Back in the day, if you were a student of Taekwondo, the class had a physical component of course, but it’s more important to realize that poetry and calligraphy were also part of the program. Taekwondo was taught in the center of villages, and you can see old paintings of the master telling his stories.
This is where my story begins. I was looking to develop the students into great children, who set honoring their parents as a high priority. First off, the physical part of learning Taekwondo was easy, I had a well-laid-out plan to move a student through the ranks towards their Black Belt.
I was looking for more, I wanted to take this opportunity to build students’ empathy, to help them learn to be kinder at home and school, as well as to have better relationships with their parents and siblings.
The answer came when I was researching traditional Taekwondo teaching. When I saw the old paintings of the instructor telling stories, I decided that would be my next level of teaching.
Shortly afterwards, I would start telling a story about honoring your parents, or a break-a-thon or way to help raise money for our community. It didn’t take long for the storytelling to become a focal point of the Taekwondo class.
As the years went by, I received feedback from former students and parents. It was amazing to hear the stories, and that the storytelling teachings were paying off.
Some of the comments were from Parker “the self-defence was okay my biggest gain was I improved my relationship with my Mom”
or
Monique wrote in her black belt essay on What Taekwondo means to me. “It warms my heart when I think about all the women we helped with our break-a-thon” Why these statements are so powerful is these students could have said I am the toughest kid in my school, I got the most gold medals at the tournaments, nobody messes with me.
I was receiving comments like:
“The self-defence was okay, but my biggest gain was improving my relationship with my mom”. (Parker)
“It warms my heart when I think about all the women we helped with our break-a-thon” (Moneic, written in her Black Belt essay on what Taekwondo means to me).
These statements are really powerful to me. The students could have commented that I was the toughest person in my school, I had won lots of gold medals at tournaments, I was a Taekwondo expert that nobody messes with – instead, their comments and thanks were to me for my input in their relationships, helping communities, and on how I helped them grow and develop their emotional intelligence.
As the teacher, it felt so good that the students were actually listening…digesting…learning.
Just a quick note. While I was researching historical information on Taekwondo, I came across articles on how emotional intelligence was learned and how empathy, kindness and relationship building were a hallmark of learning this skill set. This was perfect, as it was exactly the messages that were being absorbed through the storytelling process.
Just a quick note while I was researching historical information on Taekwondo. I came across articles about how emotional Intelligence was learned, how empathy, kindness and relationship building were a hallmark of learning this skill set. This was perfect because that was exactly the message in the stories.
These stories worked for my students, and they will work for you and your family.
I invite you and your children to embark on a journey with The Adventures of Wise Owl.
Download the free colouring books.
Parents, you can download my free eBook.
Let the adventure begin!
Best Wishes,
Master Adam Forest
I invite you and your children to engage in the Adventures of Wise Owl. download the free colouring books, parents you can download my free ebook.
Let the Adventure begin
Cheers Master Adam Forest
you will receive:
Emotional Intelligence a parents perspective Blog post # 1