Martial Arts-Orland park-Forest Park

Why is Mr.Calderone Thankful for a Shotgun?

Thanksgiving…Lots of Turkey, ham, pumpkin and apple pie!!! 

We mention hear to be thankful.  Thankfulness should be an everyday habit.  But I like to be X-TRA thankful on Thanksgiving.  A time to spend with friends, family, and people who I consider my elite circle of life.  It is a time to draw closer to one another.   Of course we have numerous people who are important to us, but time doesn’t allow us to spend time with all of them on Thanksgiving Day or weekend.  So we may call them or shoot them an email stating how grateful we are to them.  I really enjoy taking time off work, and getting away from the busyness of life and spend quality time with the people in my life. 

Some things that I am grateful for:

For one, I am grateful for the opportunities, skills, and talents that God has blessed me with.  I am thankful for His Salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.  I am grateful to be alive, and prosperous in health and relationships.    I am thankful to be an American, and for the armed forces and those in my authority and in government.

I am thankful for my soon to be wife Sarah-Beth, her abilities to add value to my life, and to see her impact the lives of others.  I am so thankful to be able to add value to her to help her become a great and successful woman.  I am thankful for my parents, brother and extended relatives whom I love dearly.  I am thankful for my mother and father-in-law for teaching me with their years of wisdom and giving me the blessing of their daughter’s hand in marriage.  I am thankful for the shotgun experience. LOL.

I am truly thankful for Master Dion and Dina Riccardo for their mentorship, teachings of priceless lessons and for starting up Victory Martial Arts.  I have learned not only martial arts physically, but how to develop myself to influence others mentally and spiritually.  I am grateful for the Victory family (Staff, instructors, Leadership team) and I am thankful for all the students and families.  Without no student, there is no teacher.  You guys are great and I am inspired when I see you stick to it and watch you progress.  It gives me more meaning to life.  So I want to encourage you all to depart from your daily routine and sit down in solitude time and think of all the things and people you are thankful for.  Wishing you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Don't forget about the Day After Thanksgiving online proshop sale! Get 25% off the equipment you have been wanting to get!

Just type in thankyou (just the way you see it) when you check out to recieve the discount.

 

A Turkey and a parrot?

Hey Victory Members,

What does a Turkey and a parrot got to do with it? Read on to find out...

A Thankful Thanksgiving ...

You may be wondering why I would call this article a Thankful Thanksgiving.

Aren't all Thanksgivings Thankful?
Unfortunately, no.
As a person I recognize that being thankful is something that we have to work at, even on Thanksgiving.

If your home is like most, your Thanksgiving day will be very busy, with either traveling to where you want to go or preparing your home to have others over for the day. Either way, that can be very hectic and emotionally trying, which doesn't lend itself to preparing your heart to be reflective and thankful. In fact, Thanksgiving weekend is the most traveled weekend in America. Airports are full, and not always providing much room for contemplation of your good fortune.

This means all the more that if we want to be the kind of people who are characterized by thankfulness, then we must make sure that we focus on it, and not just on Thanksgiving Day, but at all times during the year.
Here are a few key words as well as some thoughts that are simple and practical to apply; something you can use right away in your quest for becoming more thankful:

Time. Set aside time regularly to be quiet, to reflect. We live in the fastest paced time ever. From the moment we awake to the moment we collapse into bed, we have the opportunity to go at full speed and never slow down. If we schedule time every day in which we can be quiet and reflect, we will free our hearts and minds up from the tyranny of the urgent and rushed.

Thought. Give thought to the many blessings that you have. Living in a consumer culture, most of us are fully aware of what we do not have and how we absolutely must have "it". But how often do we reflect upon that which we already have? Take some time each day and think of one or two things that you have that you may typically take for granted and then take a moment and give thanks for those. In fact, I make it a part of my reflection time to review a list of things that I'm thankful for.
 

Generosity. Be generous toward those with less and not envious of those with more. We tend to look at others who may be wealthier than ourselves and think, "I sure wish I had what he does." That kind of thinking breeds envy and jealousy rather than contentment. What can we do to break that cycle? I would suggest being generous to those who are less fortunate than yourself. Go to work at a food bank. And not just during the holidays - everybody works there then - but on a regular basis during the year. That will remind you of how good you really have it.

Ask. Ask a friend what they are thankful for. The next time you are at lunch with a friend, ask him or her what they are most thankful for. You will be amazed at the answers you receive and you will create a meaningful bond with your friends as you focus on this powerful question.

Acknowledge. Lastly, tell those you love how thankful you are for having them in your life. So many times we neglect to take the time to craft the words to express to those closest to us what their presence in our lives means to us. Take the opportunity of Thanksgiving Day to write them a note or sometime during the day put your hand on their shoulder, look them in the eyes and tell them. Let them know what they mean to you, and in return you'll begin to create the possibility of deeper, richer, more fulfilling relationships with those you love.

Of course we should do what we can to make the most of the day we call Thanksgiving, but wouldn't it be a shame if the only time we reflected on our blessings was that one Thursday in November? And the answer is, of course! So let's do our best to be aware of the many great gifts that we have each and every day of the year. As we do so we will see our hearts soar and our minds will experience more and more at peace as we regularly remember and remain aware of our good fortune.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In your Corner,

Dion Riccardo

P.S. On the lighter side ...

   A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.
   John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.
   Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back.  John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. In desperation, John threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.
   For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.
   Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."
   John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

D A Y  A F T E R  T H A N KS G I V I N G 

E Q U I P M E NT  S A L E!  

This FRIDAY!

24 Hours to Recieve 25% of your entire purchase.

Just click on the banner to take you directly to the online proshop and as you check out it will ask for your coupon code. Type thankyou (no space, all lower case) to get your discount. Orders now will make it to your doorstep in time for Christmas.

Ideas for kids:

belt hangers and displays, kid kick bag, t shirrts and stretch machine.

Ideas for Adults:

Boxing gloves, belt displays, heavy bags, training shorts and strectch machines.

New Training Video And Product reviews.

Hey Victory Family,

I shot this video last week and I wanted to share it with you.

But, before I do that I wanterd to answer a question I get frequently.

"What is the best heavy bag to purchase?" I get this question a lot.  So lets takle this.

For adults I would suggest a Thai Boxing hanging bag but, you will need about 10 square feet of room to make that work and something to hang it from. They do make heavy bag stands also but they are a bit pricey. An Alternative for home training is the Standing Bag.

For Children, hands down I would do a wave master. Dina and I have one in the house for Molly for kids 4-7 I would suggest a Kid Kick Freestanding bag and for our older future black belts (7-12 years old) I would do a Wavemaster. In both of these freestanding bags as well as with the adult free standing bag you on ly need about 5 sq feet to make this work.

By the way, you click on any of the blue links to get a more detailed description of the item.

Don't forget that we are having our "Day After Thanksgiving Online Proshop Sale" this Friday!

It's a 24 hour event that you can get 25% off of your entire purchase of everything in our online proshop. 

This is a one time event don't miss out.

    

Now for the video... ENJOY and leave your comments if you dare try it!

 

Try my latest workout...on video!

 

Rockin Heavy Bag Routine... Try this one for size when you got abot 20 minutes. But, don't the brevity of this workout fool you. It will kick your tail!

Enjoy! DR

S T O P - PLease read this First.

 Public saftey announcment sent to me by Dan Bones

RIVER FOREST SCHOOL DISTRICT 90
Message sent - 11/18/2008
Community Safety Warning
Community Safety Warning from River Forest School District-- Parents & Guardians, Please be advised that two, 13 year-old girls were approached this morning by an unknown man in Elmwood Park near North Avenue.
The man exposed himself to the girls, then physically grabbed one of the girls.
The man was described as a white male, or possibly Hispanic, who is around 30 years old.
He also had long hair and wore a dark jacket and baseball cap.
The man drove away in a silver/ grey Chrysler Concord.
If you see someone matching this description, you are asked to call the police immediately.
The students were not River Forest students; however, we want to ensure that our students are and remain safe.
Please take the time to talk to your students and about their personal safety in going to and from school and how to respond if they are approached by a stranger.

Please leave your comments when you try this workout on for size.

If you missed the email earlier this week that Mr.Calderone sent out with updates and important dates, here it is again...

I just wanted to remind you that for the Forest Park location that progress check will be next week Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.  Both Academies will be closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday the 27th and Saturday the 29th.  (Don't eat too much pumpkin pie!)

I also will be distributing Century catalogs for those that have the Christmas list or need equipment.  Master Riccardo will be doing a special sale soon!

I had a few students ask me where I have been latley.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, Mr. Riccardo has asked me to come out to the Orland Park Academy to train the Competition team.  So I leave the Forest park academy at about 6:30 or so so I can make it by 7:30. 

!!!READ THIS STORY BELOW!!!

This past week has been an experience for me.  I was gone for several days last week do to an unfortunate circumstance.  I am sure most of you heard about the crash in Grundy county killing a mother and her 2 children. 

Well, sad to say that that family is related to my fiance Sarah-Beth Jahn.  It was Sarah-Beth's brother, Josh's wife and two beautiful children.  I received a call on Thursday November 6th saying that Mandy, Ryan and Kaitlyn where in a car accident by a drunk driver and where all dead.  Shocked with the news I drove up to my church in Tinley Park to pick up my fiance who was on the floor crying uncontrollably.  After praying for her and picking her up, we drove out to Morris Family Hospital at about 11:30 pm or so to meet with her parents.  When I got there, there must have been over 50 people there.  We went back to Josh's church for prayer and support and where up till about 3am.  I drove back home to Lyons on Friday morning to get packed for the weekend and to be ready for the wake and funeral.  The wake was held that Monday and over 2,000 people attended to say their last good byes.  Standing in line with the Jahn and Borneman family from 3pm till midnight was exhausting.  As I watched all the lives that where touched by this family, I saw great strength from my soon to be brother-in-law Josh.  With a man who just lost his family, he looked up with a smile and said to all of us "I am so grateful that God would give me a family."  "And I am so grateful for the times I had with them and know that they are safe in Heaven and am excited to see them there."

Sarah-Beth and I are getting married this January 16th.  Mandy was going to stand up and Ryan was going to be our ring bearer.  I told her family that with this lost  if they needed to postpone the wedding, I would understand.  Her parents reply was that they wanted to move forward and where excited to see her daughter start a family of her own.  Josh stated that he would not want anything less but to see his sister marry and to have what he had.  That he is so excited to see us begin a life and does not want us to move backward.  As I look at a man who has kept a state of gratitude and remained unselfish in such time of crisis has really been a testimony for me.  It makes me think of the things that are really important.  I also think of the book of Ecclesiates when it says "People can never predict when hard times might come.  Like a fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy."

After standing by this family's side I am honored to be a part of it and am honored to marry into a family with such courage when your emotions are going one way, and your mental capacity cannot comprehend with what just happened. In times like this, you can only rely on the strength of God and His Son Jesus!  I can understand why people may have hope in the beer bottle or the drug with all the "Stuff"  that is going on today.  But when your hope is in God alone,  He is your rock and you will be able to withstand any trouble or tragedy that comes your way.  I am so thankful for the family and friends I have in my life!

Thanks for reading.....See you soon!!!  Good luck with your next progress check!!!

Anthony Calderone
VMAA Chief Instructor/Manager

October Progress Check Pictures

Hi Victory Family,

Here are the pictures from last month progress check!

     

Have a great week!

Mr. Calderone

Victory Reopens And New Videos from Last weekend!

Well election day is over and classes resume at both Victory Academies. 

Here are the videos from last weekend of Maurice, Tony and AJ. Many lessons were learned and I am confident that we are better for it. Take a look and see what went down.... I am very proud of our team, they trained hard and prepared for a battle. I believe they also learned much about themselves, which is the most important lesson of it all. We are all very proud of our team and respect them!