Karate is a year round endeavor
Karate-do used to be for adults only. Today, karate is mostly made up of children. Some of the children in my program are as young as 4 years old. Karate is about building confidence through repeated study. The practice of karate takes a great of personal study, hard work, and steady progress. Like most martial arts, karate has a belt system. I find in my dojo that parents and children find earning new belts to be the paramount concern. A good instructor, however, does not allow this to be the focus of his dojo. Karate belts should be earned and never guaranteed. Children look forward to their new belts like adults look forward to a vacation, bonus or pay increase. Getting promoted is incredibly important to them. In my dojo, when a student performs exceptionally during a test, they are promoted to an extra rank. This is a big deal. When parents observe this double promotion, they often ask me what they can do to help their child achieve the same honor! Who doesn’t want to see their kid at the head of the class? As adults, we hate to be passed over for a promotion. Imagine this scenario: You work alongside others (including a close friend); You work just as hard, if not harder, than everyone else; You get sick and miss a few weeks of work, and when you return everyone else has received a promotion. How would you feel? Not good, of course. Summer is a tough