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KARATE KIDS AND PARENTS
Riverside Family Karate • The page for parents |
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Welcome, parents. This page is for the moms, dads, grandparents and carpool drivers of the
students at Riverside Family Karate. It was put together by our parents' group with Sensei Rob, and
it is meant to answer the questions we all had in our first month: what time is class, what do the
belts mean, when is testing, what do I do at a tournament, and what exactly is my kid getting out of
this besides a lot of yelling.
Sensei Rob has been teaching children here since 1991. The school is a traditional Japanese-style karate school (we bow, we count in Japanese, we sweep the floor) but it is above all a kids' school, and the goal is not to make champions. The goal is to make kids who can focus, who respect other people, who don't quit, and who can get themselves out of trouble if they ever need to. Some of them will also win trophies. That's a bonus. A note on names: you will not find students' names on this page. Kids are named in the dojo, in the newsletter, and on the trophy shelf, not on the Internet. |
| Fall 1999 Class Schedule | ||
| Class | Days | Time |
| Little Dragons (ages 4-6) | Tuesday & Thursday | 4:00 - 4:30 |
| Juniors, beginner (ages 7-12, white to orange) | Monday & Wednesday | 4:45 - 5:30 |
| Juniors, intermediate/advanced (green and up) | Monday & Wednesday | 5:45 - 6:45 |
| Teens (13-17, all ranks) | Tuesday & Thursday | 6:00 - 7:15 |
| Family class (parents and kids together, all ranks) | Saturday | 9:00 - 10:00 |
| Sparring & tournament team (by invitation) | Saturday | 10:15 - 11:15 |
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Please have your child there ten minutes early, in a clean gi, with the belt tied (Sensei
will teach them; parents, there's a diagram on the bulletin board). Class starts exactly on time with
a bow-in, and a student who walks in late kneels at the door and waits to be invited onto the floor.
That is not a punishment; it is how every dojo in the world works, and the kids get used to it fast.
No class on Thanksgiving week (Nov. 22-26). Holiday schedule for December will be posted in November. The dojo is on Mill Street, across from the library. Parents are welcome to stay and watch from the bench (quietly, see below). |
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The Belt System Every karate school ranks its students with colored belts, and every school's colors are a little different, so don't be alarmed if your neighbor's child at another school got a purple belt and yours didn't. There is no single official list. Here is ours:
The colored belts are called kyu ranks and count down (a white belt is 10th kyu, a brown belt with three stripes is 1st kyu). Black belt degrees are called dan and count up. Sensei Rob is a 4th dan. How long does it take? It depends on the child, on attendance, and on how much they practice at home. A typical child who comes twice a week tests every three to six months for the lower belts, longer for the upper ones. Students under 16 who earn a black belt at our school receive a junior black belt. Sensei Rob does not promote anyone to make a parent happy, and he does not promote anyone to keep a parent's tuition. Please don't ask. Your child will get there, and it will mean something when they do. |
Belt Testing: Saturday, October 16
 Our fall belt test is Saturday, October 16, 1999, at the dojo. Little Dragons and white/yellow belts at 9:00 a.m.; orange through blue at 10:30; purple and brown at 1:00 p.m. Sensei will hand out invitations in class during the week of October 4. A student is invited to test when Sensei believes they are ready. If your child does not receive an invitation this time, that is not a failure; it means a few more months of practice, and the next test is in February. What to expect: Students line up by rank. Each group demonstrates its basics (stances, blocks, punches, kicks), its kata (the set forms), and for green belt and up, controlled sparring. Sensei and two visiting black belts from our sister school sit at the table. It takes about an hour per group. Then the belts are presented, the new belt is tied on by Sensei, and everybody bows. What parents do: Come. Sit on the bench. Bring a camera (no flash during sparring). Clap when the belts are presented and at no other time. Do not coach from the bench. Do not call your child's name. If your child forgets a move, and some will, let them work it out; Sensei allows a second try, and part of the test is how the student handles a mistake. Afterward there are doughnuts in the lobby, provided by the parents' group. (We need two volunteers for the doughnut run; e-mail us.) Testing fee: $20 for kyu ranks, which covers the new belt and the certificate. Please bring a check the day of the test, or give it to Sensei the week before. |
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Tournament Etiquette for Parents A few of our students compete in regional tournaments (kata and point sparring, with pads and headgear, in divisions by age, rank and size). The first time you take your child to one it can be a long, loud and confusing day in a high school gym. The parents' group put this list together after several of us learned the hard way. 1. It's a long day. Pack for it. Water, snacks, a book, a folding chair. Your child's division may not be called until 2 p.m. even if the doors opened at 8. 2. Your child's coach is Sensei Rob or the black belt he sends. Not you. Once your child steps to the ring, the coach talks and you watch. If you have a concern, tell the coach, quietly, between matches. 3. Do not argue with a judge. Ever. Point sparring is judged by human beings watching very fast movements, and they will miss things, sometimes against your kid. The coach may ask for a clarification through the proper channel. A parent yelling from the bleachers can get their child disqualified, and at some tournaments it has. 4. Clap for everyone. Including the child who just beat yours. Especially that child. 5. Bow when your child bows. No, really; a small nod when the ring is bowed in. It's noticed and appreciated. 6. Win or lose, the first thing you say afterward is "I loved watching you." The second thing can be anything you want. Save the coaching notes for the car, or better, for Sensei. 7. Trophies go on the shelf; the drive home is about the doughnut. A child who has a good time at their first tournament will go to a second. A child who spent the drive home being critiqued may not. Next tournament our students are entering: the fall regional in early November. Details in the dojo newsletter. |
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What Karate Teaches (Besides Kicking) A parent asked Sensei Rob at the open house, "Why should I pay for my kid to learn to fight?" Here is what he answered, as near as the parents' group can remember it. "We don't teach them to fight. A kid who wants to fight gets in a fight in the parking lot for free. We teach them to stand still. To look at the person talking to them. To bow to somebody they are about to spar with and mean it. To keep going when they're tired and to fail a test and come back. To count to ten in a language they've never heard. To be the biggest kid in the class and be gentle with the smallest one. To be the smallest and not be afraid. Every one of those things is harder than a kick, and every one of them they'll use every day of their lives. The kicking is how we trick them into learning the rest." The words on the wall of the dojo, which every student learns to recite at the end of class, are the old dojo kun: Seek perfection of character. Be faithful. Endeavor. Respect others. Refrain from violent behavior. Ask your child what they mean. They know. The parents' group would add, from our own experience: better posture, better report cards (several of us have noticed this and we don't think it's a coincidence), fewer meltdowns, and a child who, when a bigger kid pushes them at recess, knows how to walk away because they don't have anything to prove. |
| Questions Parents Ask |
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Is it safe? Karate for children is taught with control. Beginners do not spar at all. Green
belts and up spar with pads, mouthguards and headgear, under supervision, and the rule is "touch,
don't hit." Bumps and bruises happen, the way they do in soccer. Serious injuries are very rare.
My child is shy / hyper / small / clumsy. Will this work? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Come watch a Little Dragons class. What do I need to buy? A gi (uniform), about $30, available through the dojo. That's it for a white belt. Sparring gear comes at green belt. Can I watch? Yes, from the bench, quietly. The first two weeks we ask that you stay so your child feels secure; after that many parents use the hour to run errands, which is fine too. What if my child wants to quit? Talk to Sensei. Almost every student wants to quit at some point, usually around orange belt, when the newness wears off and the work sets in. We ask parents to hold the line to the next test. Most kids who make it through that patch stay for years. Does my child have to say "yes, Sensei"? Yes. And "yes, Mom" tends to follow. You're welcome. |
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Words You'll Hear Dojo - the training hall. Sensei - teacher. Gi - the uniform. Obi - the belt. Kata - a set sequence of moves practiced alone, like a dance with an imaginary opponent; every belt has its own. Kumite - sparring. Kiai - the shout. It's meant to focus the body and startle an opponent; it also makes the lobby loud. Rei - bow. Hajime - begin. Yame - stop. Osu - a word of acknowledgment and spirit that students say when told to do something; roughly "yes, I will." Counting: ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, ku, ju (one through ten). Your child will count the stairs at home this way. It passes. |
Coming soon: the parents' group carpool list (by e-mail only), a page on how to tie the belt,
and the story of how the dojo got started.
Other pages our families visit: Eastside Judo Club (a different art, same spirit), Japanese Exchange Student Diary (for a real Japanese teenager's view), Youth Soccer Referee's Corner (the "don't yell at the ref" rules apply there too), and the Tokyo neighborhood. |
Visitors since June 1999:  
 Questions for Sensei or the parents' group: [email protected] Last updated September 22, 1999. © 1999 Riverside Family Karate parents' group. GeoCities.us |