Section 1: Introduction:

•Martial arts are a system of mental and physical skills, which prepare a person of any age to meet combat in themselves and others. People train in martial arts for a variety of reasons including personal development, sport competition, self-defense, physical fitness and stress management. In our children’s program we emphasize the development of life skills that prepare our young people to face and cope with challenges of life.

•We offer two martial arts to our children. Taekwondo is like karate and is built around the ability to kick and punch, whereas Judo is a grappling art, which teaches throwing and ground fighting skills. Together, both arts create a formidable self-defense arsenal, but more than that, both arts will create a very solid fitness base and physical awareness for the student. Both Taekwondo and Judo can be taught to children from an early age, because they draw upon a child’s natural, innate abilities.

•We take a long-term view to training, which means that you will not have a ten-year-old Black Belt on your hands. When we put a Black Belt on your son or daughter, we want them to know that they have EARNED the rank and are WORTHY of the rank for what they have achieved and for what they are capable of achieving in the future. Black belt is a right of passage, not an end to a journey. Black belt is better viewed as the beginning of a journey, which prepares us for life.

•We view the development of your child as being a team effort in which we are just one of the supports upon which the growth of your child depends. Therefore, each time your child is ready to rank to the next colored belt, we will send home a copy of the “Notice of Intent to Promote” form. We will also require a letter of recommendation from you as the child’s parent, explaining why you think your child is ready for promotion.

•There will inevitably be times of enthusiasm and times of disappointment in the progress of your child through the ranks towards Black Belt. There will be successes and failures, which is exactly as it should be. Your child will learn important life lessons from facing his or her challenges and from seeing them through, rather than walking away whenever things are not fun or get difficult. This is one of the reasons why a team approach is so important.

•As adults, we know the benefits of the lessons we learn as children and so to avoid disappointment for you, for your child and for us, we want you to know from the beginning that the road to Black belt will require commitment from all of us. We all know that what we do most often is what we are best at, so it will come as no surprise to you that we expect our children to practice outside of class. Our Black Belt kids sheet will help your child to develop the necessary discipline to practice and your encouragement will assist in developing exactly the skills that will help your child commit to their school work and achieve their full potential.

•In terms of specific benefits for children, martial arts training will help develop mental,physical, emotional and social skills. Parents tell us, and experiences show, that children in our classes have learned a variety of skills including:
_____•Self control through personal awareness
_____•Self esteem and self respect because of goal achievement
_____•Self discipline through channeling their energy
_____•Personal responsibility through taking responsibility for their actions and the
_____•safety of those around them
_____•Teamwork and leadership skills through working with their classmates
_____•Good health habits
_____•Self defense and personal safety skills