Martial arts and Education

The purpose to utilise martial arts in an educational manner is primarily for fitness and functional skills, it may also be a tool for improved emotional, behavioural and social change for young people. Currently at Ronin Budo we have an ongoing commitment twice a week at Belper school plus we have added a Home School Kids session during the daytime to our curriculum.

By using martial arts as a positive social agent we can develop positive character traits to assist young people to become better citizens and more successful adults. We aim to target executive functions such as impulsivity and risky behaviour coupled with assisting in the development of moral foundations such as a sense of fair play, acceptance of achievement and fundamentals of societal values through hard work, competitiveness and personal change.

Martial Arts has a rich history of teaching teamwork, duty and authority. By
participating in physical activity under these conditions young people can learn to
differentiate between good and bad behaviour and how to work together in an
environment that is conducive to this. The sessions we deliver are planned at levels which allow full social inclusion as well as promoting participant engagement to match ability alongside the requirements of the school background that they come from. We believe in unconditional regard for others and strive to offer a person centred approach with the ability to “think out of the box” to find solutions that will enable our young people to achieve their full potential. We do also cover such things as geography of martial arts, observing the locations of the martial arts we deliver and their culture impacts on the way they are taught. We do cover history and how they have evolved in society. These are not always in sit down and listen, but often imparted through activities and general discussion.

As they develop as individuals we do introduce the idea of Sempai, this is a term like older brother/sister and is about the responsibility that comes with knowledge, the imparting of that and how to treat others in the group.