Do you want to give your child everything in life you never had? Of course you do; you want to give your child all of the opportunities that you didn't have. That's what every responsible parent wants for his or her children. However, it's hard to keep up with all the new and expensive toys available today.
Can you imagine giving your child a gift that has twelve valuable life skills and one more benefit - on top of those twelve skills? As you already know, it's not the latest ipod or Xbox, but your child will be very successful in life, as a result. You may have heard all this talk about life skills before, but the explanations were vague, so let's make the explanations and results clear.
Life Skills are the self-improvement skills that we, as adults, need in order to be more successful in life; but children and adults can acquire them in a Karate class. Adults usually visit the self-improvement section of a library, bookstore, or shop on the Internet, to reprogram their minds for success. Sometimes, adults stay with a self-improvement program, and many times - they don't.
For children in their formative years, Karate classes have a very positive impact, and shape their lives toward a path of continuous achievement. Children will stay with a self-improvement program, such as Karate, as long as they get transportation.
Positive Thinking
Within a typical Karate class, children learn to think about the next hurdle in life. The only hurdle to focus on is the lesson plan that their Karate instructor presents for the day. This could be as simple as learning, or reviewing, a few Karate techniques. Once this has been accomplished, any child can walk away from his or her Karate class with a very positive feeling of gratification.
It is this repetition of focusing, learning, solving,
and accomplishing that contributes to the positive mind-set in all Karate practitioners of all ages. When a parent reinforces these same habits at home, the young Karate student learns that staying positive, in the face of adversity, will yield many benefits and solutions in life.
Stress Management
Children are no different than adults, and they are subjected to more everyday stress than we were as children. This is why the Karate studio is a haven for children and a place to leave stress behind and focus on simple tasks. For children, Karate class is quality time spent living in the moment, enjoying life right now, without worrying about the past or future.
Karate classes give kids a chance to jump, kick, punch, and shout at the appropriate times. Many times, I mention to the children at our facility, in North Providence, that they should take advantage of the times when they can shout. Within the structure of a kids Karate class, there is a time to speak up, and a time to listen, in order to get the most out of each Karate lesson.
Through steady Karate practice, children learn to put stress aside and focus on getting the most out of life. They also learn that when stress comes their way, it's time to work on solutions rather than become depressed about them. Young karate students accept stress for what it is, and rise to the opportunity to become successful in life.
© Copyright 2005 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
About the author:
Paul Jerard is the director of Yoga teacher training at Aura in RI. He's a master instructor of martial arts and Yoga. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness. He wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students wanting to be a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org
Written by: Paul M. Jerard Jr.
