No Parking!

Well not exactly no parking, just limited parking, which will require some care on your part. At Ward’s Family Karate we have as I count it six parking spaces across the front of our building. In karate we teach respect for others and that includes respect for things that belong to others. We show that when we bow before we enter the building and when we bow before stepping on to the training mat, as well as bowing to our partner when we practice. This courtesy should not be limited to our visit to the dojo but should become a part of our lives as we leave the dojo. Courtesy just makes things work better.

What does that have to do with parking? Well as I said we have six parking spaces in front of our building. That’s not a lot and we will have to find parking space elsewhere around building. The real problem starts when others do not show us respect. We have been having problems with the students and even the instructors of our neighbor “Combat Sports” parking in front of our building.

Now I like to cut people some slack. Ward’s Family Karate opens later than Combat Sports, and as their students arrive they see a dark dojo and assume we are closed. I am fine with them using our spaces when we are closed, but they need to be gone by the time we are open. Well that’s not happening. I have already spoken to the owners and they agree, but none of us controls the actions of our students we can only influence them. I will take additional step to educate their students and free up those spaces that are ours. If the problem continues tow trucks may have to get involved.

We still have the problem of having a limited number of spaces available. Thursday night we had a bit of an incident with our neighbor on the other side. The paint store next to us has posted cardboard signs basically saying “No Parking”. That is fine, I have signs for the same purpose in my window. I have neglected to tell any of our students not to park in front of the paint store. My thinking was that they closed at 5:00 and there would be no problem parking there after hours. Well it’s the things that you don’t know that will get you in trouble. Apparently there is a person affiliated with the paint store that comes and goes at all hours of the day and night.

Well Thursday night he came in and found no spaces available in front of the paint store. So rather than find some thing farther away (which he was not required to do) and rather than double-parking a single car he decided to cross parked two or three cars. Fortunately one of our students came and got me. He was pretty hot about it and was ready to have all the cars towed away. I managed to calm him down and he agreed to move his car.

Let that be a lesson to everyone. You don’t have to be rude or violent to solve problems, what ever they may be. At Ward’s Family Karate we teach that karate is 95% mental and 5% physical. So when you are confronted with a problem or find yourself in danger remember to use the strongest defense weapon that you have, YOUR BRAIN.

The second lesson is that if you park in front of the paint store you are doing so at your own risk! So I will state here “Do Not Park In Front Of The Paint Store.” There I said it. Now if you do, at least don’t take the last space or everyone will be in trouble.

Where to Park

Here is some parking advice. As I said I count it as six spaces in front of our Karate School. Two cars can fit in front of the garage door. So if you park there hug the lines so we can get two cars in. There is room to double-park in our lot. If we are careful how we do it we can make use of that. If you are arriving for the first class at 6:30 it seems safe to double-park anyone in our lot, as long as you are leaving right after the first class. If we get to know each other and what we are driving we can make this work. You can always double-park my car. That is either the red Ford Focus (with the signs on it) or the blue Ford Windstar.

If all of those spaces are taken then you can look down the building for unused spaces. That’s where it gets a little tricky. Most of the businesses are posted, but most of them are also closed. You are probably OK using those spaces after hours, but avoid the paint store. I will be trying to get in touch with some of the business owns to find out if this is a problem. You can also look for the space available signs and park in front of these un-leased storefronts.

At the North end of the build there is an additional lot with 10 spaces. A new tenant with an auto repair business is parking several of the cars that he is working on there. Those are not defined for any business as I can tell, so they are safe for you to use. That north lot is where the dumpster is, and I would think after 5:00 it would be safe to park in front of the dumpster fence. Just don’t block the opening of the fence doors.

At the South end of the builder there is also additional parking along the extreme south edge of the parking lot. It’s pretty dark down there! If you do park there I would advise that you carry a flashlight.

We don’t want anyone getting towed, so park carefully. Let’s take the high road and show Courtesy to our neighbors, even if they are not showing it to us. If you do not feel safe with the available parking please let me know. I will arrange for a black belt to escort you to your car.

Scott Ward, Sensei
Ward’s Family Karate, LLC
Providing the fines training in Karate and Martial Arts in Colorado Springs.
Web site: www.WardFamilyKarate.com
Email: scott.ward@wardsfamilykarate.com
Blog: www.wardsfamilykarate.blogspot.com