Tenet 1

LOVE

Devote the time to understand what your body and mind need in order to be healthy. Then dedicate yourself to achieving that mindset.

Martial arts helps determine your physical and emotional needs through mental study and rigorous practice. After time, students will be able to understand what their bodies need physically and emotionally in order to reach new goals and succeed.

Tenet 2

COMMUNITY

Create relationships and invite people into your life such as your family, friends, neighbors, teachers, and club members. Relationships are a two-way street of communication and trust. The more you have, the more support you have.

Martial arts cultivates strong relationships within the dojo. Students are constantly communicating with each other physically and verbally. They are given the tools for and practice on how to build communication and trust among people. Students take pride in the dojo, and as a community, they come together to see it succeed.

Tenet 3

COMPOSURE

Establish calmness within yourself during difficult or stressful situations and don’t give in to immediate reactions. Staying calm will help you think about the situation and analyze the consequences of your every action.

Martial arts helps establish this tenet by placing the student in a safe and controlled environment in which they must maintain their composure when tensions rise physically and verbally.

Tenet 4

EMPATHY

Examine your emotions with honest self-reflection. Listen and see how people are reacting to your choice of actions and words. Examine and recognize other people’s feelings, intents, and reactions within their environments or situations.

Martial arts may be an individualized competitive sport, but it creates bonds with your classmates in a unique way. Through hard practice with your classmates, you start to develop insights about how different people react and think.

Tenet 5

STRENGTH

Discover your inner strength, which gives you confidence in who you are, and develop awareness of your physical strength and knowledge of what your body can do in different situations.

Martial arts helps students discover confidence in how they develop and succeed through the curriculum. A reward system of belt colors helps increase their confidence because it shows the public what they have accomplished mentally and physically. As they progress through the system, they discover how much they know and are then able to teach newcomers, which boosts their confidence. All effort is rewarded in time, and everything they learn has meaning.

Tenet 6

RESPONSE & RESPONSIBILITY

Recognize the situation and be decisive with your actions with a patient, reflective response. Situations can escalate quickly and need appropriate, proportional responses. Extend your help to others and to yourself. Understand and uphold the consequences that may come with your actions.

Martial arts teaches nonviolent approaches to situations and how to respond with patience and reflection. Whether it be taking yourself or someone else out of a potentially violent situation by being composed or being able to respond to a physical or mental attack, students in the dojo are able to see and understand the effects of their decisions in a controlled environment.