Bullying, unfortunately, is an inevitable part of life, no matter how young, educated or well-off one is, we all will encounter forms of bullying at some point in our lives.
A study commissioned by Microsoft in 2012 revealed shockingly, that Singapore has the second highest number of cyber bullying cases reported in the world (China came in tops), on a survey it commissioned to our youths between 8-17 years old. Statistics from CABCY (Coalition Against Bulling for Children and Youth in Singapore) reveals 1 child in 8 reported being bullied on a weekly basis.
Bullying is bullying, period.
It does not matter if the bullying occurs in the form of physical, psychological or ‘cyber’ abuse. What bullying serves to achieve is to degrade and demean its target in public with no regards to the victim’s short term, long term or permanent distress. Some of these distresses have resulted in deaths.
As we have an increasing number of kids and youths joining Dojo Wu, we’ve had plenty of feedback from parents on how karate has since helped their children cope with their day-to-day lives, including peers’ unsavoury behaviour as well as direct bullying.
Besides taking advantage of the physical conditioning that our karate classes provide, the most important aspect of karate, or any other martial arts training, is building the foundation for a sound mind.
Every child – through each karate lesson – gets to experience mental horning in a disciplined environment. It is the only time where they can shut out their lives (and school work!), and focus on tackling any challenges they are up against inside the dojo. This is mixed with the fun and excitement of kumite, or sparring, that only Kyokushin karate provides. No wonder many of our young members have stuck around and grown up with us.
Karate is about instilling confidence for the young.
Karate nurtures the virtues of self-control and respect for oneself and the others. Our carefully structured classes are ideal for children because it teaches them to be more aware of themselves and others, and that is vital regardless of which side of the bullying fence they are sitting at. Karate is indeed a great tool and essential life skill for children, as it has already been proven to have helped many of our young students cope with bullying and other difficult social situations they encounter.
