Introducing the Internationally
Acclaimed Basic SKILLZ Program!
Five and six-year olds are the most enthusiastic
students. They love creativity and
problem solving, which makes them ideal
students in the Martial Arts.
The problem we discovered is they are so progressive in
following tasks, some teachers tend to treat
them like their older peers. This is a problem
because they still do not have the basic skills
necessary to keep up with children ages 7
and up.
The solution we found is to provide
them with their own program that targets
their stage of development in a manner that
adapts to their social and intellectual curiosity while at the same
time building skills that set them up for success.
With that said a structured program introducing basic skill-based training in
Martial Arts has proven to be very successful.
By understanding the stages of development of 5 and 6-year
olds, we were able to select 8 age-appropriate skills that make
up the Basic SKILLZ Program:
We cover one of the above skills per class (in order). During
each class we run a warm-up; deliver a mat chat about the skill;
run two or three skill-building drills; and then we have them
demonstrate the skill to earn their skill-stripe. They must earn all
8 skill-stripes in order to graduate to the next belt level. Once
they earn their next belt they will continue to run through all 8
skills earning their skill-stripes with more challenging curriculum
as they advance to each rank. They graduate to the Core SKILLZ
program after they have successfully completed all 9-belt ranks
of the Basic SKILLZ program
Here is an example of what a white belt must demonstrate for
each of the 8 skills above in order to earn their next belt:
1. FOCUS: Punching and kicking a pad that is thrown by an instructor
standing one-step away from their side. They must be able to punch,
and kick, a pad four times in a row in order to pass.
2. TEAMWORK: Holding a kicking target for their partner while their
partner does ten kicks. They must be loud while counting their partner’s
kicks and hold the target tightly in order to pass.
3. CONTROL: Stopping their body at attention position after running
forward when an instructor says, “stop.” They must be at attention in
less than three steps after the instructor says stop in order to pass.
4. MEMORY: Demonstrating the three stage 1 block’s and three stage 1
strikes from memory. They must show the proper chambers and ending
position for all of the moves in order to pass.
5. BALANCE: Executing five front kicks without putting their foot
down in between each rep. They must show full execution and retraction
while keeping their knee chambered at belt level or higher in
order to pass.
6. DISCIPLINE: Demonstrating how to properly sit, take a knee, kneel
on both knees, and stand at attention without moving. They must hold
each position for no less than five seconds.
7. FITNESS: Holding each static leg, arm, abdominal, and core exercise.
They must not lose technique or else they have to start over. They
must hold each exercise for no less than ten seconds in order to pass.
8. COORDINATION: Performing left and right punching combinations
on the mitts. They must hit the mitt with proper technique and also
with the proper hand five times in a row in order to pass.
As you can see, we take Martial Arts
training to a whole new level!
We use basic elements of traditional Martial
Arts curriculums to build skills that are
appropriate for 5 and 6-year olds. This
means that your child will learn and
grow at a pace that is not too easy,
nor too challenging.
The best part is the Basic SKILLZ program
will equip your child with skills that
they will utilize in every area of
their life!
