ZenQuest will be at the ‘Lee Founders Day’ event on Saturday, September 19th providing information to the community and performing a demonstration. The demo will include students of all ages performing different skills from Karate, Jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai. We will also have a booth there with a game that kids can play to win a prize!
The town of Lee invited ZenQuest to be a part of their 2026 Founders’ weekend. This is an annual event celebrating the town’s rich history, traditions, and hometown pride organized by the Lee Chamber of Commerce. The weekend honors Lee’s founding and brings together residents and visitors for food, music, games, crafts, and family-friendly activities.
This is an amazing opportunity for students and parents to see some of the things that we work on at ZenQuest. Senseis Connie an Mark have organized an interesting demonstration that includes skill building drills, forms, and self-defense from each martial art. 
This event will take the place of regularly scheduled classes for that day so, please join us for a fun day in Lee.

As summer draws to a close we want to highlight what a success our ‘Summer Fun for Kids’ series was. Each week during the months of July and August we provided a fun break from the usual routine in our children’s classes. Each week had a different theme, like: Board Breaking, Superheroes, and Nerf Ball Battle. In addition to practicing their martial arts skills in a slightly different way, the students had a lot of fun!
This was the first year for the Summer Fun series, but we are planning on doing this each summer season in the future. We will also be adding some of the new activities to our regular classes  going forward. Special thanks to our assistant instructors for helping to make this a blast for the kids!

On Thursday, July 30th Sensei Mark was about to leave the building after his Thursday morning class when he heard a pop, and then a hissing sound. He walked toward the sound, which was coming from the utility closet near the training rooms. Upon opening the door he saw water gushing from the plumbing in there, and he immediately began closing each water valve he could see.
After what seemed like forever he found the valve that shut the water off about 95% of the way. Now that the water was mostly off he could see that the water meter, which was on the main water supply for the building, had a huge hole on it’s underside. He placed a pan under the water meter to catch the 5% of the leak which was still coming into the space. Sensei Mark stepped back to see that water was everywhere and grabbed a mop to try to prevent the water from spreading further.
Sensei Mark then notified Sensei Connie who sent out an ‘All Points Bulletin’ to ZenQuest’s Assistant Instructors, looking for help with the situation. Coach Russel Moody was in the area and dropped in to help. Russ called the Lenox Water Department, who was able to locate the main water shut-off valve and advise him on how to turn off the water.
Once the water was completely off, Senseis Mark and Connie got to work cleaning up the mess. Floors were mopped, Carpets were cleaned, and soaked items were dried out. The mats in the front room were spared from the flood, but the back room mats weren’t so lucky. So, the black mats had to be opened up and dried out over a period of days. 
With some help from the Lenox Plaza, Charles, and Coach Tilo Jackson the water meter was replaced and adjacent plumbing tightened up. After four days the clean-up was finished, the flooring was back to normal, the water was turned back on, and the Dojo was reopened for classes.
Thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding. Special thanks to Russel, Tilo, and Charles for helping with this minor disaster.

Its time to plan for ‘Back-To-School’ again, and that means organizing our children’s classes for the busy season at ZenQuest. We do this in order to keep reasonable limits on these classes, and ensure a positive experience for every student. Along with shopping and figuring out schedules, it’s also important for parents and older kids to plan for their martial arts training at this time.
Students and parents should notify us at their earliest convenience which classes they will be continuing with this fall. Student lists are being created now for each youth class in the schedule, with limited space available. So, it is essential that we get kids onto the appropriate class lists.
Once again classes can conveniently be reserved online using this link: FALL REGISTRATION 2026. From there, simply complete the ‘Class Selection’ form using the choices provided and send. As an alternative you can reserve your classes by any of the following ways:
 
¨    Send an email directly or through our website
¨    Speak to someone at the front desk
¨    Call us at 413-637-0656
 
Please note that class reservations and lists are made on a ‘first come first served’ basis. Waiting lists will be generated for classes that reach their limit. We will notify you if a class has become filled. Students who are not able to attend their first choice for classes right away are encouraged to choose alternative classes until space opens up in their most preferred classes.
Also, remember that class reservations are effective with an active student enrollment. Reservations for students not currently enrolled must be accompanied with tuition payment to restart the student’s membership. Remember, too, that ‘Partial Participation’ is reserved for students aged seven years old and younger. Students turning thirteen years of age (or older) should begin transitioning to our Adult classes, which do not need to be organized like the youth classes.
As of September 1st, youth students are encouraged to plan on a maximum of two to three classes per week in each program they do. This is to balance enthusiastic attendance with allowing other students to share in the fun. Also, parents and students need to be careful to prevent ‘burnout’ in younger students. This still allows most students to attend as many as four to six classes each week between Karate and Jiu-jitsu.
There are no changes to our schedule of youth classes, and tuition rates will remain unchanged at this time. As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns going forward. We will look forward to another great season of fun and learning at the oldest and best martial arts school in the Berkshires!!

ZenQuest has a standing ‘5-minute Rule’ meaning that students should make a habit of arriving 5 minutes before their classes. This allows time for students to prepare for their classes properly i.e. removing shoes, changing clothes, attending the bathroom, etc. This also allows the student to prepare mentally for their class.
When students arrive to class late they usually have to hurry to get into the class, causing them to struggle to focus. They will also miss explanations about the plan for the class and miss warm up exercises which can minimize the risks for injuries.
So, please follow the 5-minute Rule and set yourself (or your child) up for success in every class. 

The new playground is OPEN! After hours of work preparing the site and building the structure, it was finally good to go on July 12. The new set is bigger than the old one, featuring two observation towers, swings, a slide, a tire-swing, a ramp, a climbing wall, and a climbing net. In a fun twist, the tube-slide from the old playground will be repurposed to be included in the new set-up soon.
The new playground replaces the one that had been there since the spring of 2011. That one had served hundreds of children over many years, but had reached the end of it’s useful life. In recent years parts of that one were replaced, but the set reached a point where it just made more sense to replace it.
A team of volunteers contributed to the construction of the new playground. Special thanks to Andre, Matt, Glenn, Tilo, Jack, and Beth for helping us build this. Also, thanks to our kids and families for being patient during the construction.
As always our first priority is safety for our students and families so students and families, please use the equipment properly and exercise the utmost care in doing so…and have fun!

This July and August, we're excited to bring Summer Fun to all of our children's classes! Each week will feature a different theme designed to keep kids excited about coming to class while providing a fun break from their usual routine. Details are shown on the poster above, and we'll be sending weekly updates to help students and families prepare for each theme. We can't wait to share ZenQuest's first-ever Summer Fun series with you. Join us for a summer full of learning, laughter, and fun!

The town of Lee has invited ZenQuest to set up a booth at the 2026 ‘Lee Founders’ weekend. This is an annual event celebrating the town’s rich history, traditions, and hometown pride organized by the Lee Chamber of Commerce. The weekend honors Lee’s founding and brings together residents and visitors for food, music, games, crafts, and family-friendly activities.
ZenQuest will be at the event all of Saturday, September 20th providing information to the community and performing a demonstration. The demo will include students of all ages performing different skills from Karate, Jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai.
This is an amazing opportunity for parents to see their kids perform some of the skills that they’ve been working on! Students and instructors interested in providing support or participating in the demonstration should notify Sensei Connie or Mark.
This event will take the place of regularly scheduled classes for that day.