Fluff versus Stuff (A Balancing Act)

Today's Blog post explores the balance between playing ("fluff") and serious self-defense ("stuff"). We have a number of students, mostly kids, who have found our school after training elsewhere, and whose (parents') main complaint about their prior school is that "they just played around each class."

Truth be told, it can be a tough thing to balance!! Glorified babysitting, where kids play games and have fun every class, can be more enjoyable for the kids - similar to a grade school that watches videos every day and doesn't check homework, etc.  The kids like the classes, and parents understandably are happy that their child likes going to karate/tae kwon do/jujitsu/etc. - and the Instructors don't have to do much actual lesson planning. The ones who want more than that generally quit, assuming all schools are similarly "fluffy."  On the flip-side, hardcore "Street Self-Defense" places that deride "softer" schools can be too much for many people, and can have more injuries, etc.

Everyone's goals in training (or goals for their kids, if it is not in fact the kid that wants to train) are different, and schools need to choose their own balance.  ("Fluff" brings in the $$, unfortunately!) At Karate Fit USA, like at Swingle Shihan's karate school growing up decades ago, we have consciously chosen a "less fluff, more stuff" approach in a way that is age-appropriate and still tries to keep things fun while offering practical techniques and challenges for everyone to grow.

Our 3-5 year old classes do have games, of course, so we can develop fine and gross motor skills, balance, and an understanding of Right-vs-Left, listening to directions, etc.  But we also show them proper structure and position, sneak in some abduction-defense techniques that small people can use against larger people, and how to avoid and get away from trouble. As the ages get older, the Karate becomes the fun, and the classes grow more serious (while still hopefully being enjoyable), and the belt requirements become more difficult. 

To enter the Intermediate ranks and beyond, ALL ages have the same list of pre-test criteria to come in and complete satisfactorily. (Expectations are based on every individual, a luxury that our small class sizes allow us to track.)  For Adult classes, we continue our balance of Fitness (warm up exercises for flexibility strength and stamina), Self-Defense (Partner Work and Circle Attacks to simulate a wide range of possible situations), Sparring (Timing, Distance, Combinations and controlling an encounter), Power work (Targets and such to maximize technique effectives) and Tradition (Kata and Weapons work, still with a self-defense focus).

It is tough to make push-ups and hard work fun (although we think we do a decent job). In this age of instant gratification, it can be tough (but more important that ever) to put in the time and effort needed for proper growth.  It would be much easier to just let students stick their feet and hands out, without spending the time and energy to correct structural problems and make sure the hips and whole body are engaged even when not going full power.  Many schools apparently choose that easier path, but we consider this a disservice to the students.  We certainly do not expect everyone to do techniques perfectly, but our students can always expect us to explain how to do things properly and effectively. They can also expect us to give them time and encouragement as they work to improve, and all of our students can repeat the mantras of "Effort beats ability," "Slow and correct beats fast and wrong," and "The best way to get good at Level 3 is to get REALLY good at Level 2," etc.

At Karate Fit USA, we are proud to strike a healthy balance between "real stuff," (allowing partners who are ready and who can control themselves to go hard, while others can take things slower) and "fun."  This is probably why we have college-age kids, tiny kids, older people (50s, 60s and 70s!), people on the Spectrum and with physical challenges, and everyone in-between, at a wide range of fitness abilities, ALL of whom seem happy to challenge themselves and their peers appropriately, and who all celebrate and encourage everyone else's growth.

If that sounds like a balance that might work for you or your family, we would love to have you come try a free class with us.  And if you prefer either only rough&tough street fighting or fun-only playfests, then there are surely other schools around that could handle that!