally. Third, it teaches negotiation skills, which a person can use to defuse a possible assault, and empowers them to create win-win situations. Fourth, it teaches how to evade an attacker, both mentally and physically. And fifth, it teaches a unique multi-level approach to self-defense, which enables a person to respond effectively, and with a minimum of force, when a conflict can't be avoided. Again, the emphasis is always upon avoidance because this offers the safest and most sure way of dealing with any threat.

Every Person Deserves a Life Free of Fear and To Under the Key Concepts of Being a Winner

We believe that every person today deserves an opportunity to live his or her life as free of debilitating effects of violence and negative situations as possible. This is not only in the person's best interest but also those of the nation. This is why the American Black Belt Academy is currently offering on-going programs in over 20 locations throughout the city.

The American Black Belt Association’s Mission Statement

To make a difference, by empowering our students to greatly increase their human performance capabilities, through classical martial arts and success principles education.

Special Karate Program for Schools

There has probably never been a time when people - especially young people - needed the skills and qualities which can be instilled through a proper study of classical martial arts more than they do today.

            For hundreds of years, people have studied the martial arts in order to defend themselves against violent attacks. But today, violence only accounts for the premature deaths of 1% of our population. The other 99% die from other threats. These are heart disease, high blood pressure, lung cancer, stroke, drug and alcohol abuse, gang membership, inadequate sexual restraint or a failure to use proper precautions, improper nutrition, poor stress management, and inadequate exercise.          

There are also major threats within our society today, which don’t attack people’s bodies. Rather, they crush them on the inside, destroying their spirits through the elimination of any real chance they have of achieving happiness and success in life. These are school dropout or minimal performance, poor self-confidence, and poor goal- setting and completion skills.

            We believe that the root cause of each of these problems for most people is the lack of inner strength, a lack of self-confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline, and self-control. Without these qualities, people can’t achieve anything worthwhile in life. They can’t say no to drugs. They can’t say no to gangs. They can’t get good grades. They can’t stay in school to graduation. They can’t get into a good college or earn a college degree. They can’t get or hold a good job. And, they can’t maintain a positive relationship with another person.

            The job of a quality martial arts instructor is to prepare his or her students for whatever threats they may face in life. In order to make the ancient art of karate more responsive to the needs of people within a modern society, Kyoshi Terry Bryan from the American Black Belt Academy, has developed the unique Streetwise Success Program. This unique approach enables the students to develop the qualities that will lead to healthier, happier, and successful lives. By exploring key success principles, and relating them to classical martial arts theories, the student learns that the true warrior wins their battles with the most powerful weapon, their mind. Their tactics include goal setting, planning on being a winner, and surrounding themselves with positive and successful people. 

            The American Black Belt Academy’s “Streetwise Success “ program has been approved by the Colorado Department of Education and is now being offered as an accredited program in all high schools in School District 20 and select other schools in El Paso County and around the state. We are currently getting these programs started in several state around the country. In addition to its in-school programs, ABBA is in the process of developing a mentoring program where the top high school students can give back to their community by being role models for the middle school and elementary school age children with their on-going Anti-Bullying Streetwise Programs.