CHILDREN’S KARATE CLASSES

Glamour surrounding martial arts for kids and youth is not simply the product of their icons’ cinematic feats. Kids’ fascination expresses a deeper need: they are in fact yearning for a place they can identify with and where they can belong. The focus of the dojo on physical learning is an asset for children who spend hours sitting at a desk every day, more or less passively listening to lessons given without a real engagement. Their natural energy can’t come across within that context; hence, sometimes, spillovers outside the classroom or school environment. Their need for physical activities is proportional to their intellectual efforts. However, ordinary physical activities do not necessarily offer a favorable basis for their blossoming.

This is what martial arts can offer: on one hand, true pleasure in being physically active and having an outlet for their energy while directing it in a positive way, but also, on the other hand, learning values which will help them grow harmoniously as well as develop their self-esteem to be able, among other things, to resist bullying.

Our goal is to give each and every child and youth a chance to grow according to his/her own capacities. Their development cannot depend on a fixed standard, but must be directed toward a target s/he can reach at each stage. Then we can accompany and support them through difficulties along the way, so they can learn that obstacles are challenges to overcome and that what we love the most is sometimes difficult. In the end, when they prevail, they can savour the sweet taste of success and be proud of their accomplishments.

The world our children will be facing won’t always be easy. They will need to learn to remain on course in spite of obstacles, setbacks and demotivation. When they learn it early on, they will be better equipped and less prone to give up easily.

The belt hierarchy, which triggers eagerness and aspiration in children, is based on their progress and personal efforts and not on competition with each other. Hence, they are indeed rewarded for their personal work. In our society, children are often labeled and caught into diagnoses when they are actually learning in different ways. The belt they long for is the true measure of their path from their starting point, and the starting point is specific to each child. It is thus based on personal merit and not on any kind of comparative system.