KFMA Creates Positive Habits… Through the Masters’ Challenge

KFMA Creates Positive Habits… Through the Masters’ Challenge

Chief Masters Laura and David Kowkabany have been challenging their students for more than 40 years to become the best versions of themselves possible! This starts by providing quality instruction in the martial arts and creating a family-friendly atmosphere where everyone feels welcome and supported. KFMA has helped thousands of students reach their goals in the martial arts, as well as in their education and professional careers. Part of this success has come from teaching students how to properly set and to achieve worthy goals, and by providing the support they need to reach them. As mentioned above, KFMA creates positive habits through the Masters’ Challenge, but just what is the Masters’ Challenge?

Twenty years ago, they developed a supplementary training package called “The Masters’ Challenge.” This package was a simple program designed for advanced students who wanted to challenge themselves outside of the school to improve their life skills as well as to improve their physical skills. The training package includes benchmark sheets for goal setting and daily checklists broken down into categories that include: General Fitness and Strength, Mental/Spiritual Health, Martial Arts Basic Training, Weight Gain/Reduction, and Goal Tracking. Let’s take a quick look at each category.

KFMA Creates Positive Habits for Fitness and Strength

Everyone should spend some intentional time each week maintaining their physical fitness. In the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans put out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, children ages 6 through 17 should spend a minimum of 60 minutes per day in moderate to vigorous activity, and work on muscle strengthening three times per week. Adults should spend a minimum of 150 minutes per week in moderate intensity activity, and should work on strengthening all of the major muscle groups at least twice per week. https://odphp.health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/physical-activity-guidelines

KFMA’s Masters’ Challenge includes all of this in the daily/weekly checklist, as well as stretching and consuming adequate amounts of water each day.

KFMA Creates Positive Habits for Martial Arts

As we consider the martial arts a lifestyle as well as an activity, we added some traditional martial arts skills to the daily checklist. While training at home will not replace training in class with a set curriculum and certified instructors, there are simple ways to practice at home that can allow for better muscle memory and improvement in technique. There are also drills that are customized to allow each student to work on his/her material that is rank-specific.

Here is an article that may prove beneficial for any KFMA students who plan on taking the KFMA Masters’ Challenge this Summer: https://teamkowkabany.com/how-to-develop-a-powerful-side-kick/

KFMA Creates Positive Habits for Mental/Spiritual Health

There is no way around the fact that we are spiritual beings, and that our spiritual and mental health is often neglected in the fast-paced world in which we live. With this in mind, we have several items on the daily checklist that include items such as: Give 2 hugs and say “I love you,”; perform one good deed, play a simple board game with a family member. The items on this list vary by week, and these are designed to help students unplug from our digital world, and to embrace the true side of being human.

KFMA Trains You for Life!

Creating new habits takes work, and having a supportive environment can be the determining factor when it comes to success! Thankfully, at KFMA there is a very strong FAMILY atmosphere, with camaraderie from fellow students and strong support from the Instructors, which helps our students to stay on track with their goals. This support is a key element in staying on track during the duration of the Masters’ Challenge.

According to Phillippa Lally, a senior lecturer in psychology and the co-director of the Habit Application and Theory group at the University of Surrey in England, ‘Consistent daily repetition was the biggest factor influencing whether a behavior would become part of an automatic daily routine.’ ( https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-does-it-really-take-to-form-a-habit/ ). For this reason, the Challenge includes daily checklists AND weekly check-ins with Chief Master David Kowkabany.

In addition to the items mentioned above, students taking the Masters’ Challenge will note how many hours of sleep they get each night, and they will note their motivation level. Motivation is like the weather, it changes from day to day based on a variety of factors. As common sense would suggest, we have discovered over time that getting enough sleep each night is a key factor in being motivated to perform physically and mentally the next day.

A Final Reminder

When you take the KFMA Masters’ Challenge, your biggest obstacle to success will be WHEN – NOT IF – you have a few off days or even a rough week. Most goals and new habits are abandoned after minor setbacks! All great accomplishments in life will be achieved only after working through setbacks, hurdles and unexpected challenges. The tenacity it takes to work through these is what develops strong character, and that is also why the support provided by KFMA’s students and Instructors is so important.

The KFMA Masters’ Challenge will be offered to our students in June, starting with a 4-week challenge cycle. For those who wish to continue after the first cycle, a second 4-week cycle will be offered. This challenge provides students with a great opportunity in the Summer months to improve their skills and to make great progress towards the goals that are most important to them.

Chief Masters Laura and David Kowkabany have dedicated their lives to helping every student at KFMA to recognize their God-given talents, and to learn to develop them to their full potential. In addition to goal-setting, students who train at KFMA will develop a number of life skills that will help them to find success not only in the martial arts, but also in their academic fields, in their professions, and perhaps most importantly, in their family relationships.

For more information regarding our family martial arts classes, just give us a call at 813-540-5528. KFMA is located at 13910 Monroes Business Park, just two doors down from the Tampa Bay Brewing Company off Racetrack Road.