It’s here! It’s test time again for many of our students. That’s right. This Monday and Tuesday a lot of our students will be showing what they’ve practiced for the past several months. The test will include doing their forms, their self-defense moves, their kicks, and even board breaking.
So, being able to do the required movements is what it takes to move up to the next belt level, right? Of course one must be able to complete these tasks. It involves so much more, though. To do them “the right way”, it takes a degree of self-confidence. Without this, they’re just going through the motions. In Taekwondo, as in life itsself, that self-confidence plays a major role in the success of the students. That’s why we begin working on it very early in a student’s “career”.
It shows in their spirit. Do they look straight forward when performing movements, or down at the mat? Do they yell nice and loud when a “keyop” is called for? Do they stand tall in good stances? These things don’t just show that they’ve practiced, but that they have good spirit, or good self confidence.
The development of self-confidence comes from knowing that they can “do it right” That knowledge is gained through constant reinforcemet by me, their instructor, in class. I hope they’re getting it from you, their parents as well. When something goes right, praise them. When something goes wrong, don’t jump to criticize. Instead, deliver some praise for their effort, then add a corrective statement to guide them onto the right track. After doing whatever it was better, make sure you praise them.
Please also make sure there are no teachers at their school who handle your children negatively. That can really harm their self-confidence. If it is found that a teacher is being negative, have a conference with that teacher. If it continues, talk to the principal or guidance counselor. Any further action would be to have the child moved to another class.
This effort is all worth it to turn out a child with self-confidence. Once they have that, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to, including “Blackbelt Excellence”.
