From the Desk of Keith Hafner 

‘It Started With a Handshake’

Early 1980’s.  My sons, Jason, age 3, Ian, age 2.  Both thoroughly trained in the ‘handshake drill.’  Me, coaching them at home, rehearsing, over and over again.

Result?  Both boys, comfortable, confident, shaking hands and introducing themselves to adults.  Firm handshake.  Looking folks square in the eye. Age 2 and 3!

At the time, almost 40 years ago, ‘Keith Hafner’s Karate’ was a hard core fighting school.  What else could it have been?  That was how I was trained. It was the only thing I knew.

But when it occurred to me to teach the ‘handshake drill’ to my Karate students, parents were thrilled with the result.

And my new ‘mission’ was born.

I began teaching kids in our community the same lessons I was teaching my sons at home.  Lessons of courage, focus, respect, self-control.

I don’t mind telling you it took a while before we could effectively teach these skills.
I also don’t mind telling you that we did our homework.  Studied. Practiced.  Learned.

And now, nearly forty years later…we are really good at it.

www.karateisgoodforyou.com, if you think this might benefit your son or daughter!