Australian Martial Arts Academy

Posted 09 June 2016

How to best prepare for our next belt promotion

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In this Video Mrs Sarah and Mr Hakan provide some strategies and tips on how to best prepare for your next Belt Promotion. These Include
1. Attend Regular Classes
2. Be familiar with your curriculum
3. Ask Specific questions
4. Maintaining a Healthy Diet
5. Instilling Value on to our Short Term Go

Hakan: Hi I am Mr. Hakan.
Sarah: And I am Miss Sarah.

Hakan: And we are both head instructors and managers here at the Australian Martial Arts Academy. Today we are going to be providing you with 5 crucial strategies you can implement at home to help best prepare your child for their next belt promotion.

Sarah: This is a really exciting time this, is that point where you can say that you get to achieve the next belt, one step closer to black belt or the next belt you are working for. But also you can see what you can do now but what you couldn’t do before you got that belt or before you got started.
Hakan: Fantastic, so let’s get right into it. The first thing we need to do is attend our regular classes. This is going to form the foundation necessary in order to progress, you are going to be working on the curriculum, all your techniques, hand techniques, kicking techniques, as well as the values they will be learning through the match chat that they need to do in order to move on to their next belt level.
Sarah: That’s right, each week the curriculum will make sure that you are able to learn all those steps that you discussed Hakan. That is why it is really important for not to just catch up classes at the end but to attend regularly.

Hakan: Yeah, fantastic. Now where can we get access to this curriculum so that I can practice at home for my next belt?

Sarah: Fantastic. So you can get access to the curriculum from behind the front desk, just ask for the hard copy, you can take a photo on your phone, you can practice when you are the academy. The second way is you can go online. So you can go on to the members section of our website and you can print out or access on an iPad everything that you need to be able to do in order to achieve that next belt. And finally you can also watch our curriculum DVDs, some of the instructors demonstrating exactly what it is. This is a great way to be used for children who like to watch home and do 5-10 minutes of practice in front of the screen and they really have that opportunity just to think about it outside of the academy.

Hakan: Fantastic. I think it is important to note that all these tools actually complement their training; number one is attending and getting that one-on-one feedback.
Sarah: Definitely.

Hakan: Now we are very fortunate that we have a fantastic team of instructors here at the academy which brings me on to our next point and that is asking specific questions.
Sarah: Exactly right. What I find is children often don’t know what task or they just have these nerves because maybe they can’t perform one or two moves. So if you are able to go through that curriculum and it is all provided for you so you go through with the child, ask them which ones they are not happy with and need a little bit of help. That way the teacher can help them with their confidence and their skill level if it is not up to scratch so they can prove those in times for their grading. Often, it is not the time that is going to make it better, it is just more practice or a little bit of extra support. And for a lot of children it is really just that confidence boost and if it specific to that one technique they are worried about or a couple of techniques, then that is something that can really be helped by just talking to the teacher.

Hakan: Yeah, fantastic. Then what the teachers will then do, they will look at that specific area and say it is just adjusting the technique, the shape of the foot, execute the correct technique, we will then provide specific tailored drills and techniques they can practice at home to address that, that area that they need to work on. Now, how important is diet going into?

Sarah: I think diet and taking care of your body is really important. You want to be able to perform at your best, especially as it starts get, the curriculum starts to get a little bit harder, it is really important to make sure that you are eating regularly, that you are fueling yourself properly before your section, that you are drinking enough water and that you eating the right food because let’s face it, kids are the same as adults, in fact they are probably a little bit more sensitive, if they are not eating the right foods, they are not going to perform at their best.

Hakan: And have the required, consistent energy throughout their day.

Sarah: Throughout their day, their training and their grading day.

Hakan: Great, now going on to point number 5 and that is instilling value onto the next belt. So I think this is required from all support networks, that next level, that next belt, is an important part of the process. So we are enjoying that process, enjoying the journey, if the journey or the goal is to achieve that black belt, we want to ensure and remind our children that we are one step closer to that. Once we do get our black belt, there are other goals to set for them beyond black belt curriculum as well.

Sarah: I guess that is reinforced by the values, so not just the fact that the belt, but improving up from a purple say to a brown belt means hey you are actually a little bit faster, you are now able to do self-defense moves that you couldn’t do before.

Hakan: Yeah and you demonstrated that consistency and determination to get to that point….

Sarah: And stick at it.

Hakan: To overcome all the challenges, all the time we may have not felt like coming to class, I think that is an important issue to remind to our children, how great and how determined and how they were able to persevere during those times…

Sarah: And actually learn something.

Hakan: Fantastic. So hopefully those tools and strategies have helped. If there are any other tools that you applied with your kids, please feel free to share in the comments below, we would love to hear from you and I think that would really help.

Sarah: I think it is exciting.

Hakan: Look forward to seeing you all soon.

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"We strive to be the best Martial Arts service provider in the world, consistently innovating in order to achieve optimal member experience and influence. To have the highest level of Martial Arts education; emotionally and physically  inspiring individuals to overcome barriers for life. To the create the reach to influence as many people with the martial arts philosophies and ‘way of life.’

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Our Mission

“We strive to be the best Martial Arts service provider in the world, consistently innovating in order to achieve optimal member experience and influence. To have the highest level of Martial Arts education; emotionally and physically inspiring individuals to overcome barriers for life. To the create the reach to influence as many people with the martial arts philosophies and ‘way of life.’

RECEIVE EXPERT MARTIAL ARTS TIPS FROM YOUR HEAD INSTRUCTORS

Please complete the form below for one our friendly staff to contact you about this service.