This past Friday, I was invited as a martial arts guest instructor at the Kid Power Conference. The event was jointly coordinated by Strathcona Community Centre, Learning Disabilities Association Vancouver, VSB Community School Team, and funded by the Britannia Community Services Centre.
Around sixty youths (age 11-13) from different schools attended the event. They were divided into 5 teams with 5 different workshops running in parallel, each team of around 12-14 rotate through different 45 minute workshops (self defence, hop hop, creative arts, theatre and circus activities). The day started from 9am and ended at 3pm.
First time at this event and not knowing my target audiences was a challenge – the event being coordinated by Learning Disabilities Association Vancouver meant that some of these youths may have some personal challenges (but don’t we all!). It did worry me a bit and so I prepared a few different scenarios and see what works. Knowing that a martial artist cannot be created within a single session (45 minute each) and knowing that a false sense of security is even more dangerous, I need to set some realistic goals:
- Get them to listen, respond and be totally involved while having fun and yet be respectful.
- Blocking may not be the most effective solution.
- Everyone has power and potential waiting to be discovered.
- Someone bigger and stronger may not be always be able to control you. Learn physics. 🙂
- Not all techniques involve punching and kicking. It is possible to walk away with perfectly executed techniques without the other person even knowing.
I was totally exhausted by the end of the day (with another couple of gym class that followed) but I was happy – I managed to accomplish what I set out to do. Furthermore, the looks on the kids’ faces when they discover what they can do (via the right technique) was priceless. I really appreciated Ron Suzuki from Strathcona for trusting me to lead the martial arts component, it was an awesome experience and sure hope that I can be part of the event next year.
Please click the ‘like’ at the facebook page of Learning Disabilities Association Vancouver http://www.facebook.com/LDAVancouver. Apparantly, each ‘like’ translates to a dollar for the association.
Exercise:
Just need to respond to one of the two choices:
- Continuation from the ‘relaxation’ post: Do you think you have a challenge in relaxing, how can you overcome it?
- Knowing that a problem exist is always the first challenge. However, what is the best way to solve a problem?
Comments are closed.