I have not heard "Quitting karate was a great idea!"

We love this picture - thanks Kris Hughes!

I have been teaching martial arts in the same town for over twenty years.   Our studio has been open so long that students whom we taught when they 7 & 8 years old are now bringing their 7 & 8 year olds to us.  We have taught literally thousands of students.

With so much history behind us it seems almost on a weekly basis I run into former students outside of the karate studio.  More often than not these former students will say “I wish I had never quit karate, just think of where I would be today.”   I never run into students who say “quitting karate was a great choice”.  Our response to our former students is simple “It is never too late to get back on the training floor.”

The purpose of this post however is not to talk to those that have quit, while we certainly would love to see them resume their training, our philosophy has always been to focus on those who are actively training.  This post is intended for those students (and their parents) who are contemplating quitting.  Today’s society throws an infinite number of opportunities in front of us.  Often times a student who quits is motivated by the short term gain of something new, or wanting to follow a certain crowd.  I would ask them to weight these options against the long term benefits of martial arts training. 

There are few activities today which can so profoundly impact a person’s long term growth, development and understanding as well as martial arts training. When you walk away from training you are walking away from a continual path of self improvement, surrounded by like minded individuals who believe personal excellence is a never ending journey and are eager to pursue that journey with you.  The friends you play sports with, while enjoyable to be around, are  focused on winning the game, not on winning the game of life.   For the great majority of people when school is done there is no more to sports other than to look back at the glory days.  The former students I meet who left martial arts to pursue sports always say “I wish my parents had never let me quit.”

Grand Master Shin has a famous quote “Kick Punch Easy Stuff”. This simple saying has many meanings. For the student in general its meaning relates to the changes that occur in the character of the student more so than they physical health and self defense skills that are attained by continuous training in martial arts.  Tang Soo Do training is a never ending journey of discovery and enlightenment.  With each new challenge that is overcome the student grows in their knowledge of the task at hand but also in their knowledge of what they can accomplish.  Achievement begets the desire for additional achievement.  Quitting begets regret.  Perhaps not in the short term but definitely in the long term. 

Kicking and punching in the martial arts ultimately leads to the opportunity to learn leadership skills. This starts early on when you are partnered with a less experienced student and you have to help them perform the skill at hand better.  Later on the student gets the opportunity to lead multiple students by conducting warm ups at the beginning of class.  After becoming Black Belts they are invited into our Instructors Training Program where they learn the specific skills of teaching each aspect of our martial art. These Black Belts are then given the opportunity to practice their teaching skills by leading various portions of class.  As their proficiency as an instructor improves they are eventually given the opportunity to be a substitute teacher for our classes, and then be assigned a permanent class to teach.  From this group of class instructors there is the additional opportunity of learning the business and administrative side of studio operations with the ultimate goal of someday having their own studio and continuing to spread the art. 

Not every student will grow into a studio owner; life’s circumstances may preclude this.  However, the skills of leadership translate easily outside of the dojang.  A teen student who is capable of leading a group of teens and adults through a portion of their karate class will be less susceptible to negative peer pressure often seen in high school.  This same student who has learned to be self motivated and goal oriented through their martial arts training now enters college.  With this major life change they experience more personal freedom.  The martial arts student is better able to stay focused on their academic goals and additionally make good social choices as opposed to the typical freshman in college.  As they are seeking career employment as they graduate college they are able to confidently handle the questions thrown out them by job recruiters.  Our experience shows that upon being hired they quickly establish them themselves in their new companies as both confident and competent workers.  As they become trusted employees they also begin to climb in leadership within the corporations who were smart enough to recognize their talents. 

When a student, or a parent of a student, is contemplating quitting; it is not karate they are walking away from.  They are walking away from the life lessons that martial arts teaches about goal setting, overcoming obstacles, challenging themselves to learn continually and leadership.  When seen from this perspective I would hope the student, and parent, is able to overcome the short term desire to quit and stay the path to a lifetime of positive growth and development.

Martials Arts and Making Cupcakes

Ok what’s the deal – what does baking cupcakes have to do with martial arts. Nothing – however testing the cupcakes to see if they are done is exactly what we do when we test our students for advanced rank. 

Many students, and parents, put a lot of emphasis on a student’s performance at a test. Traditionally the Master or Chief Instructor would tell the student they are ready to test and then put them through their paces in a formal setting.  Regardless of whether the student thought they were ready their instructor was usually pretty confident they knew what the outcome would be.  In many ways this was not really a test of the student instead it was a test of the instructor’s perception of the student’s ability.  Yes, the student “took” the test but the decision to test or not, was not really theirs.

A number of years ago I turned the traditional sense of martial arts testing on its head. Instead of telling the student they were testing I allowed them to “Request permission to take the entrance exam for next rank”. Once a student had met the requirements in regards to a minimum number of classes and a minimum amount of time since their last promotion they could submit a “Request to Test”. I was, and still am, pleasantly surprised by the students who were able to self evaluate well enough to know they were ready and those who would say not yet and voluntarily hold themselves back.  So where do the cupcakes come in…. I am getting there.

Does this mean everyone who participated in the test passed? Absolutely not! If there is no risk of failure then it is not really a test; instead it is merely a formality that does not serve to help the student grow and develop. When we started this new process students who were not ready, yet put themselves up for testing, learned a valuable life lesson on honestly assessing their own abilities. They learned to only “Request to Test” when they truly felt ready and not just because they “wanted” the next rank.  As time passed and we continued this “Request to Test” process I was able to discuss with students why they should not want to move to the next rank too soon.  I explained that a student who was struggling with their current material would find it no easier moving up to the next rank because we would only be adding more challenging material to their list of required knowledge.  Having this discussion with a student, or parent, after a student had failed the test allowed them to understand why they were not advancing but it did not take the sting out of the failure.  That’s where the cupcakes come in.

To help remove the sting of failing a test I began discussing during the classes leading up to the test the purpose of the test and more importantly the “Cupcake Analogy”. 

What is the “Cupcake Analogy” simply this – ask your students if they know how to or have helped bake cupcakes? Then ask if they know how to “test” if they are done?  If you are not familiar with baking cupcakes the answer is you stick a tooth pick in them and pull it out.  If there is “goo” on the tooth pick when you pull it out, what do you know? The cupcakes are not done.  If the tooth pick comes out clean they are done baking and are ready for the next step – icing!  The poke with the tooth pick is a test, what does it do?  It provides us with information.  

A martial arts test, or any test for that matter, is no different; it merely provides us with information that will help us make a decision on what happens next.  In the case of the cupcake – if there is “goo” we need to put the cupcakes back in the oven to cook some more.  In the case of the student if the test results say the student is not ready then they need to go back and finish cooking – they need more time in their current rank before we begin putting more challenging material on their plate.  I emphasize in class and at the testing event that the results of the test will be neither good nor bad – it will just provide us with information to help guide us to what needs to happen next.

By discussing this ahead of time in this manner we alleviate the negative stigma of not passing their test. There are no repercussions after the test for not passing – we simply help the student to refocus by giving them detailed feedback on where they performed strongly and which areas need work.  We spend time working with them on the areas of deficiency and start looking down the road to having them ready for the next formal test.

By putting the decision to test or not into the student’s hands it truly becomes a test for them.  They need to self assess beforehand to ask themselves if they are ready and then test whether their observations are correct or not.  We as the examiners and instructors are the ones who administer the test and decide the final result.  The ability to self evaluate is a critical skill necessary for success in martial arts and in life. Utilizing this process we help our students fine tune this skill and learn to make the right decisions in the circumstances life throws at them. 

Now time to bake some more cupcakes!

Pre School Karate Really?

So your preschooler wants to learn karate – now what.  As the parent you of course have lots of questions:

“Is this an appropriate exercise for my preschooler?”

“ What are they going to learn?”

“How will this help them?”

“Will this turn them into a bully?”

“Are there other kids in their age group doing this?”

Of course there are many additional questions that can be asked, but these are the most common we experience when someone inquires about our Little Dragons program.

As a martial arts instructor for over 25 years, including close to 15 years working with Preschoolers,  I can put your mind at ease.  Age appropriate martial arts instruction is fantastic for preschoolers.  Children in these programs gain by learning: improved muscle coordination, better balance, patience, focus, proper listening skills, respect and self control.  All this is accomplished in a manner that is fun and exciting for the child while laying the foundational building block for a lifetime of learning. These skills not only will improve their overall health they will help them be better prepared to enter into school and be a focused positive learner.
 

A good preschool martial arts program will use the basic techniques of the martial arts in a way that develops gross and fine motor skills while programming muscle memory that will carry over as the child get older and enters into a more advanced martial arts class. In a well formatted program the basic martial arts skills are also supported by other activities to build stronger bodies and sharper minds. This includes other coordination and strength building activities as well as learning the language and protocols of the traditional martial arts.
 

Parents are often hesitant to start a child in a karate program for fear that this will teach them how to be a bully and start fights. The exact opposite is the truth.  Preschool martial arts will teach them when it is appropriate to use their self defense skills and when it is inappropriate.  The goals of the program is self improvement while also giving them the skills necessary to resist a bully’s advances and later on the ability to do the right thing when peer pressure wants to lead them down the wrong path.
 

We have literally taught hundreds of preschoolers in our Little Dragons program.  Many of our teen age Black Belts started as Little Dragons. I see them now as leaders not only in their karate classes but as leaders within their peer groups and communities.  Their academic records demonstrate that they have learned the importance of cultivating the mind as well as the body.  

As our first Little Dragons are getting ready to move onto college now we are eager to see how they will continue to excel academically, and later in their professions and the communities where they will someday decide to establish their own families.
 

To see some of our Little Dragons in action please visit http://www.rvtsda.com/little-dragons.html

Master Scott C. Homschek is the owner and Chief Instructor of River Valley Tang Soo Do Academy.  His journey in the martial arts began at age 11. Today he brings more than 30 years of experience to his students of all ages. The Little Dragons, preschool martial arts, program at his studio has been used as a model for many other martial arts studios around the country.  For more information about his programs please visit: www.rvtsda.com