We teach Kyokushin karate… but what does that mean ?
Well, with so many styles out there its difficult to know where is best to put your child.
So, here is what we at Barry Kyokushin teach our students:
Firstly, patience, it’s critical that our students learn to be patient. Learning karate doesn’t happen overnight and a lot of the time its learning basics like; punching correctly, kicking correctly and blocking effectively. Many students come in and think they can do all this but, when taught correctly, they soon realise that how they think they punch kick and block is all wrong. Along with these basics, they learn effective self-defence. No fancy, jumping about spinning kicks or throwing people. Just good, solid, VERY effective self defence that is fit for purpose and WORKS.
They will learn how their body responds to fitness and flexibility training, but then be given the knowledge to learn about what this training is doing for them.
Students will learn respect. Quite a generic term in karate, but far more important for us in our martial art. So, in terms of respect. They will learn to respect their instructor; this is instilled in them from day one. They will learn to respect their training room (aka : Dojo), respect their training partners, respect the equipment in the dojo. But, more importantly, they will learn to respect themselves. Junior students are taught simple things like putting their belongings tidy when they arrive at training, to line up correctly, to wait patiently for the class to begin and take their training seriously. These small things spill over into their lives outside of training and develops a child of good character. For example; peer groups. Something else that parents can worry about. Does your child avoid the school trouble makers and seek a more responsible peer group? While we teach a martial art, we also teach the responsibilities that come with it. By teaching them to have self-respect and to respect others, they naturally seek the calmer groups of friends as the petty dramas of the children that lack focus are generally unappealing to martial arts students.
They will learn to respect others from different backgrounds, abilities and religious beliefs and accept that not everyone is the same. They will train together to develop mind and body.
Each student will train until they reach the standard acceptable to be tested to grade. At no time are grades given to students for simply attending. Each must be earned properly. In daily life, if you want something, you must work for it, if you do not, you can’t have it. Karate is the same. It’s teaching children that if they want these grades, they MUST work for it.
Bullying!!! Yes, here is something that is on the rise… We teach effective anti-bullying and do support children and parents when this is happening. We will give guidance and advice on steps to take. Children will develop confidence and, as such, will be able to cope better when faced with this in school.
So, in a nutshell… Kyokushin Karate at Barry Kyokushin is far more than just punching and kicking. It’s a whole life system, it’s something that we take a great deal of pride in. Since 1978 we have been turning Boys into Gentlemen and Girls into Ladies. But we teach them to be stronger and better than others.
Do we lose students? Yes of course we do… many people quit training and it does disappoint us. If your child wants to quit training, ask them why they started. Then ask why they want to quit. Often, it’s because it is getting too hard. When your child was born, was it hard to stay up and feed them at 2am or 4am? Is it hard to balance raising your child, working a full-time job and paying bills every month? Is your job hard to do? I bet the answer to all those things is YES.
So, when your child wants to quit and you let them… Remember when it’s their turn to work full time, pay bills, raise a child and they say to you; ”it’s too hard”, would you let them quit and do it for them?
We Teach FAR MORE than just kicking and punching.
