I mentioned in our last news that three Leaders had chosen to continue in our Leader Program, and this has also been the case for Term 1, 2018.

Dylan H is now working on Level 2, and has started to take on the responsibility of managing an activity from set-up to finish.  Marcus C and Jaiden S are on Level 3, and are now getting into the heavy lifting by way of taking on the massive challenge of actually teaching students rolling and breakfalling, and simple jujutsu techniques (under supervision).  Given that their group is aged 5-7 years, you might understand the great challenges they all face.  Nonetheless, the grace and patience they demonstrate while doing so is quite wonderful.

I have to repeat that these three young men do this voluntarily!  After many years of doing this, I continue to be in awe of the outcomes our Leader Program has on young lives.  Just amazing.

We have a large number of newbies joining us this term, and there is a growing number of boys continuing their steady progress through to the intermediate and advanced grades.  And according to the feedback we get, they are still having as much fun as ever :).  The higher grades are now combining techniques, i.e. co-ordinating both hands and legs/feet, while moving around.  This requires considerable concentration at any age, and since it is rare a technique will be done perfectly on the first attempt, we remind the boys to be patient with themselves; they will get better simply by working at it.  This process does take some time though, with the reward (the next grade level) having more value for the extra effort.

While they’re busy having a good time, the boys will receive one of our animal patches when we see them doing their best.  It is important that they know some things are easier for some of us than for others, which we are very careful to explain.  The patches are an acknowledgement of effort, rather than a ‘reward’.

Grading is the process by which we check learning, will be in the penultimate week of term as per usual, with higher grades beginning this a little earlier.   We will remind the boys about bringing their belts and their books (to make notes and/or sign-off the grade), but the younger ones would appreciate your help with their Black Belt Attitude, since—along with knowing techniques—personal development is a crucial component of our martial art.

We also continue to work on the discipline of personal responsibility, such as how to behave towards others, and take that a step further too, with what to do when a person behaves badly towards us.

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Sensei Marice – Fushicho Martial Arts Principal