It’s all about “Bunkai”!

Welcome to 2020! I hope you were able to spend some valuable time with your family over the holidays.

I often find when I get a break from my normal routine I do a lot of thinking. I want to share an “Ah-ha” moment I had recently.

I may be a little odd but I am constantly thinking of one driving question - “How do we help parents develop children who thrive and succeed, instead of struggle and fail?”

As a result of not only working with the hundreds of children at the dojo but now thousands in the local school, I am really beginning to understand where our children are today and how we help them.

Our schools are better than ever at teaching our children. They do a great job teaching them the academic skills they need for college or the work force. Just as important, they teach them how to learn. There is no question our children are smarter than ever. Add to this technology and the amazing access they have to information and knowledge!

But here is the key – Knowledge is not power. Only “applied” knowledge is power.

I can’t tell you how many times a mother has come up to me and said “My son is so smart but . . .”. So, if smarts and knowledge are not the answer what is?

It is the ability to apply the knowledge. All that knowledge is virtually worthless without that ability to use it. In Japanese, the word for application is “Bunkai”.

I don’t want to go too long here so in my next Sensei Says I will share how I believe we teach our children how to apply their knowledge. How we teach them the bunkai for success.