There's an old fable about the oak and the reed. The oak stood big and strong as it had been around for a very long time, rigidly withstanding winds when the weather lashed out. The reed was essentially a bit of tall grass, nowhere near as big and strong as the oak, and flapping about every time the wind blew. One day, a really big storm blew. It was the worst the trees and plants had seen. The strongest gust of wind blew and the oak, being big and rigid, eventually cracked,

No matter how unlikely the success, a true Black Belt will always face the challenge head on. It's because a Black Belt understands that real success is the result of a continued and determined march, where the forward steps have to outnumber the setbacks. How do we do this in a Northstar Ju Jitsu dojo? By encouraging students to aim to improve 100 things by 1%, rather than 1 thing by 100%. By setting achievable milestones that we can visualise, like our next belt, we build a

We build leadership by helping others. That, right there, is one of the pillars of our dojo and of our Northstar Ju Jitsu system. Why do we do it? We've made it our mission to build confidence in others and help build a better, stronger community around us. And confidence grows when we discover our true capacity to empower others to achieve their best. That's why, for instance, our Super Stars (9 – 14yo) are required to spend a minimum amount of time, once they reach Green Be

(Topic suggested by 7yo Cayden Dosoruth) It's important to be driven, entertain ambitions and set goals for ourselves. After all, unless we visualise what we want to achieve, we tend to wander aimlessly. However, most goals that are hard to reach are rarely the result of self-centred singular effort. We need to remember that there are things that we rely on others to help us accomplish. And to work successfully in a team environment, it's important to set aside our egos, let