Years ago, when I was running a school and teaching classes every day, I would ask the parents of newer students the following question:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Has your son or daughter wanted to quit yet?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
It probably seemed like a strange question to get if you were a parent of a relatively new student, but I was curious. \u00a0Because the truth is, EVERYONE wants to quit at some point during their first couple of years. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Sure, when a new student begins taking classes they absolutely love it. \u00a0Our students come to class twice each week, and in that first month or two, it is not unusual for kids to wake up every single day and ask their mom or dad if they get to go to\u00a0karate\u00a0today? \u00a0Eventually, the newness wears off and kids stop asking. That doesn\u2019t mean they no longer like\u00a0karate, it just means it has become part of their normal routine.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
At some point though, maybe the two-month mark, at sixth months, or perhaps after one year, they will start to complain about going to class and want to quit. \u00a0How do I know? \u00a0First, I\u2019ve literally seen it hundreds of times myself, and had that many conversations with parents! \u00a0Second, even though I am an 8th Degree Black Belt with over 40 years of experience, guess what? \u00a0Yep, I wanted to quit too! \u00a0I loved\u00a0karate\u00a0when I started back in 1979, but a couple years later, when I was a brown belt, after a disappointing tournament experience, I walked away for a month. \u00a0 Fortunately for me, my friends at the school and my instructors convinced me to come back and start training again. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The point is, whether you are a student or a parent, you should expect it, and understand that it is natural. Think about it this way, no one is ever motivated 100% of the time. \u00a0We all have ups and downs in our enthusiasm and levels of motivation. Why would we think that\u00a0karate\u00a0training is any different?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Once you recognize that the swings in motivation are normal, you can address it. The key is to persevere, and not give up!\u00a0 The benefits developed in\u00a0karate\u00a0training don\u2019t come in the short term, they take time. You don\u2019t build confidence in a few weeks, and you can\u2019t snap your fingers and develop self-discipline. These traits take consistent time and effort to attain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
One day your child is going to tell you they don\u2019t want to go to\u00a0karate\u00a0today. \u00a0They want more screen time, or they want to play with their friends, or\u00a0karate\u00a0isn\u2019t fun, etc. \u00a0At those times, it\u2019s important for parents to remind themselves why they enrolled their child in\u00a0karate\u00a0to begin with. \u00a0Did you want them to learn to protect themselves? \u00a0Did you want them to improve concentration, or gain self-esteem? \u00a0Why did you enroll them and do you want your child to achieve those goals? \u00a0If the answer is yes, then you might need to gently nudge your child through that rough period of time. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Interest sometimes wanes, but that doesn\u2019t mean we give up on our goals. \u00a0Students can hit a difficult stretch where the skills they are learning are more challenging. \u00a0Maybe they don\u2019t like sparring practice, or form practice, or some other element of training. \u00a0By working together, we can get them through that difficult stage. \u00a0You\u2019d be amazed at what earning that next belt does to increase a child\u2019s enthusiasm.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
We understand that it is our job to motivate our students to train, and to make learning fun. \u00a0That doesn\u2019t mean that your child is never going to hit a rough spot though. Things will eventually get easier, and you might even get a \u201cthank you\u201d from your child for not letting them give up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
It takes patience, perseverance, and a few years of practice to earn a black belt. \u00a0Students will have ups and downs in motivation during that process, but it is well worth it when they get that black belt tied around their waist. Remember, keep pushing, keep growing, keep getting better, and don\u2019t ever give up!<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Years ago, when I was running a school and teaching classes every day, I would ask the parents of newer students the following question: Has your son or daughter wanted to quit yet? It probably seemed like a strange question to get if you were a parent of a relatively new student, but I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21331"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24957,"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21331\/revisions\/24957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kickskarateinc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}