According to a recent study eleven million children in this country are overweight; that is one in three. Subsequently adult diabetes is now epidemic in children, many of whom have acquired other adult diseases as well. Physical education programs in this country have largely been cancelled in the public schools and recess is a thing of the past. Technology is so dominant in children’s lives that they spend much of their day sitting in front of a screen watching TV, playing video games or using the computer for homework or surfing the net.

The level of physical activity is grossly reduced while the ingestion of snack foods is increased. Children are just not physically active like they were a mere thirty years ago and as a result their health has severely declined. Family mealtime is an anomaly in most households due to the hectic schedules of the children who are engaged in multiple activities and heavy homework loads combined with the parent’s work schedules; hence, no more home-cooked, sit-down dinners. Latchkey kids, now commonplace, watch upwards of five hours of television a day since Mom (or Dad) is never home, TV becomes the babysitter Children generally do not walk to school as many are bused into magnet schools and here in South Florida the weather frequently precludes regular outdoor activity when the temperature rises.

In 1970 80% of schools provided daily Phys Ed for their students and in the year 2000 only 20%; in high schools the percentage of kids in daily gym classes has fallen from 42% ten years ago to 27% as of 2000. Children need to move to stay healthy and restricting their motion through extra levels of “desk work” inside and outside of school fails to give them the opportunity they need to exercise their growing bodies.

Parents of our Karate Kids know the benefit of our program for exercise and fitness. Please encourage any other children you know to get their bodies in motion by suggesting they consider Karate.

Instead of getting caught up in children’s arguments and manipulations, Back In Control shows parents how to reestablish their rightful place as bosses of the family. Also, teachers are able to devote more time to teaching than to disciplining students. Children themselves learn that there are some rules that they must obey whether they want to or not, and they will grow up believing that they can succeed in doing what is required of them. Power belongs to those who use it, and if the adults don’t, the children will.

If your children’s problem behavior is out of hand, it is time you got Back in Control, written by Gregory Bodenhamer, who worked for eight years as a juvenile probation officer in Southern California. Topics covered include: How to Get Children to Behave: Mandatory, Optional and Discretionary Rules; How You Got Out of Control: Unclear Directions, Ineffective Follow-Through, Inconsistency; Getting Back in Control: by Word and Deed. Many of the principles illustrated in this book are used at the karate school. Discipline, which leads to courtesy and respect, is the foundation of the martial arts

Wealth without work

Pleasure without conscience

Knowledge without character

Commerce without morality

Science without humanity

Worship without sacrifice

Politics without principle

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

“Why do most people not stick with an exercise program?”

“There is a threshold you’ve got to cross. When you first begin training, it’s a chore. There comes a time, if you stick with it long enough, you make a transition from having to go to wanting to go. When that time occurs varies from person to person; but it is usually after two or three months, when you get that, then you’re an exerciser for life.”

Several years ago Karate champion Steve Anderson gave a special workshop at the karate school to students in which he mentioned his basic principles for training to be FIT in the Martial Arts: FIT stands for frequency, intensity and time. Frequency is one third of the quotient, which involves how often the student attends class. Mr. Mason suggests that once a week is too little, twice a week is okay, three times a week is ideal for beginners and intermediate students. Advanced students (Brown and Black Belts) can benefit from training four times a week. It is important for the frequency of the student’s training to be balanced: neither too little nor too much. It is possible to have too much of a good thing; beyond a certain point more is not better. The karate school offers a seven-day schedule simply to accommodate the hectic lifestyle of the average American family.

The Intensity factor in the FIT formula refers to the student putting forth their maximum effort in class with each technique that is practiced. Just being in class often is not enough. You must train intensely, with 100% effort 100% of the time, when you take class.

The curriculum material taught at the karate school is very challenging, which is why our Black Belts are so well qualified. Much of the learning takes place over time with the information being allowed to “marinate” in the student. This process cannot be rushed. As the student progresses through the intermediate levels more Time will be required between belt tests. In the beginning of training the dedicated student can expect to test for a new stripe or belt every few months; however, once the “Karateka” (karate student) moves toward the intermediate ranks, blue/green/purple, more time (not just number of classes in a week) is needed for the student to fully absorb the material. Well-meaning parents sometimes forget their role as coach at this point and seek to move the child along too quickly, encouraging their offspring to get that all important stripe as quickly as possible.

Karate training is an ideal place to teach children that the rewards for work done do not always appear right away. Rather the process involved in practicing leads to satisfaction in having done something correctly and completely. Otherwise, the message that the child gets is that they are only as good as their last external validation (belt or stripe), regardless of whether they actually know something. The internal validation, good feeling, that comes from the experience of confirmed knowledge is the basis for an advanced student to appreciate their growth in the martial arts.