Desmond L Diaz

From Armando Colbourne
"One of martial arts’ greatest achievements was on full display this past Saturday, August 15, 2026, at the Artful Minds Youth Empowerment Free Martial Arts Tournament.

And I’m not talking about trophies or medals.

I’m talking about Courage, Respect, and Loyalty.

COURAGE
Every one of our scorekeepers was doing the job for the first time. For many of our competitors, this was also their very first tournament. And the majority of our Center Judges were being trusted with that responsibility for the first time.

They stepped forward, accepted the challenge, learned, adjusted, and got the job done. That is courage.

RESPECT
We had a large number of walk-ins who, for whatever reason, had not registered online ahead of time as requested. Instead of allowing that situation to take away from the experience of the children, our team made friendly adjustments and did everything possible to accommodate them.

That is what community is about.

LOYALTY
The overwhelming majority of our competitors followed the rules and represented themselves, their instructors, their schools, and martial arts with finesse, elegance, and class.

That made me proud.

Below is a short video highlighting some of our first-time competitors. For some, Saturday may have been their first step into competition—but hopefully it will not be their last.

We prayed. We believed. We achieved.

I am grateful to be part of such a great martial arts family.

To every competitor, parent, instructor, judge, scorekeeper, volunteer, supporter, and friend who helped make this possible:

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The medals will eventually find their way onto shelves and into boxes. But the courage, respect, confidence, friendships, and memories created that day can last a lifetime.

That is the real victory."

today was a solid day of training with the US martial arts team 4 hours of strength and conditioning, drills, sparring, and forms. whenever our members even showed up from another state via video chat to work out with us! love to see the dedication. and congrats do I newest member Caden! I look forward to seeing the work he puts in!

We are all three dimensional structures. Muscles that we treat can be accessed from different angles, not just one. Movement can also be involved for depth. Sometimes we need a reminder that not everything is one way. Look out for their comfort as well as your own.

To all my clients: Don't go crazy when you feel better please lol everything in moderation.

The body is an operates in three dimensions! Feel free to explore different angles of an attack and looking to treat certain body parts. This is especially useful when clients cannot lay in all positions or have limitations; personal or otherwise. Daily reminder to stay flexible with your treatment strategies.

Massage therapist. Please take care of your body protect your hands especially your thumbs. It's a rough world out there, any tool that you can use to help yourself take it!