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from the April, 2014 issue of Kiai!
Little Kicks: Teaching the Youngest
at Thousand Waves
By Jun Shihan Sarah Ludden
Executive Director and 6th Degree Black Belt
Little Kicks are back! At age 61 I'm teaching 4 year olds again, to punch and kick and jump over padded swords and run under heavy bags, to bend low in horse stance and count to 10 in Japanese. They laugh constantly, especially when running laps around the dojo. Their infectious joy lights up the room and illuminates the faces of their adoring parents.
I have been teaching martial arts for quite a while, since before some of these students' parents were born! I've come full circle, teaching the youngest and the oldest, the most beginner and the most advanced students at Thousand Waves. Yet this class seems the most daunting, the most serious. Preschoolers and kindergarteners are just starting out on their educational journey. Our karate class for 4 and 5 year olds is one of these children's first structured educational activities. It is also one of their first experiences with a teacher outside the family. They are vulnerable and impressionable and parents are trusting us to provide an empowering learning experience for them.
Sei Shihan Nancy and I took this to heart and with deep appreciation for the opportunity, put our hearts into the teaching challenge. We pondered our responsibilities and established these educational goals for the Little Kicks program. Stated simply, we want the young children to:
- experience the natural joy of learning, the excitement of trying new and difficult things, and the satisfaction of having personal effort and commitment lead to success.
- regard their minds and bodies positively and cultivate patience for their unique way of learning a movement art.
- have a positive relationship with their teacher and value the student-teacher relationship.
- make friends and care about the other students in class.
- appreciate their parents, teachers and the TW staff who give them this gift of training in a martial art.
We present the step by step, skill building Seido karate curriculum with these goals in mind. We make it fun and joyful, as learning should be. And what a joy for us – Sei Shihan Nancy, Senpai Jordan, junior black belt Senpai Evan and I – to watch the little ones progress in the art, learning to learn, mastering the coordination and gross and fine motor challenges of Seido Karate, grasping the rituals of respect and appreciation, and navigating the social currents of a school environment.
And, of course, they are adorable! I’m honored to teach these future black belts. I treasure this moment, knowing they will soon graduate to our Junior program, then to the youth, growing and maturing. Hopefully they will stay in our training community for many years to come. As one of our high school students said, reflecting on his life at TW since the age of four, “Thousand Waves is a great place to grow a human being.”
The learning is reciprocal in Little Kicks class; we are all enriched. Thank you Little Kick families for sharing your youngest children with us!