Well tonight’s Shotokan Karate for kids session was a very tough one because it was focused on technical correction for their upcoming gradings at the end of term, this session was all about having children understand why the positioning of hands, feet body posture and balance is so critical to the generation of power and speed in Shotokan Karate, this being fundamental to it’s staggering success as a martial art world wide even into the UFC where Lyoto Marchida showed the world how truly effective this very old style of Japanese karate really is.
We started with the basic warm ups but very quickly went into testing of each child so that we could see exactly where each student was in terms of what they had learned, how they put it into use in regards to the set grading requirements.
The kids in the class are coming not only from the local Wyndham Vale are but also we have kids joining shotokan karate from Hoppers Crossing and Werribee because the news of our club is spreading fast and the waiting list is the biggest it has been since we opened
We focused first on their punching techniques starting with individual punching while standing stationary and moving to alternating punches high, middle and low while stepping forward and backward with the punches. This build huge amounts of co-ordination in the children’s movement patterns and also help improve their motor skills.
Next we moved to the blocking techniques and the kids moved from upper blocks to middle blocks and then to lower blocks, the kids really did a great job and i was very proud of what they were presenting during this testing process.
In the Shotokan Karate 6 to 10 year old class they really gave everything they had and after just 2 months of training these young kids looked like seasoned professional well beyond their years, their stances, the punches and their attitudes showed just how much they want this first grading and I am sure from just these few photos you will agree.
The 11 to 16 year old class took it to yet another level and i had to remind myself that these shotokan karate kids had only been doing this a couple of months and they were still mostly white belts…incredible, truly incredible!
Martial Arts is so good for these kids, they are focused, they are disciplined, that are committed and they have the drive to succeed and their parents can see the difference, other people around them are seeing the differences. The benefits these children gain move well outside the wall of the training dojo it will benefit them for their entire lifetime.
P.S. Just check our the intensity and focus on these students faces… how much do you think they want this upcoming grading…..
