Parent Feedback

Parent Lynn S. wrote this article for a newsletter at her child’s school and was kind enough to offer it for your viewing as well.

WMA Karate at Trevor Day School

Karate is one of the most popular after-school activities at Trevor Day School. Eighty children between the ages of 5 and 15, over 10% of the student body, study karate. Given this rate of participation, how do the values of Trevor Day School correspond with the values of Tae Kwon Do, the form of karate taught in the after-school program.
Contrary to the flying kicks and broken furniture you see in movies, practicing Tae Kwon Do means trying to achieve your personal best in a warm, supportive atmosphere. It means continually striving to do better and to bring more spirit, focus, power and speed to your movements. It means bringing mind, spirit and body into harmony. It means respect for your colleagues and for their accomplishments.

One of Trevor Day School’s goals is to graduate students who “face challenges with self-confidence and a willingness to risk failure.” Karate students are always challenging themselves to do better and risking failure in the process. One of the things they learn is how to persevere to achieve their goals. At a recent middle school assembly, a 6th grade boy was demonstrating board breaking. In front of a large group of his classmates, he faced a stubborn board that refused to crack. He maintained his focus and kept trying, achieving success in the end to the resounding applause of the assembled students.

Trevor Day School’s mission statement emphasizes teamwork and strong relationships, personal growth, and a passion for learning. All of these things are fostered in the karate program as well. Responsibility, personal integrity and mutual respect are all hallmarks of Tae Kwon Do, as well as of Trevor Day School. One of the reasons we chose Trevor for our daughter was its non-competitive atmosphere. Karate, although it appears intensely competitive at first glance, actually fosters the same type of cooperative atmosphere. It is about achieving your personal best, not doing better than someone else. The person you are sparring with is never described as your opponent, but as your partner. You are working together to do the best you can.

For the uninitiated parent it is often hard to follow what is going on in a karate class, much less at a tournament, so let’s run through a typical class. The lesson starts when the teacher claps his or her hands twice. As a sign of respect and focus, everyone comes quickly to attention. First there are warm-ups: running around the room in a circle and stretches to the left and to the right. The warm-up ends with a jump into the air. Then it is time to practice the basics: punches, kicks and blocks. The teacher calls out the movement, “middle arm block” or “left side kick,” and the class progresses across the room, throwing punches and kicks, somehow managing to never hit one another. Although it looks like a free-for-all, the students are in control of their bodies and very aware of their classmates.

Forms come next. Each belt, or level of karate, has its own forms. A form is a set of movements performed in a fixed order. The movements include punches, kicks, and blocks; and are executed with a precision and exactitude that can take years to master. Each movement requires the proper balance and concentration. The entire class starts with the lower level forms and progresses to the higher forms. Students step out of the main group when they have performed the forms for their belt. As the higher degree forms are performed, some of the more advanced students will start working with beginning students in the back of the room. Teaching others and helping them to improve their skills is an important part of karate. The more advanced students develop leadership skills, and the interaction between students of different ages and different skill levels fosters a community of learners. At any gathering you will see the more advanced belts helping the less advanced students. At the last karate tournament I attended, I watched a former Trevor Day School student, now a second degree black belt, patiently working with two TDS kindergartners half his size.

Sparring, a form of mock fighting, comes next in the lesson. Sparring can be either freestyle or a three-step. The three-step is a fixed set of movements done with a partner. One person attacks while the other blocks. The three-step allows the student to get the feel of sparring without having to think about what movements to perform. Freestyle sparring is done with very strict no-contact rules. Although it can look intense, particularly for the higher belts, the only injuries are some occasional bruises from blocking. (The no-contact rule applies to offensive moves. You are allowed to touch your partner when blocking his or her kicks and punches.) Sparring teaches concentration, focus, and speed.

After sparring, the lesson continues with punches or kicks into punching bags. This gives the student a feeling for making contact and actually hitting something. The lesson ends with warm-downs and a bow to the teacher. The bow is a sign of respect for each other and is a symbol of the mutual respect that permeates the class. Throughout the class period, the teacher talks about the less concrete aspects of karate, about focus and self-control. I’ve seen assistant teachers quietly working at the back of the room with very active, young children, helping them direct their boundless energies in a focused way. They often want to kick out in all directions, and the teacher helps them learn to control this energy. The focus that they learn carries over into other aspects of their lives.

Students wear a white uniform, as a symbol of purity of intent and spirit. They start with a white belt and, through perseverance and determination, can earn their yellow, green, purple, brown and black belts. However, becoming a black belt is not the final goal. Practicing karate is a lifelong learning experience, and black belt students work on achieving the next “dan” or degree. The karate instructors at Trevor are all students themselves, continually working on improving their own spirit, focus, power, and speed. They practice regularly with Dr. Michael Dealy, the president of the World Martial Arts Association. Dr. Dealy is a ninth degree black belt, who also continues to develop his own skills. You can see him at the end of the year karate exhibitions, taking obvious delight in the progress of the youngest students.

Advancement to the next level in karate can take years. The test for each level requires performing forms and sparring. When judging forms, judges look at technique, at the placement of hands and eyes, the posture and balance, and the speed, power, focus and accuracy of each movement. In sparring, the goal is to deliver punches and kicks that would be knockout blows if contact were made. In a competition, you receive points only for a kick or punch that comes within one inch of your partner. But, if you actually touch your partner, you could receive a warning, a one-point deduction, or even be disqualified. Precision is important, as is respect for your partner.

However, advancing to the next level of karate requires much more than physically performing all the movements correctly. Teachers are looking at the self-development of the student, and how the student conducts himself or herself. A good student is expected to be humble about his or her skills. I am always impressed when I see a group of black belts together. To a person, they are soft-spoken, patient and caring. They are high achievers, bringing the same focus and determination to their academic studies that they bring to karate. They are a family oriented group, with many parents joining their children in learning karate, or siblings learning together. Frankly, if you’re looking for a good group of people for your child to hang out with during his or her adolescent years and beyond, this is it.