Respect
Kung Fu transforms lives. A student can expect to achieve a full grade point improvement in their grades at school within a year of starting kung fu. Everyone training with us experiences an improvement in their ability to manage stress and conflict. These benefits are both byproducts of discipline and respect — the two main things we teach at Silent River Kung Fu.
From the first moment a student walks through our doors, their lessons on respect begin. We create a level playing field by dressing uniformly and addressing every student by their last name. The students’ instructors do not demand the students’ respect, they work hard to earn it. The power of example is the most powerful teaching tool available.
Parents, your positive engagement is a crucial component of your children’s education. As parents, our influence through the example we set can help reinforce the lessons our children are learning or at their worst, they can undermine them. We must remain mindful that our actions influence our children.
Getting your children to class on time is an absolute necessity if you want to set a positive example. Respecting the value of other people’s time is one of the most important lessons a person learns in their lifetime. Your children rely upon you to get them to their classes and therefore they rely upon you to get them there on time. Late arrivals disrupt the entire class and publicly affect everyone by undermining a keystone value of Kung fu.
Something that has been happening outside of our school but within sight of all our students, is how our students’ parents and family are treating our planters in front of the school window. Sitting on the planters and/or placing your toddlers on them, trampling the plants, is damaging a project that our students built and managed themselves and which they have been trying to nurture. Ironically while we are busy on the mats teaching our students about discipline and respect, our lessons are being undermined in real time by the public disrespect being shown to the project so many of them worked so hard on over the summer.
Parents, please recognize the important role you play in helping us foster a positive and productive learning environment for your children. It does take a village to raise a child.
Discipline and Respect
No matter our reasons for beginning kung fu, the art can only guarantee two things: discipline and respect. When you think about it you will come to realize that with those two things anything and everything is possible.
There are always provisos that come with guarantees. Logically we all understand that a guarantee is only as good as our common sense and our engagement. Your car’s warranty is void if you drive the car off a cliff. Likewise the guarantee of discipline and respect is void if you are not putting in true, consistent effort. You do not benefit from lessons unless you are present for those lessons. Nor do you benefit from lessons if you are not actively applying them.
Our uniform, like most things in kung fu, serves a purpose. Our uniform helps ground us by being a constant reminder of what we are a part of. It clarifies our perspective and reinforces our commitment while reminding us that no matter our background, we are all equal in the kwoon with the same goals of improvement.
If the uniform is to be a useful tool to help us develop discipline and respect, we must keep our uniform clean and well-maintained. You can’t expect a saw to do its job if you do not keep it sharp and clean. Your uniform should be treated the same.
Students who continually show up to class with dirty or torn uniforms, are not progressing as quickly as students who respect their uniform. They are not progressing to their full potential not because their uniform is dirty but because they are not applying discipline and respect to their training and their lives.
The biggest statement a student can make about discipline and respect is how and when they arrive at class. Clearly you are not applying those concepts if you are constantly arriving late for your classes. Consistent tardiness is one of the most disrespectful actions toward your fellow students and your instructors. The second biggest statement a student can make about discipline and respect is the condition of the uniform they are wearing to class.
The bottom line:
If you want to learn kung fu, you must be taking your training outside the kwoon and into the world by consistently applying the concepts of kung fu in all aspects of your life. That starts by taking care of when you arrive at class and taking care of your uniform.
A Message To Parents
The biggest challenge us instructors face in the current COVID-19 world is figuring how to convey the benefits of our classes to the parents of our students. With the parents unable to witness our classes first-hand, this becomes a big challenge.
Children begin kung fu because of themselves and they quit or don't quit because of their parents.
If you guys see value, you are less likely to give control of that important decision to your child.
We do our best to give you the support and the tools to help you keep your children engaged and happy in kung fu. There are always going to be challenges but I guarantee those challenges will be easier navigated if you use those tools:
One on One Lessons
Livestream Live Lessons
Livestream Recorded Lessons
Kwoon Talk Articles
Instructor and Student Blogs
Extra-Curricular Events and Activities
Zoom Meetings
Please watch the accompanying video and comment on this article so that we know you have seen it. If we're to help your child, it is important that we know which tools you are using and which you are not.
Jeff Brinker