By Donna Velez
Since the mid seventies, there has been a dramatic
change of the age of students enrolled in most dojos. Children made up a very small percentage of the classes back
then, but now, they comprise the majority of the class, or at least in my dojo.
Getting children enrolled in a dojo is much easier than keeping them.
Dojo owners have to compete with everything; soccer, basketball,
baseball, etc. and most importantly, keeping parents happy.
The parents have to be satisfied, remember, they are the ones who pay the
dues. My opinion though, is that
fast promotions are not the answer.
To teach kids to just kick and punch is fine in the beginning, but you
must consider what happens when they are as fast and strong as they can get.
What do you do, just keep promoting?
Even young children know they want to be better and learn a variety of
things in their martial art. Remember,
don’t ever give a child a “false sense of security”.
Children pretty much follow their instructor.
If they are exposed to weapons training, they will want to expand and
learn. If you don’t have a weapons (kobudo) program, children will
be attracted to a dojo that does.
I always make sure the children know a little history about the kobudo
form they learn. I make sure they know it is not a karate weapon, because
karate means “empty hand”. Once
you put the weapon in the hand, all application seems to change. In one sense, the hands do less, not more.
I want them to know they will have more command of the weapon if they
learn the bunkai. Weapons training (same as empty hand kata) without bunkai
(practical application) , is only 20% complete, if that.
The sai kata I’m using should not be confused with the empty hand kata,
Pinan Shodan, from Motobu-Ha Shi-to-ryu. The
kata is Kosho Dai, taught by the late Shogo Kuniba, about 25 years ago. There is a cousin to it called Kosho Sho.
It is more adavanced.
To teach children bunkai (practical application), you should break it
down and show the movements from a grab first, then move to impact.
Children, the same as adults, should learn to feel their way through the
technique. When they perform the
kata, they will more likely show control of it.
Teach them that it is all the movements in the middle the make the
technique work for them. Never tell
them it is impact first. Teach them
that the weapon is just an extension of the hand and proper manipulation within
the bounds of the empty hand kata make it effective.