Character Development
As you know by now, we are so much more than simply a Martial Arts Centre, here at Hunter Valley Martial Arts. As the Number 1 Personal Development Center in our area, we are proud to help your children to learn skills for life!
We have been delivering character development sessions, we call them mat chats, for several years, and they have become a very important part of our total curriculum here at HVMAC. We would like to take our students and parents to the next level, and to do this we have been using a homework sheet, to help our students retain the information from their matchats.
All Kindymites, and Dynamites earn four pre-testing stripes, for basics, kata, kumite and character. Dragons and Adults receive four stripes as well, however the fourth one is for bunkai, or self defence applications. In order to pre-qualify for gradings, all students must submit their homework assignments in order to earn their character stripes. The homework only takes about 5 minutes to do, and expands on what we have discussed in class in our mat chats. If your child needs some help, they can ask you or ask our staff.
In this way, we can really take our Social/Emotional Learning program to the next level, by expecting all students and parents to really take on board our Powerful Words, by setting aside some reflective time each month and completing some simple tasks.
As an example, the Word Of The Month could be Courage; a vital character concept that will help your children to understand the importance of having the willingness to face fears and challenges with determination. We’re excited to help our children, teens and adults focus on developing both their bodies and their character each month. In traditional martial arts, we believe that we should “balance the sword and the pen”. This means that we place an equal emphasis on physical and mental development.