from the October, 2013 issue of Kiai!

Punching and Kicking and… Social-Emotional Education?

 

By Sei Shihan Nancy Lanoue

Twice recently I’ve come across news reports that have reinforced my long held conviction that karate, as we teach it at Thousand Waves, helps kids in ways that go far beyond improved physical fitness. The first was a September 15th New York Times Magazine piece by Jennifer Kahn about the new focus in educational theory on social-emotional learning.

The story reported on a number of studies which have shown that “non-cognitive skills – attributes like self-restraint, persistence and self-awareness – might actually be better measures of a person’s life trajectory than standard academic measures.”  Schools across the country are scrambling to add emotional literacy programs to their curriculums and dozens of programs purporting to teach these life skills are being tried and evaluated. Meanwhile, detractors question how teachers can fit these new lessons into an already jam-packed school day and whether they will deliver the deep and long lasting changes they aspire to.

The second story that caught my eye was a piece by Swarthmore Psychology Professor Barry Schwartz which originally appeared in Slate and was reprinted in the Chicago Tribune on October 2nd. Schwartz sees the “diminished attention” that even elite Swarthmore students bring to their college learning and believes that it is a “colossal and unconscionable mistake” to cater to it. He says that students’ “attention muscle” must be trained in order to be developed. This matters because the ability to sustain attention is a key part of persistence or “grit,” which has been found in many studies to be a better predictor of academic success than IQ or SAT scores.

At TW, we have the luxury of working with kids over many years. Right now at the dojo there are dozens of young folks who have been engaged with their martial art for 5+ years continually! As they mature, they develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of what it means to do karate as a mind, body and spirit practice.

From our etiquette rituals, kids learn concrete ways to give and receive respect.  They come to know their rights, and also their responsibilities, with regard to human relations. The mindfulness meditation they practice every day helps them calm down and control their strong emotions.  They learn to concentrate and focus their minds on whatever task they are faced with. When conflicts arise, they must work through the issues and solve them non-violently, without resorting to hurtful words or actions.  From our repetitious basics practice, they learn to deal with boredom and to stop expecting easy answers to challenges. Our skill-building curriculum teaches them to set goals, work hard to achieve them, and then celebrate their accomplishment with the pride of having earned something through their own persistence and “grit.”

Apparently I am not alone in viewing these as highly valuable life skills that kids need and deserve.