It is our belief that children and adults need structure in their lives and a strong support system of family, friends and mentors to encourage and enable them.
Our goal is to help define this structure in a way that provides our younger students with well-defined guidelines, equipping them morally, emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually for the everyday challenges of growing up.
Having structure allows the child to focus on improving themselves within acceptable guidelines, reaping the rewards of good behavior and understanding the consequences of inappropriate conduct. Structure provides a foundation for growth allowing children to become strong, self-disciplined, self-confident and self-reliant as they become young adults. We have been very successful in helping children become responsible young adults, and this is only achieved with your help and support.
We ask you to support our teaching when it comes to consistency. Only when an individual fully applies himself or herself to a particular pursuit, can he or she reap all the benefits and rewards it offers.
1. We ask our students to be consistent with training, often two days a week is best because it gives the student time to practice in the dojo and on his or her own. Inconsistent attendance sometimes causes a child to feel embarrassed when he or she cannot remember the skills that are being learned. Many children will want to give up rather than be embarrassed in any way.
2. When a child says “I don’t want to do this anymore”, we do not simply say “okay.” We believe we are not helping the child by doing this. We will quickly try to get to the root of the problem. Sometimes, the only issue is a lack of confidence, which can easily be overcome. We ask the parent to help support us in this way as well.
3. We realize that karate is not a quick fix. If we do not see immediate improvement, we do not give up. We are patient. It is the reinforcement of the all the positive character traits over time as well as the child’s gradual physical and emotional development that builds him or her into leaders as young adults.
4. We do not criticize a child or compare them to others in the school. Growth in the Martial Arts comes at different times and at a different pace for each individual. Isshin-ryu becomes a way of life.
5. We ask that parents inform us of changes in their children, positive or negative, as they occur so that we can respond accordingly. We try hard never to be in conflict with any of your family values or teachings.
We take our role as instructors, mentors and an extended family support group very seriously. Let us know how we are doing and please give us suggestions on how to improve our service to you and your child.
