Tuesday Tip: Go Outside

From the National Wildlife Federation's Be Out There campaign:

Why Be Out There

The nature of childhood has changed: there’s not much nature in it.

American childhood has moved indoors during the last two decades, taking a mental and physical toll on today’s kids. The negative impact of decreased time outdoors includes a doubling of the childhood obesity rate -- accompanied by an incremental hundred billion dollar cost to our health care system -- as well as declining creativity, concentration and social skills.

Some say it takes a village to raise a child. We say: it takes a backyard, a playground, a park. Studies show outdoor time helps children grow lean and strong, enhances imaginations and attention spans, decreases aggression, and boosts classroom performance. In addition, children who spend time in nature regularly are shown to become better stewards of the environment.


FAST FACTS:

Children are spending half as much time outdoors as they did 20 years ago. (Juster et al 2004); (Burdette & Whitaker 2005); (Kuo & Sullivan 2001)

Today’s kids spend 6.5 hours plugged into electronic media. (Juster et al 2004); (Burdette & Whitaker 2005); (Kuo & Sullivan 2001)

In a typical week, only 6% of children ages 9-13 play outside on their own. (Children & Nature Network, 2008)

Children who play outside are more physically active, more creative in their play, less aggressive and show better concentration. (Burdette and Whitaker, 2005; Ginsburg et al., 2007)

Sixty minutes of daily unstructured free play is essential to children’s physical and mental health. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2008)

The most direct route to caring for the environment as an adult is participating in “wild nature activities” before the age of 11. (Wells and Lekies, 2006)

You may want to check out a similar post I wrote in May 2009 entitled Go Outside and Play. This post is a review of a lecture given by Richard Louv author of the National Bestseller Last Child in the Woods Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.

Tuesday Tip: Go Outside

Fast Track To Black Belt

In our dojo, I return the phone calls from prospective students. The calls vary greatly. There are some callers that are only interested in price. Some people are looking for a specific style of karate. Others are just looking for self-defense. Lately a common theme in the phone calls has been time. How long does it take to get a black belt? Is there a fast track to black belt?

This question comes from our society. We eat fast food and drive fast cars. We have replaced phone conversations with instant messaging, email and texting. We abbreviate the English language. There are accelerated degree programs to speed up our education. In business, we want our products shipped faster and immediate answers to our questions. The Internet provides instant access to news, personal accounts, shopping and friends.

Should there be an accelerated black belt program? I think not. I am sure we could speed up the physical requirements. There have been many brown belts who knew the required material for black since 3rd kyu. I have witnessed children learning kata after practicing only a handful of times. On the flip side, I have seen people struggle to remember patterns. Everyone is different.

There is more to karate than the patterns and the physical requirements. An important element is the fundamental understanding of movement. It takes time and study to make the connections. Kata is the beginning and there is much to discover.

On a personal note...I was a three year black belt. I was in the dojo a lot and knew the physical requirements. I understood base level bunkai. But if I must confess...it took me another year to feel comfortable wearing the belt. Plain and simple...it took time. It would not have mattered if I logged more training time or learned more kata.

The phone calls will be made and the question will be asked. Is there an accelerated black belt program? If the person is looking for a fast black belt it makes me wonder why they want lessons.

I simply respond...."No".

Tuesday Tip: It's Like Riding A Bike

It took my daughter a long time to learn how to ride a bike. She was afraid she would fall and get hurt. She wore a helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads and knee pads. She did not want us to let go of the bike. We would exhaust ourselves running next to the bike. We would encourage but she did not believe she could do it.

I sat on the porch step and told her to try. I reminded her that she could always put her feet on the ground to prevent herself from falling. I told her the story of when I learned to ride a bike. I would get on the bike and try, fall, get up and try again. It did not help. My daughter was too focused on the "falling" and not on the "riding".

She began to pedal one time, then two and eventually more. I told her to look forward and not worry about her feet because they would find the petal. She tried and as she succeeded her confidence grew. She practiced and pedalled. Within minutes of her first successful solo run, she was soaring through the parking lot. You would have never known that twenty minutes prior she did not know how to ride a bike. The look on her face was pure joy. She told me she liked the feeling of the wind on her face as she floated across the lot. She rode her bike for hours that day.

It was all about confidence. I must have told her 100 times that she could do it. But it did not matter what I thought.

She had to realize she could do it.

Tuesday Tip: It's Like Riding a Bike

When What You Say Is Not What They Hear

Have you seen the confusion....a puzzled grin, a sideways glance or a look of shock? This was a tough week for me. It is allergy time. My throat is scratchy, my nose is sore and my ears are itchy. I sound much worse than I feel.

Sometimes what is said in class...is not what the students hear. A few examples:

We were working on kama. In one sequence, the kama crosses in front of you in a gathering motion. Imagine a fishing net being cast over you. You gather the net together, turn the kama blade side out and cut through the net. I was explaining the kata pattern one move at a time. We reached the point in the kata when we were gathering the net. I said "cut the net". One student looked at me with a horrified expression each time I said net. She later explained that she thought I was saying "cut the neck" and did not appreciate the visual.

A green belt student asked if we could review a "breathing" kata. The new student looked worried. We began the kata Sanchin and we focused on our breathing. At the end of the kata the new student was relieved. She explained that she thought the green belt wanted to practice a "breeding" kata.

A young white belt was working on kata and kicks. He wanted to see a roundhouse, a hook kick and a crescent kick. After we practiced Nai Hanchi Shodan a few times, I asked him if he would like to try an "ax kick". He was so excited. He ran over to me and was jumping up and down. He could barely contain his enthusiasm. He asked me "What kind of kick is an Ass Kick?" It was my turn to have the look of shock. "No......I said A-X kick." He was very disappointed.

Remembering What's Important

From Thomas

I appreciate my wife allowing me access to her blog to post a thought that I hold dear. I would like to share a story.

In March 2000 our dojo was running very successfully and we had many great kids in our school. Among them were a brother/sister pair that had been taking karate for 4 1/2 years. The young boy Vince was 9 and his sister Julia had just turned 8. Yes, she was such a wonder she was able to perform Nai Hanchi katas before she was 4 years old. Julia was the once in a lifetime protege, the only student that I have had that learned kata by watching them. Vince was the intelligent, quiet type. He didn't have the technique of his sister but he was gifted in the understanding of what was done. I was very close to them as I had literally watched them grow up. It was like family.

We had spent every night for a week preparing for a tournament that Sunday. The mother and father were going through tough times. She had a PFA against the father for threatening to kill the children and make her watch. There was a hearing on Thursday and the father showed up for court with the most expensive defense lawyer in town to show what a horrible mother was there keeping this father from his children. The judge dismissed the PFA and sent the kids home with unsupervised visitation. Saturday night he kept having the kids call the mom pleading with her to get back together with the dad. She held her ground. That night he killed them both in their sleep. It wasn't a fast death but a slow one. When he was sure they were gone he took his own life.

March 19 2000 Vince and Julia Marasco didn't show up for the tournament. They were dead. Dead because there is no law that says if you threaten to kill your children you should have therapy before unsupervised visitation. The judge says she is sorry - it was a mistake.

This single event was the most painful thing I ever imagined...the funeral of two children.

Tonight, kiss your kids, tell them you love them. And pause for a moment to think about all the children that die at the hands of relatives.

Just one simple law would have given the father a chance to mellow out and not had a chance to go unchecked. No unsupervised visitation within 90 days of a decision on a PFA.

Don't Forget - You Were A White Belt Once

Do you remember what it was like to be a white belt? Do you recall how you felt the first time you stepped on the dojo floor? Were you nervous, intimidated, anxious, excited or happy?

I walked on the dojo floor with a slight advantage. My husband was a brown belt at the time. I was used to going to tournaments and watching demonstrations. I was familiar with some of the kata simply from watching Tom practice. The week before I signed up for classes, I asked Tom to review the pattern of the first kata. I did not want to feel completely lost. It didn't matter too much...I still felt lost.

It has been a while since I was a white belt in karate. As an instructor, I think it is important to remember how it felt at the beginning. New students come in the dojo and the black belts seem to make everything look so easy. The first kata, waza and ten step blocking drill felt like Mt. Everest as a white belt. As a black belts, we could probably demonstrate them in our sleep.

Remember what it is like:

To have your hands going all directions
To focus on your feet only to forget what your hands are doing and then...
To focus on your hands and forget your feet
To feel awkward and stiff
To be uncomfortable in your uniform
To have a timid kiai
To have to figure out how to tie your belt
To try to practice at home only to realize you skipped a few moves
To spar for the first time
To test for 9th kyu

As a beginner student of Tai Chi, I am regularly reminded of how challenging the early stages of learning can be. Every once in a while think back and remember how it felt...

Tuesday Tip: Change Direction

I attend Tai Chi classes at a health club. The rooms/studios available on a Tuesday night change every few months. Last week we changed rooms again. It took a few minutes to get reoriented because the direction of the new room was different than the previous one.

There are benefits and disadvantages to training in a room with mirrors. As an instructor, it is a great tool to observe the students. As a student, I can use the mirror to observe and refine my movement. The biggest disadvantage I found was the reliance of the mirror as a visual cue in kata.

I can remember two instances where "the mirror as a visual cue" caused me trouble. The first instance was during a tournament. I was in a black belt kata division and I was demonstrating Chinto. This kata is known for its quick directional changes. I was practicing in the dojo for weeks. I stepped in the ring and began the kata. I completely lost orientation and did a kata that sort of looked like Chinto. The second example was during formal testing. Testing was held in a restaurant banquet hall. The hall was lavishly decorated with bold wallpaper. Ever wall looked exactly the same.

I learned a few lessons...

Kata needs to come from the inside. It is important to know your kata well enough to be able to demonstrate in any venue. It doesn't matter what the people are doing next to you or what noise is in the background.

Practice kata in different directions. We regularly practice kata away from the mirrors. After we know a kata pattern, we try to break the visual cues by facing multiple directions. We even practice kata blindfolded.

Tuesday Tip: Change Direction...practice your kata in many different directions.