Building Community Through Improving Our Second Home

Our school has a long history of community and camaraderie. These feelings go beyond “just a karate school,” and one reason is this: the Headmasters (past and present) look at the school as a home-away-from-home. We strive to make everyone feel comfortable when they come into the building (what’s the Number One Rule when there is a new student?* ). Another reason for this feeling of belonging is active community building. The IKS had a legacy of non-karate activities to help build community among the students and instructors, and in that spirit the IMAS has decided to begin this tradition too!

On Friday Nov 26 (“Black Friday”), we are going to do some housekeeping projects in and around the building, and we invite any student or instructor of at least 12 years old to join us! This is a great way to hang out with your karate friends, build up that camaraderie, and improve your dojo all at the same time. Some of the tasks we have in mind include cleaning out the breaking materials in the back of the building, weeding around the building, cleaning the floors, sweeping the parking lot, and some other items if we can get to them.

Please use the link below to sign up for a specific job. (That’s not set in stone, but it’s a rough idea of how many people we think it’ll take to get that specific job done in an hour or two) Kyoshi Mike’s wife, Caroline, has graciously offered to be the manager of the day’s projects, so when you arrive, check in with her and she’ll get you going!

We’ll be working from 10:00 am to about 1:00pm —not too long, but long enough to get some stuff done. Come to the dojo instead of shopping on Black Friday! We hope to see you there.

Don’t forget, the school is closed Thanksgiving Day 11/25, but open for normal classes Saturday 11/27.

*For those of you who aren’t active students and don’t know this, it’s “Make them feel welcome.”