February at the Dojo

Hello everyone!

First things first–I apologize to anyone who received any unnecessary notice(s) about the dojo being closed these past few weeks, or if you received a duplicate email of our first almost-monthly newsletter (which you can check out here, if you didn’t get it at all!). I’m still getting used to this “blog turned to email” thing. Thanks for your patience and understanding–it should now be fixed!

Fun fact: the featured image for this newsletter is the my office calendar’s February image. Don’t I wish?

Anyway, onto our “almost-monthly” newsletter!

Events

The tea ceremony that we had a few Saturdays back was a great success! It was wonderful to be able to enjoy tea with all of you. As requested/promised, here is Sam’s info if you want to order tea or get in contact:

Cafe Tamaki
1222 Peck St.
Muskegon, MI 49442
517-260-1915
www.cafetamaki.com
cafetamaki@gmail.com

We also have a few Cafe Tamaki brochures at the dojo, should you want a hard copy of this information. Again, thank you to all who braved the weather to join us for tea!

Tacos and Trivia

Mark your calendars! Our next Community Event will be Tacos and Trivia on Saturday, May 2nd, at 5pm! Bring your family members and friends or join with other dojo members to form a trivia team, then compete while enjoying a taco bar. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Free Friend February

Speaking of friends, we are hosting Free Friend February! This month, bring any friend(s) to the dojo as many times as you want for free! To make things fun, I will be awarding a $20 gift card to choice to whoever brings the most friends. February is often cold and dark, so what better way to combat that than with the warmth and light of our karate community?

Black Belt Testing

Our Black Belt Testing date is February 28th at 10am! Come and cheer on Jason G. and John N., then celebrate with CAKE afterwards!

If you are attending as a non-testing black belt, this event requires formal attire! That means an all-white gi and your black belt. Everyone else, feel free to show up in whatever’s comfortable, provided that it is not “no pants.” Socks may be optional, but you must wear pants while in the dojo.

Reminders and Updates

New Members

We have some people who have just joined or who are doing trial classes this month. If you see someone that you don’t know, introduce yourself! Who knows–you might just meet your new BFF!

A Journey, Not a Destination

The holidays, sickness, and the weather threw a lot of people out of the habit of regular karate practice. Life gets busy, and sometimes it can feel hard to come back into the dojo feeling like you don’t remember things or that you’ve somehow “lost progress.”

I just want to remind everyone that this is a JOURNEY! Never hesitate to reach out if you’re unsure about coming back in or need some help scheduling practice time that works for you outside of our regularly posted hours. Know that you have support!

Community Corner

Help with a Move

One of our community members is moving! If you have any time to help move items into a truck on Thursday, February 12th, please contact me for details and for connection! This member lives near the dojo, for reference on travel.

Happy Early (Or Late) Birthday to Our Dojo Members!

If you see these folks around the dojo, make sure to wish them a happy birthday month!

  • Michelle K.
  • Riley W.
  • Joe N.
  • Allison H.

Do you have something that you’d like the community to know–a life update, a need, or an offer for connection? Let me know, and I’ll put it in next month’s newsletter!

Thank you, as always, for being along for this wild ride. I really appreciate every last one of you!

Sensei Allison

Fourth Form Turns Four!

Hi everyone!

If you’re reading this, congratulations; you have, in some way, shape or form, been a part of this incredible journey of starting and managing a martial arts school. Whether you’re a present student, past student, seminar attendee, or community partner, THANK YOU for being a part of our school. Can you believe it’s been four years!?

I’ve decided to start this almost-monthly newsletter to keep everyone up to date on all things dojo: news, events, and opportunities to connect with one another. My hope is that this can be both a useful reference and a tool that we can use to grow in our community of practice. In a world that’s somewhat disconnected and devoid of third spaces, it’s my hope that the dojo can be a place where we go not only to improve as martial artists, but also to stay grounded in our local community by engaging with one another as friends and fellow practitioners.

Now, onward to our news and events!

Events

Tea Ceremony

Our first quarter dojo event is an American tea ceremony on Saturday, January 24th! We’re partnering with CafĂ© Tamaki (a small business from the Muskegon area) for an afternoon of delicious tea and casual conversation. This event is for all ages and is FREE for current dojo members ($20 for the general public). That said, you still need to register here to reserve your spot. There are multiple times available (each ceremony is roughly 45 minutes long), so pick what works best in your schedule and enjoy the experience!

Free Friend February

Coming soon: free friend February! Throughout the entire month of February, members can bring friends to as many classes as they want for free. You can bring a ton of different friends or the same friend every time. Whoever brings the most friends may even get a prize. Stay tuned for more details in February’s newsletter!

Black Belt Testing

Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 28th, the date of our next black belt test. Cheer on your fellow dojo members as they test for their next degree of black belt! More details to come.

Reminders and Updates

Sign In

Please remember to sign in using the sheet on top of the shoe rack! This is important for promotion requirements. If I don’t see your name on the sheet, I can’t count your class toward promotion.

Dojo Hygiene

The more people we have working out in the dojo, the more important hygiene becomes. So get some D.O. for your B.O., everyone! And if you’d like me to stock your favorite product(s) to help with this, let me know. I know that a lot of you come straight from work, and so I’m happy to help make things easier (especially if it makes the dojo less stinky)!

Thursday Schedule

Starting this week, I’ll be teaching at Grand Valley on Thursday nights for their winter semester. If you’re a student who regularly comes on Thursdays, you may not see me for a bit. But fear not! Our other Senseis (mostly Sensei Mike) have got this! And if you have any questions regarding payment or anything else business-related, please email, text, or call.

Website Updates

Finally, Fourth Form’s website has gotten a (slight) face lift. I’ve updated our schedule and pricing for incoming members. I’ve also tweaked a few promotion requirements and am now using MailPoet to get these newsletters into email inboxes rather than having them solely as blog posts. If you run into difficulties accessing anything or have any questions, let me know!

Community Corner

Happy Early (Or Late) Birthday to Our Dojo Members!

If you see these folks around the dojo, make sure to wish them a happy birthday month!

  • Nick R.
  • Tom D.
  • Azada E.
  • Alli T.
  • Luca P.
  • Danielle R.

Increasing Community Connection in the Dojo

In the future, I’d love to use this community corner to better connect our dojo members to one another. So if you have something fun to celebrate, a need that’s arisen, or anything that you’d like shared, just shoot me an email so that I can include it in next month’s newsletter.

Final Thoughts

Thank you for sticking with me. Not just for this hopefully-longer-than-normal newsletter, but also through the last four years. I often feel like I stumbled into business ownership on accident, learning as I went, and it’s a marvel that I’ve managed to last this long. Then I remember that I’ve had the blessing of working with and beside people who not only show me patience and understanding, but also provide me with support and encouragement when everything feels like chaos.

So thank you. Thank you all for suiting up, showing up, and making the dojo my favorite place to be. I’m so excited for what 2026 has in store for us, and even more thankful that we get to find out together.

-Sensei Allison