This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Origin Dojo, owned by Scott Ramsaur (Coach Scott), is a mixed martial arts studio. This summer they are offering a summer camp that includes unlimited classes for $100. All the proceeds from the summer camp will be donated to the Education Foundation for the St. Vrain Valley.
Origin Dojo has adopted the philosophy, "We rise by lifting others." This is a statement that is drilled into each student several times during their lesson. And it is the philosophy that Coach Scott lives by.
In order to understand the reason why Coach Scott feels so strongly about giving back to the community, it is important to understand his origin.
As an infant, Coach Scott was profoundly left hand dominant. It was so frustrating to use his right side that he refused and gave up trying. This manifested as him dragging his right foot as he crawled.
Naturally, his parents were concerned and took him in to be tested for a variety of ailments. It was determined that he just was not able to coordinate his body properly. " This old country doctor, I lived in Georgia, said, 'I’d put him in something that activates both sides. I’d put him into something physical like dance where he can’t be left handed. Dancing or swimming.'"
Coach Scott told his parents that he was not a dancer and preferred swimming, so they drove him 20 miles to the YMCA pool. There he met the "Mr. Miyagi" like karate instructor and fell in love with the sport. "It was all I ever wanted to do."
Not long after getting hooked on karate, Coach Scott's family moved. In fact his family would move 12 times before he turned 14 years old. Coach Scott considers himself a "business brat" since each relocation was due to his father's career.
With each move meant beginning a new karate school. Each new karate school meant starting karate again from the beginning, a white belt. This quickly frustrated Coach Scott. However, his mother intervened.
He tells this story about his mother:
Early on, my mom was super smart, I’m really glad she was, because when you move schools, the big thing with the kids are the belts, when do I get my next belt? When you go to a new school your belt literally doesn’t count anymore.
So every school I went to I had to start over. I really wanted to keep going and I didn’t want to be a white belt again. I remember those tearful conversations.
My mom was like, it really doesn’t matter about how or why or what you’re doing it’s that you had a really good teacher and I think that’s what you remember. I don’t think you remember the Taekwondo or the Judo. I think the thing you remember liking is how nice of a guy your teacher was.
And I was like, you know I think you’re right. So we went and took lessons from three or four different places every time we moved and I just chose the guy I got along with. I chose the better teacher for me. And it meant that I had to start over every single time. Really early on, I learned how to not be attached to one style or one way of doing things and I think it’s kinda made me who I am in a lot of ways.
Through the guidance of his mother and having learned these hard lessons at an early age, Coach Scott learned to focus on what truly made martial arts enjoyable to him, the relationships he developed and the community he found in each dojo. These lessons are what drive him as an individual and a small business owner.
"Any kind of promotions I do, I like to try to link it to a charity or a cause or something that the community can be involved in. The money for an endeavor like this is always secondary and the outreach is first. So if we help out the Education Foundation, it goes out to everyone in the district, it's a small amount of money to donate verses helping out the cause and you reach the entire district. I’ve always thought that if I try to lift somebody else up and try to help them out, then the other stuff will come."
Coach Scott served for five years on the Education Foundation's board. His term recently expired, however he wanted to continue supporting the organization and the work that they do. He felt that donating the proceeds from his summer camp would be a great way to do that.
The Education Foundation for St. Vrain is a nonprofit organization that "provides a conduit for individuals, other foundations and businesses to support programs essential to student success in St. Vrain," according to the Education Foundation website.
The organization was founded when former school board member and local philanthropist Eleanor Flanders and then Superintendent Keith Blue decided that there needed to be a way for teachers’ innovative ideas to enhance their students’ learning experiences.
Currently the Education Foundation supports students with scholarships, funds teacher classroom grants and much more.
Every fall, Coach Scott organizes the students in his martial arts studio and asks them to present a charity to assist. He requires the students to talk about their charity and explain why it is important to help them out.
"We take interviews and have the kids pitch their charity, it’s good experience to them to have to do public speaking. Then we will take a vote as a studio and decide which one to get behind this year. Then we do a project and the next membership push we have will benefit whoseever charity gets chosen," says Coach Scott.
"I want kids to come in an learn that they have to be leaders, they have to be able to interact with their peers effectively, and that doesn’t always mean being the boss, being a leader sometimes means being a follower, It’s a lot of life skill stuff specifically for younger students. I’ll teach anybody, but I am specifically interested in the impact that we can have on the preschool -middle school ages."
Coach Scott also teaches karate in after school programs across the St. Vrain Valley School District. In Title IX schools, he offers his services for free. "I’m there for the kids and however many kids who want to sign up, I’ll teach them."
"My goal for this business/school is to be available and be reachable for any kind of economic situation. This [the karate school] has to be something that gives back and services the community. We want to spread a 'serve others and be served message'."
To learn more about Origin Dojo visit their website by clicking here, email Coach Scott or call 720.341.1916.
