We hope that this is a time for joy & peace for you and your Families.
Thank you for being a part of the Victory Martial Arts Academies Families.
Merry Christmas
The Victory Staff
================================
Couple Quick Updates Before the Holidays:
Holiday Schedule: All Victory Academy locations will be closed from Sat Dec 23rd to Sun Jan 1st. CLASSES RESUME on Mon Jan 2nd!
All Academies Comp Team Practice December: We WILL be having a training practice on Wed Dec 28th 7pm at ORLAND. Please do your best to start the year right with making it back to practice.
Congrats on all the Victory Submission Team that competed at the last several compettions! You represented the school well. Many medals...Check the fan page for video highlights.
Upcoming: We have a bunch of events and suprises planed for the first 3 months of the year stay plugged in and watch for details.
Victory Martial Arts Student Succes Story
Victory Lisle Student Blake sent this to me via facebook message and I shared with him that this is a huge story and very inspirational and I asked him if I could Publish it and he said without hesitation "go right ahead".
Master Riccardo,
Today I was going through some old pictures and wanted to share a visual difference Adam and Victory have made on my life. As for an emotional and life change I can not express enough.
In the attached picture was taken a month after joining Victory in February of this year. At this point i was already down a few pounds for the year. As well as a picture taken about October of this year where I am down about another 5 lbs since then. These are only face shots but still express the weight loss. In total about 40 for the year.
The changes made this year physically, mentally, and emotional will always make me part of Victory. As we all have our ups, downs, and life happens I will never forget and will always be part of this team.
On Behalf of the Entire Victory Staff - Thank you for being in our Family!
Happy ThanksGiving!
Please Chk With your Schools Manager (Phone numbers are in the side bar to the Left) to see your Victory's Locations Holiday Schedule. ALL Academies will be closed Thanksgiving Day!
NEW VIDEOS - Boubon st Victory Fight Night Matches
Victory Martial Arts Fight Night Videos
Big Thank you to all Victory Fans that came out to support our MMA comp Team. Here are the result videos.
Please vote for Danny at MoreMMA.com if you think that he deserves the title shot at 145lbs. It's a no brainer!
** Watch the slip at 0:13, the counter right hand at 0:15 that just missed and the one that landed and was followed immediately by a double at 0:17.
Trap the head on the cage for ninterrupted striking at 1:50, the pass of guard at 2:07 sliding the left knee through and taking the back and palm to plam choke at 2:35!
And the most important thing - at 2:49! This is the Victory Spirit and conduct.
Team Dion Riccardo's MMA Comp Team Tryouts will be held Wed Nov 30th at Victory Orland 7pm sharp
"A Few Quick Things to Get Victory Martial Arts Students Up To Speed "
Hey Victory Martial Arts Family,
1. Instructor Candidate Training Program: If your the type of person who like to help oithers, why not become a CERTIFIED Victory Instructor?
Once a year we run our ICT (Instructor Candidate Training) Bootcamp, where students over 15 can learn and be trained to be a Victory Instructor or eventually even a Victory Academies Manager or a Victory Partner.
Applications are due by Oct 25th! Your Instructor will notify you if you are clear to attend the training. The cost of the ICT Program is $195 which includes the 3 hour instructor candidate bootcamp, Victory Instructor Manual and 3 months of " on the floor training".
You will leave the ICT bootcamp with a Victory Apprentice Instuctor certification - the first step in becoming a paid Victory Instructor.
ICT Bootcamp is scheduled for Friday Nov 4th 7-10pm.
Wed Oct 19th at the Orland Academy 7pm. If you are on Team Dion Riccardo please attend and influence your other academy teammates to join you.
Even if you are not competeing or injured - still show up and support your team.
Also, if you are on the comp team and have not attended lately, please come by and train or just say hello.
I can only imagine how much stronger the team would be if everyone was loyal to their training partners and showed up for training EVEN if they are not competeing any time soon! There is much honor in helping others prepare.
We have a ton of new fighters going into shows in the next 2 months and a few vetreans competing.
Sonny B, Moe, Moe Aj, tyler, Sunny Frank, mack, and all the morning guys... We need you.
====================================
Amazing Video in Caught on Tape in Front of My Home.
In this amazing video you will be inspired!
The Hill that she is walking toward is about 2 blocks of nothing but steep incline. (When I walk up that hill it makes me at 41 yrs old- break a sweat!)
I have talked to this lady. She is 80 years old and does this walk everyday, even in bad weather I see her!
She does not need to do this, but she has disciplined herself to quote her own words for the past 24 Years to do this EVERYDAY! That's pushing the ROCK! If she can do it, we can too!
Bruce Lee said there is nothing more constant than change.
How true, right?
Well as you know Victory Mixed Martial Arts Acdemy is always changing and we have made a bunch of new imporvments in our locations as well as our programs.
We are moving or have moved several of our locations.
Victory members will be asked to take our annual survey this Nov.
Instructor candidate course will be slated for Early Nov 2011. If you would like to become a certified Victory Instructor this course is for you. Details coming soon.
Team Dion Riccardo Comp Team Tryouts coming this Nov
UIC - Has now added a Outstanding Kids Program! Please tell your friends about this confidence building martial arts course that helps raise Safer, Smarter and Healthier kids!
Lisle- Has expanded BIGTIME! New offerings include Tue/ Thurs MMA technique classses, Woman's Kickboxing on Wed at 6pm & Fri at 10:30 am, Kids Program meets on Mondays at 6pm and Saturday 11am, and Live Grappling Drills Class on Saturdays At 9:00am. Now serving MMA Training Naperville
Forest Park - Great things happening here! Update on Danny he is doing well and his recovery is going well!
Oswego - The new kids Program has exploded! If your interested in getting a child into the program please do not hesitate before all spots are filled. New Location coming soon!
Mixed Martial Arts Gym Lafayette - Our Lafayette academy will have the first few Team Dion Riccardo MMA Comp Team Members competing in Oct. Go Victory!
Please leave your comments for Team Dion Riccardo's Comp Team fighters!
Instuctor's Corner
Why?
By Luke Morris, Victory Certified Instructor
It’s the fundamental question of life. We start asking it at three years old, and if we’re smart we never stop while we’re alive. Why is the sky blue? Why does the Earth turn? Why do you have to work for a living? Why did you do this instead of that? Why should you do that instead of this? Why do you exist at all? And to bring it back to the subject at hand: Why do you train martial arts?
Some people train martial arts as a fun way to get in shape, some train to increase self-confidence or self-discipline, some train to compete in combative sports, and some train to learn to defend themselves. Of course many people participate for a combination of reasons, but usually when digging deep you can get to the one main driver that brings you to the gym every week.
No matter which reason you pick to describe why you train, you should notice that every one of these reasons has an even deeper ‘why’ behind it. Why do you want to get in shape? Why do you feel the need for more discipline or confidence? Why do you want to compete? Why do you need to defend yourself? Knowing the answer to your core ‘why’ question is crucial to your development as a martial artist – and only you can provide that answer.
Finding this deeper reason for doing the martial arts will add more depth to your training, and will give you an even stronger motivation to learn and grow. This added inspiration will push you to put more focus and effort, more of yourself (including your central values and beliefs) into your training. As a result you will reap more rewards from it.
Thanks for being a part of Victory and our family.
Until next time, keep training hard and smart. Remember your goals and enjoy the process.
Master D
*Don't become a black belt for the glory - become a black belt for what it will make out of you to become one.
Stay a black belt for what it will help others around you BECOME - there is where you find honor and the life of Significance you seek!
Victory Martial Arts MMA Comp Team Picks for fights Speak Out...
Video 2
Vitamins for your Mind
This is a speech that Master Dion gave at the July Instructor Meeting. It's called "Everything is Hard".
Please watch it and you will be inspired!
Action Plan: Watch the video for the next 7 days and journal your thoughts about it as you will pick up something new each time. Then Share it with a friend!
** NOTE - Master D said that he was not referring to Dina (his Wife) as the crabby wife =-). It was just an example!
Things you may be interested in:
New Combatants Mindset course
I get asked very often by students how they should be thinking and ways to get into that "flow" state when they are competing. This is one of the best resources I have found on the subject and i give it my highest thumbs up! ( it may be good to read while on Summer Break). Click on the image below for more details.
That's it for now.
Until next time, keep training hard and smart. Remember your goals and enjoy the process.
Master D
Don't become a black belt for the glory - become a black belt for what it will make out of you to become one.
Stay a black belt for what it will do to others around you there is where you find honor!
Victory Academies is now REOPEN again in Most areas.
Forest Park, Lisle, Orland Park & Lafayette all RESUME classes today June 6th as normally scheduled.
Were totally amped up and Excited to hear how everybody's holiday was and also get back in the SWING and crushi it!
I came up with this list of "MENTAL TOUGHNESS" quotes to help keep up a Super Strong Attitude during times of treendous pressure! (I'm not the only one that goes through seasons of challenge am I?)
I Can't therefore I Must!
Stay Grateful & Humble
My Habits Define Me
Reject fear, greed, and doubt.
Focus on the critical few and NOT the trivial many.
The Picture in your Mind will happen in time.
Everything is HARD, But EASY after time.
Most people over estimate what they can achieve in a day, and under estimate how much they can achieve in 5 years!
I hope you enjoy it, and oh, here is the ACTION PLAN.
Print this post or bookmark it!
Read this list once a day for seven days
read it once a week for 7 weeks
There you Have it!
Please leave your favorite mental toughness quotes!
3. Victory's Own Anthony & Amanda join hands in marraige!
Congrats Amanda & Anthony. We all wish you the very best and happiness!
(note From Master D) - If your single and you go to Victory, watch out- We have seen 11 couples MEET at Victory and get married. I bet they never thought of that when they signed up! LOL
4. Oswego - UIC upgrading loations?
In the very near future, both UIC & Oswego will be moving to a new upgraded facility. Your instructor will keep you posted.
5. Victory Summer Break
Victory will be closed for Summer Break (AKA - Let your mind and body get some needed rest) from Thursday May 30th to Tuesday July 5th (some academies will be closed slightly longer-check with your instructor) and REOPEN for classes Wed July 6th.
We hope that you enjoy your fourth of July get togethers and that you and your families will be safe.
Return to training with a new sense of purpose and inspiration.
6. New Combatants Mindset course
I get asked very often by students how they should be thinking and ways to get into that "flow" state when they are competing. This is one of the best resources I have found on the subject and i give it my highest thumbs up! ( it may be good to read while on Summer Break). Click on the image below for more details.
7. Instructory Tommy Wolst and his wife Gina had a baby
Orland Park's long time Victory Instructor Tommy Wolst and his wonderful wife Gina become proud parents this week to Olivia. We wish them the best. We are so happy Gina and the baby are healthy & in good shape.
That's it for now.
Until next time, keep training hard and smart. Remember your goals and enjoy the process.
Master D
Don't become a black belt for the glory - become a black belt for what it will make out of you to become one.
Stay a black belt for what it will do to others around you there is where you find honor!
Rants, cool stuff and other Things that are Important right now.
Hey Victory Family,
Got a few things that I wanted to tell you about...
1. ALL Academies COMP Team Practice and Victory New Comp Team Try outs will be held WED June 15th at the Orland Park Victory located at 15414 70th court in Orland (about 2 blocks from the old academy).
2. Feedin the Starved in Hondouras: Well, on behalf of the entire staff I want to thank all that participated in last weekends festivities in helping to raise money for us to bring down to hondouras in about a month.
Last year, we raised aout $1,300 and it affected the poor in a big way.
This year, so far $6,000 has been raised out of our 10,000 goal. So we are not far off at all.
In fact, there is still time to donate if you did not participate and would like to help. Even the smallest amount helps.
I want you to think about this - With just our little effort to "Help", we could feed, cloth and build for families in a whole town for a year!
Let's show what were made of Victory and reach our goal of raising 10,000 and make a huge difference in these peoples lives...Giving them some Victory!
To donate please contact your instructor!
Thank you,
Master D
3. Instructor's corner w/ Luke Morris
Here’s a bit of wisdom that may run counter to what you might expect: If you train in the martial arts for long enough, sooner or later you will reach a point where you know everything. That is, you will know all of the individual moves that there are to know.
This isn’t as controversial a claim as it sounds. After all, there are limits to the ways in which the human body can move; these limits dictate the maximum different types of movement that the body can undertake. So, while there are many, many techniques to learn, given a long enough lifetime of studious discipline you could in principle learn them all.
Yet though only a finite number of particular movements exist for the practitioner to learn, what to do with those moves – when to apply them, how to set them up, ways to combine them, and how to use them in innumerable situations – comes close to infinite. You can set up the exact same move in indefinitely many ways.
Let’s say, for instance, that you want to land your cross. How many different fakes, feints, and combinations can you think of that finish with a cross? No matter how many variations you can bring to mind today, I’ll bet with work you could come up with a few more tomorrow, and a few more the day after, and so on into the future. The learning never ends.
So don’t despair in your training if you don’t know it all yet. No one does! The greatest martial artists aren’t those who “know everything”, but those who continue learning and improving when others think they know all there is to know. Once you accept the fact that you will never know everything, you will free yourself to learn everything you can.
4. SHOUT OUTS -
Dina & Molly - You make want to Kick Butt everyday!
Coach Anthony B - May your new marriage be blessed and joyful forever!
Coach Adam Grisko - Happy B Day! The rest of your life will be the best of your life.
Coach David Chacon - One of the hardest workers I know one word A player!
Coach Danny Sommers - You have risen to the task! I am very proud of you!
Coach Rhett - Always a student.... I appreciate your humility.
The Instructor staff at all the Victory Academies - I want you to know, that after traveling to many famous schools over the years. YOU make Victory what I believe to be the BEST place to get a quality education in martial arts & life skills. You are appreciated and I will always work to better communicate with you and show you how much your appreciated.
Students - You are Victory! The school is you, not the 4 walls in which we hold classses. You are the brave few that have challenged yourself to become more and have foresaken all the distractions to let the process of becoming a black belt change you inside & out.
Don't become a black belt for the glory - become a black belt for what it will make out of you to become one.
Stay a black belt for what it will do to others around you there is where you find honor!
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