Karate is not only about getting fitter, winning competitions or becoming more capable of standing up for yourself when threatened.
Each month we encourage our students (especially karate kids, but we believe all adults will also benefit from learning about our skills) to give some thought to two important skills, one applicable to their physical abilities and the other to life in general. These two areas of potential growth are intended as guides that when practiced and remembered at all times will make our students healthier inside and out.
Our July themes are:
Physical Theme – Control
This months physical theme is control, this is having control over your mind, body, and heart and making sure you take charge of your own actions. Having control is a very important in performing at your best in karate.
This month in particular we will be focusing on making sure all our students kicks, punches, and katas are performed with a great level of control and accuracy which will allow them to build speed and strength.
When competing in martial arts warnings can be given out to competitors who do not have control over their moves and impose a risk of injuring their opponent. To help build our students control and prevent this from happening we focus on building their strength and coordination. To execute powerful and complicated techniques the students must always ensure they are training at a high level with effective technique.
As well as physical control over your body parts when performing in martial arts, mental control is also a very important aspect. Mental control allows a person to maintain a perspective when in times of high stress such as competing and grading. Having a high level of mental control prevents anger, resentment, and fear of failure or being judged. The longer we work on these skills with our students at AKKA Martial Arts the faster we hope they will develop control and be able to transfer similar skills into other sports they play.
Life Skill – Goal Setting
Teaching our students to set goals is an important skill for their current and future lives. Knowing how to set goals and then working towards them is important as it is a key element of success. Whether inside the karate class, in the school yard, or in personal lives, setting goals allows for people to set
a desired pathway and work hard to try and achieve their desired results.
Learning to set goals is particularly important in children because they are developing through the stage when they begin to develop habits that will be of great help later in their adult lives. This is where martial arts pushes the students to always be setting goals by themselves.
At AKKA Martial Arts our students are awarded with a new coloured belt when they develop bigger and better skills in the different areas of karate. Students that are just starting out focus more on perfecting the basics of karate and working towards their red belt (the first belt). Whereas, for older students their goals may be more advanced, for example working towards perfecting a certain kata or technical kick.
By helping our students understand the goals that they are striving to achieve, children can begin to visualise them in and outside of class. Starting to visualise the goals is the first step to accomplishing them.
