Club Philosophy and Teaching Methodology

Club philosophy,teaching methodology. When you look back at Taekwondo 2000 years ago, it looked very different from today’s Taekwondo. 

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






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Emotional Intelligence a parents perspective Blog post # 1


As parents, all we want in life is for our children to experience happiness, health, and success. As much as we wish that we could dictate everything that happened in our kids’ lives, we cannot! Because of this, we need to equip our children with skills that will help them to reach their goals and to have joy.
In this article, we will discuss Emotional Intelligence (EI), why children need to develop EI, the 5 characteristics of EI, and how to help our children develop those 5 characteristics.
What is Emotional Intelligence (EI)?
Emotional intelligence is a person’s ability to comprehend and process emotions. Whether it is interpreting their own emotions, or those of another, being able to grasp the significance of certain emotions can help a person to self-regulate, and gain composure and control of a situation.
Why do children need to develop emotional intelligence?
The world today is constantly evolving and changing. As a parent, it can be scary to imagine the world that our children will be existing in 10, 15, or 30 years from now. It’s completely unpredictable!
Because there is no way to prepare our children for specific events that could happen in the future, it is our job as parents to teach our children the emotional skills to be able to handle, and manage, anything that comes their way.
Helping a child to develop EI will also help them to develop:
Confidence
Understanding
Conflict resolution skills
Daniel Goleman’s 5 Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman is a world-renowned psychologist that specializes in understanding the brain and behavioral analytics. He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, Emotional Intelligence.
In his book, Goleman explains the 5 main characteristics of Emotional Intelligence. We will go over each one of the characteristics as described by Goleman, while also discusses ways that, as a parent, you can support your child in developing this characteristic.
  1. Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to reflect upon oneself objectively. This means being honest with oneself about behaviors, opinions, prejudices, and traits that are possessed.
By being self-aware, it allows a person to be a well-rounded and educated decision-maker that understands the reality of the situation that they are in.
Helping Your Child to Develop Self-awareness
Encourage your child to do the following:
Talk about their feelings out loud
Ask them questions about why they have the opinions that they do
Encourage your child to journal regularly
Work on your personal self-awareness skills, and lead by example.
  1. Self-regulation
Self-regulation is a huge part of emotional intelligence as it is what allows an individual to be in control of their emotions, and behave accordingly. When self-regulated, a person can maintain clarity of mind, no matter the situation.
Helping Your Child to Develop Self-regulation
The key to teaching children to self-regulate is to be patient, and recognize that self-regulation is a process. It is not something that happens overnight, but the end-gratification is well worth it! Help your child in the following ways:
Support and encourage them
Stay calm during high-stress situations
Maintain realistic expectations for your child.
  1. Motivation
Motivation is what gives people the drive to get things done- tasks, chores, and goals… the first step always requires motivation.
There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Extrinsic motivation is reward-driven. It is when a person wants to put in the effort to accomplish something for the sake of something outside of themselves. For example, a child cleaning their room so that they can have extra screen time, or a child clearing their plate after dinner to receive verbal praise from a parent.
Intrinsic motivation is driven by a desire to accomplish something for inherent satisfaction. For example, reading a book because you enjoy the storyline, or exercising because of how it makes you feel.
Helping Your Child to Develop Motivation
Some people are more naturally motivated one way or another, but it’s important to teach our children the validity of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. There is a time and a place for both! Here are some ways to teach and encourage your child to be motivated:
Help them with goal-setting
Tell them stories of people who successfully reached their goals
Model goal-setting and goal-keeping
Praise them for completing tasks
Let your child make decisions about their own lives
  1. Empathy
Empathy seems simple, but it is actually a complicated idea. Empathy is the ability to deeply understand someone on a level that makes them feel seen and related to.
Empathy is different than sympathy, as sympathy is more surface level. Someone sympathetic will listen to the trials of another person and might offer their condolences. Someone empathetic is willing to have deep conversations and join another person in their emotion.
It is important to be empathetic because it helps us to know how to appropriately respond in an emotional situation.
Helping Your Child to Develop Empathy
Help your child to develop empathy by:
Model by empathizing with them first
Don’t be afraid to talk about emotions
Validate emotions in your child
Roleplay empathetic scenarios
  1. Social skills
Social skills are a requirement for life! They are what make people feel comfortable and open to communicate. For kids to be successful, they need to be able to relate to and connect with other people.
Helping Your Child to Develop Social Skills
Model good social skills
Expose them to other children and adults (regularly visit playgrounds, playgroups, etc.)
Converse with them
Model appropriate social norms
Raising successful kids who are healthy and happy starts with a parent who is willing to model these attributes. Possessing emotional intelligence opens the door to infinite opportunities that will take your child anywhere in life that they want to go.