Iha Karate		Schedule		Location		Student Guide
	Children		Drills

How does karate benefit young people?
Positive thinking, confidence, cooperation and respect for others are some of the qualities young people achieve through studying karate-do — but what kids really get excited about is the hands-on activities, and the opportunity to have fun and make new friends!

The ultimate goal of karate study is physical and mental self-improvement. While doing warm-up drills, kata (individual exercises), kumite (controlled 2-person exercises) and bunkai (4-5 person applications of kata for more advanced students) kids learn to control, strengthen and balance their growing bodies, focus their active minds, and work cooperatively with others. In the process, they will also discover powerful ways to beat stress and ultimately feel good about themselves.

What is the instruction like?
Junior classes are taught by black belt-level instructors selected and trained by Seikichi Iha, Hanshi, 10^th Dan (who also began the study of karate in his youth in Okinawa, Japan.) Youth class instructors take into account the abilities of each individual child, giving consideration to their age, size, strength, skill level and personality so that all students have the opportunity to achieve success. Learning is step-by-step and advances in difficulty only when a student is ready. Everyone starts by learning basic combinations of kicks, punches and blocks through the practice of drills and basic kata. When a student can demonstrate they have learned their current level of skills, they progress to the next rank and new and more complex kata and exercises are added.

What’s a typical class like?
Karate class begins and ends in the traditional Okinawan way with students lining up and bowing (rei) to show respect to the teacher (sensei) and their classmates. Stretches are done from head to toe, then students may do moving drills, kata and cooperative exercises with partners. Kick bags and focus pads are frequently used to help students strengthen their bodies and work on technique.

What is expected of junior students?
Learning and demonstrating respect for others through words and deeds is of the utmost importance in karate. At the dojo, students are expected to show self-control with their classmates both during and outside of class. Each student can also show responsibility by taking care of their gi (uniform), obi (belt) and personal belongings.  Keeping the dojo clean is also a job students of all ages and ranks share. Everyone is expected to pitch in to help the instructors take out and put away equipment and to make sure the dojo training and changing areas are left ready for the next class.

How safe is karate for kids?
Because the focus of Shido-kan karate is on self-improvement, not competition, students are taught to cooperate with and learn from their partners—helping each other and paying attention to each other’s needs. Controlled sparring for short time periods is only done with protective gear under an instructor’s close supervision. Throughout all lessons it is emphasized that the objective of learning karate is not to cause injury to others but to prevent and avoid violence through self-control and cooperation with your partners.

When can kids start classes?
Sensei Iha or another junior class instructor will need to visit with prospective elementary school-age (age 6 or older) students to determine if they are developmentally ready for classes.

What are the junior rank levels?
At Original Okinawa Karate, there are 12 junior “kyu” training ranks, beginning with white belt (12^th kyu) and ending with brown belt with black stripe (1^st kyu). Students are expected to be able to demonstrate a specific set of skills for each rank before progressing to the next belt level. After achieving 12^th kyu, a student can prepare to test for a junior 1^st degree (sho-dan) black belt.

When do juniors join the adult classes?
When the instructors feel a junior student is prepared (in general around age 14 or older) they will be invited to join the adult classes. At the recommendation of their instructors, junior black belts (age 14 or older) may re-test with the adult students to achieve adult black belt status. The highest adult black belt rank that may be achieved before the end of high school is ni-dan (2^nd degree).