Many of you have noticed and commented on some of the changes in our curriculum. We are VERY happy you have! We are always striving to be innovative and exceed your expectations by incorporating traditional karate with cutting edge/state of the art human development techniques. We know many of our students come to us with challenges and frankly the new “stuff” is designed to be great for everyone young and old. So…what are the new additions? Specifically we have begun to integrate a few different modalities pulling from “Brain Gym” and “Nutritious Movement” among others.
“Brain Gym is whole brain learning, through movement repatterning and these activities enable students to access parts of the brain previously inaccessible to them. The changes in learning and behavior are often immediate and profound, as children discover how to receives information and express themselves simultaneously.” We are enhancing neurological function, processing, coordination, proprioception and exciting things like that!
For more than fifty years pioneers in behavioral optometry (who knew right?) and sensorymotor training have provided statistical research showing the effects of movement on learning. Many teachers all over the world use Brain Gym every day in their classrooms. These simple techniques have been proven to improve reading, writing and math skills, concentration, focus and organization as well as providing children the ability to self soothe and regulate their behavior (self control.)
We are proactively addressing the sadly and commonly accepted fact our children sit too much. They spend a great deal of their day hunched over a desk or technology of some sort and little time running, jumping, climbing and rolling. Not to mention a lack of real physical social interaction. At Ohana Dojo we have activities designed to combat what amounts to a national epidemic which threatens our children’s long term health. Did you know recent studies show even as little time as 30 minutes can improve your biomarkers? So just say’n. When your children are here we keep them moving! The idea behind nutritious movement is to transition away from a sedentary lifestyle and get the whole body moving. We articulate our spine, use our joints to encourage full range of motion, free our feet from captivity… Nutritious Movement disguised as fun stuff!
Please feel free to ask questions and join in the new activities. Look for even more to things to come. We hope that you are on board and intrigued with our plans and efforts as we continue to develop and implement our strategies and goals to help your children reach their potential in all areas of their life!
Take Care of Your Body, It’s The Only Place You Have To Live In!
Mrs. Sensei