The young person who has gone through the challenges of achieving will not need someone to tell them what they can and cannot do, because they will know for themselves exactly what they are capable of.

There comes a season when childhood begins to give way to something new and young people begin looking beyond what they have been taught and quietly ask for themselves;

Who am I becoming?

It is one of the oldest and most important questions for a young person.

It cannot be answered by parents alone. Nor by teachers or by friends. It is discovered gradually through experience.

Through challenge, responsibility, reflection and through practice.

The martial arts are one way youth can experience this.

Wude—the cultivation of martial virtue.

Young people are surrounded by countless pressures telling them who they should be.

Be stronger and more successful.

Be more popular and be more impressive.

This is where practice becomes something more than training.

It becomes a way of discovering character, but not character as reputation. Character as the qualities we continue cultivating when no one is watching.

Courage, humility, and respect of others and respect of oneself.

Integrity, compassion and perseverance.

These qualities cannot be given to us by another person, these are qualities we develop for ourselves and because of this, are not easily taken away by another.

Our youth students train alongside our adult students. Blending this age group has proven to offer positive mentorship, an encouraging and safe learning environment and a unique opportunity to remove the barriers of age were we are all students of the martial arts of the classical tradition.

Respect is shared.

Curtesy is mutual.

We all bow when we enter the dojo, and we all bow to each other when we train together.

In Youth Karate there is a more strict curriculum to follow then in the Children's classes. Students must learn and demonstrate, to the best of their own abilities, four primary areas of study

• Kihon (The fundamentals of Goju Ryu Karate)

  These fundaments include;

  Stances and proper postures, strikes and blocks, kicks and movement.

• Kata ("The way of doing things properly", a set of prearranged techniques and movements)

  Kata is a part of all students grading requirement, increasing in difficulty and expectation as students continue to ascend through the kyu belt levels. Kata is challenging to learn and preform but achievable with practice, focus and courage, offering youth precious lessons that can be applied to school, work and life.

• Kumite (Partner work, also know has "clash hands")

  Kumite offers youth the opportunity to take what they learn in Kihon and Kata and apply it with a partner. While we do not call Kumite fighting in our dojo, Kumite is, instead, a learning opportunity, teaching timing and distance, coordination, training reaction time, cooperation and caring for others and helping one another learn to defend themselves.

• Self Defence and Violence prevention

  As teachers we ask ourselves, will our students feel like they can defend themselves? Self defence is a large part of our curriculum as we want our students to be safe and capable. We start with distinguishing the difference between martial arts, self defence and fighting.

  Students will participate in scenario training, de-escalation, situational awareness, violence prevention and partner work. We teach our students how to avoid danger before violence breaks out, how to determine what the threat is and distinguish between necessary violence and unnecessary violence, exploring the concept of ego, self control and compassion.

Along with the four primary areas of study youth must demonstrate an understanding and application of the internal martial arts and mindful practices

• Rei Shiki

• Mindful breathing and movement

• Quiet calm (Meditation)

And most importantly, Etiquette.

As practice deepens, young people begin discovering that;

The greatest challenge is rarely another person.

It is learning to meet themselves honestly.

To remain steady in uncertainty.

To continue practicing when progress feels slow.

To begin again after disappointment.

To discover that confidence grows from sincerity rather than comparison.