Two Wolves (Submitted by Shuyokan student Denise Ciganovich)
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Using Internet Group and Chat Forum Web Sites
Using an Internet chat or forum web site where you are asked information to use for a personal profile is extremely dangerous to your personal safety and the safety of your family. If you list your name, age, where you attend school and other personal items, keep in mind that the information you enter on the profile can be accessed by anyone including those who target young children. Think about it! Once you make your name and school known, anyone who would want to harm you in any way now knows how to find you based on the information that you have furnished in your profile. It may not seem important to you at the time because you think it is cool. But ask any police investigator who poses on the Internet as a young child to catch those who are looking for young kids as targets the number of contacts that they receive, and the number of arrests that they make on these types of criminals.

It is up to you to take responsibility to protect both yourself and your family from those types of predators that want to hurt you or possibly separate you from your family, permanently!

Freeway Safety
Recently there has been an increase in shootings aimed at moving vehicles on our freeways. If your mom or dad drives on the freeway, tell them to watch for suspicious vehicles especially those that may have a window rolled down. In order for someone to shoot out of a moving vehicle, the window must be open. Have your mom and dad be aware of vehicles pulling along side of them maintaining the same and exact speed as they are traveling. Your parents should slow down and let the vehicle continue past them. Make sure that your mom and dad use both their rear view and side view mirrors more frequently to be aware of other vehicles around them, especially on our freeways.

The 2004 Fall/Winter issue of the Shuyokan Newsletter is now available, PDF format, 550 KB. (If you are using Internet Explorer, you may have to download it first. Right-click and select "Save Target As...")

Print out this important information on "The 3 A's". (Click on the 'banner' at the top of the page to return here.)

The self-defense techniques that we learn are perishable skills unless we continue to train. The importance we place on our skills in order to be able to defend ourselves depends greatly on how much we continue to practice and train to be aware of our surroundings. Taking the necessary and proper steps to continue to train and practice our self-defense techniques can help to increase the chances of not becoming a victim when being faced with a physical confrontation.

On August 24, 2004 a number of Shuyokan members represented the Samurai Cop self-defense Academy as part of The National Night Out. This is an annual event in which the City of Costa Mesa, the Costa Mesa Police Department, and this year well over 1,200 residents, joined together to celebrate the year-round efforts to keep their neighborhoods crime and drug free. Read the thank you letter the Chief of Police, John D. Hensely, sent to thank us for participating. (Click your browser's BACK button to return here.)

This issue's Safety Tip: When walking on a sidewalk, always walk facing oncoming traffic. Never walk with your back to oncoming traffic.

If you have ideas for something you would like to see in your newsletter, or anything to contribute, please contact us.