Wake Forest Dojo

It is no surprise that obesity is an epidemic in our country and Harvard Research suggests that it runs in families and amongst friends.  Obesity increases the risks of a variety of diseases such as: diabetes, heart desease, stroke, cancer, gallstones, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, gout, and numerous breathing problems (sleep apnea, asthma).

Martial arts is an effective and fun way for families to beat obesity.  Martial Arts offers many physical benefits that will get kids and parents moving.  Karate is great for developing muschular strength as well as improving cardiovascular health.  Here at Innovative Martial Arts Academy, in Wake Forest NC, we begin all of our classes with invigorating warm-ups that generally include stretching and running.

Karate is a considerable tool for developing a strong and healthy mindset.  Martial arts teaches self-discipline, goal setting, co0nfidence, focus and respect; all of which are helpful when living a healthy life.  Innovative Martial Arts Academy in Wake Forest, NC has a specific program designed for character development called ‘POWerful Words Program’.  This program is designed by world renowned child psychologist, Dr. Robyn Silverman.

Self defense is one of the most important aspects of martial arts.  “Since overweight childreare often bullied in and out of school, the ability to confront their tormentors with the knowledge that at least they do not have to be at the reciving end can be a powerful tool in gaining self assurance.  MOreover, the traditional forms of oriental self defense or combat (aikido, judo, jujitsu, karate, kendo, kick-boxing, kung fu, sumo, tae kwon do, etc.) utilize physical skill, coordination and concentration without weapons, so there is little chance of inflicting lasting damage (http://www.healthandgoodness.com/babieschildren/martial-arts-obesity.php).”

At Innovative Martial Arts Academy, we have programs for all ages.  Our Lil’Dragons classes start at 3 years old and we have optinos for every age through seniors.  Karate is a fantastic way for families to bond.  Some of the families at Innovative Martial Arts Academy have their entire family involved in our age specific programs.  Parents have the option of taking kick-boxing, boot camp class, filipino martial arts or aikido classes.

Whatever the motivation, martial arts is an effective, fun and empowering method of achieving wellness!  Innovative Martial Arts Academy is an exceptional academy that is committed to total health and excellence.

Bullying has been and continues to be one of the biggest problems plaguing our school systems today. It is one of the fundamental components to the violent school massacres we read and hear about on the news today. The first step to defeating the bully is to recognize what a bully is and why they are.

The school bully can be boy or girl, adult or child. They look like anyone else. At times, we can even act as bullies ourselves. So what makes a bully? Often time it’s a vicious circle of violence and cruelty. Most bullies have been bullied themselves or in a home where a parent or adult is cruel to them. A bully usually doesn’t have high self-esteem, feel valued, or doesn’t like themselves very much. So they feel empowered by taking out their frustrations on others that appear weaker.

Bullying can take place both physically and verbally. They make fun of other people, call others names that hurt, pick fights, shake smaller kids down for their lunch money and push others around.

There are alternatives to fighting your bully where you or someone else could get in trouble or worse, hurt. Remember, your greatest weapon to defeating a bully is always your mind. Using your brains to avoid conflict is always much better than fighting.

1. The first tool you have is to ignore the bully. Give them nothing in response to their threats. You can listen, but don’t give into taunting. This technique takes the wind out of their sails.

2. Try being nice to your bully. Treat the bully as your friend instead of an enemy. Try to turn a threatening situation into a friendly one.

3. Walk away! Refuse to get into a conflict, turn around and walk away with your head high. There’s no shame of cowardice in this.

4. Agree with your bully. If your bully insults you, agree with them, let the insults go and don’t fight back.

5. Refuse to fight. In our academy, our students learn that there is no winner when two people fight. The only winner in a conflict is the person who prevents the fight from happening. Just say NO!

6. And finally, if nothing else is working, call for help! Call a teacher, a parent, trusted adult or police officer. In the adult world, when a person starts violence, it’s called assault. You’re not any less important than anyone else because you are younger. Teachers and parents need to take bullying as seriously as they would if it were an adult.

Mr. Falk is the head instructor at Innovative Martial Arts Academy in Wake Forest. He is available for safety counseling, school talks programs and Anti-bullying seminars in schools. For more information visit www.martialartsforlife.net or call 562-4663.

One of the biggest tragedies I see all of the time is the loss of commitment by adults and our youth.  It’s too easy to quit a commitment rather than follow through.  Some examples are how easily people divorce, leave their jobs, file for bankruptsy, etc.  If you study this closely enough, you’ll find it’s a pattern in a person’s life.  Patterns are taught usually in our more formative years.

If a child avoids responsibility early in life, it becomes a natural tendency to avoid it later in life.  Every time we as parents allow it to happen, we make it much easier for them to allow for that pattern to dominate and become habit.  As parents, it’s too easy to let your child have their way simply because they don’t feel like doing something that has commitment or responsibility attached.

We know what’s good for our children better than they do.  We need to teach them that with anything in life, quitting is not an option.  Letting them quit sets them up for a lifetime of letting their feelings get in the way of achievement.  With this pattern well established in their lives, they will never know the joy of reaching their full potential.  It’s our job as parents to make our children finish what they set out to do, even when they no longer want to.

Martial arts is an excellent tool to teach your children what discipline and perseverence can achieve.  They learn goal setting and learn tools for success that other team sports and extracurricular activities can’t come close to touching.  If you are a parent in the Wake Forest, NC area and interested in character education and success training for your children, please feel free to look us up at Innovative Martial Arts Academy.