Category: Mental Requirements

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Benefits of Martial Arts Instructor Resources Mental Requirements Musings

Building Good Character in Children: NWSMA’s “Character Contract”

If you’ve been at the dojo recently, you may have noticed that a new activity has taken the place of the Summer Bingo Board.

building character in children
NWSMA’s “Character Contract” aims at building character in children.

Many parents hope that martial arts programs will help with building good character in children. Inherently, they can & do.

But I got to thinking. (Nothing new here).

What if there was a way to encourage our students to think critically about their actions, both IN and OUTside of the dojo? Especially outside, where we instructors often don’t know how they act.

And so, the “Character Contract” was born. Read on to find out specifics!

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Mental Requirements Musings Scholarly Pursuits

What is Provisional Black Belt and Why Does It Exist?

A provisional black belt is a probationary rank. It falls in between the highest colored belt and a full-fledged 1st degree black belt. In other styles of Tae Kwon Do, this rank may be called “poom belt” or “recommended black belt.”

Sempai David
Receiving a black belt is a great honor.

Poom is a junior black belt rank, used in Korea for holders of black belts who are under 15. “Recommended” gets closer to the idea of “candidacy for black belt.”

As for why it exists, it’s very, very complicated, grasshopper.

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Mental Requirements Musings

Mental Requirement: Understanding the Importance of a Proper Diet

“Understands the importance of a proper diet” is a mental requirement for our Tae Kwon Do students.

Each TKD belt level has 4 mentals, and students must memorize and recite them at tests. We also usually ask each student to talk about what they mean, and occasionally ask for a short essay if a student has not been displaying the values contained in the mental requirement.

But back to the importance of a proper diet. If you train like an athlete, you should eat like one.

apples!
You know what they say about an apple a day…
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