Teaching Life Skills are an essential element of the modern martial arts school, ideal for martial arts instructors and martial arts teachers who are passionate about making a difference to today’s youth. Anyone can teach children to kick and punch, teaching life skills will position you as an educator in your community through teaching skills that can be used in everyday life character education program. Martial Arts training is the only activity perfectly positioned to integrate life skills, as martial arts simply serve’s as a vehicle to instill values and skills that children can put to use outside of the school. Skills like: Self-Confidence, Self-Control, and Positive Thinking; Listening Skills, Respect and Good Manners. The Ability to Focus Attention; Perseverance and Courage. The core stresses the vital importance of a healthy mind and body necessary to lead a productive life.

The Instructor hands out life skills themed educational material and home checklists to students in class. Parents place the checklist somewhere visible, refrigerator/notice board. Parents work together with children to complete checklist by providing guidance and support on completing activities and filling the checklist. Use a marker or smiley face sticker to indicate your child’s progress. The instructor delivers themed life skills messages in each class to develop students awareness of life skill and provide mental training. Parents reinforce the messages taught in class by having their children feedback the message and its meaning at home, helping to fill in the gaps of the child’s understanding. Parents complete checklist to say their child has demonstrated the required effort and conduct in and out of their martial arts school. Students hand checklist to their Instructor. The Instructor awards the child with a Martial Arts Hero Certificate.

Life skills are adaptive abilities to deal effectively with challenges and changing demands. They include decision-making, creative and critical thinking, stress management, interpersonal communication, and problem solving skills. Examples of practical life skills are: communicating with co-workers, financial management, self-care, maintaining health and wellness, employability, home maintenance, and managing family responsibilities.

As young students, we begin a life skills-based education in the foundational skills: reading, writing, telling time, math, creative thinking, and interacting with others effectively. However, we continue to learn and develop throughout our lives. As we become young men and women, experience and educational training help to teach the skills necessary to live a fulfilling and competent life. These skills will be necessary in all primary life areas. Many of the skills mentioned above will be essential throughout our lives. Some will be particularly important during various stages of life. Erik Erikson and Daniel Levinson identified a series of predictable life stages extending from our late teens to after retirement. These stages do not occur in a completely linear fashion. We cycle through portions of each stage throughout life; however, specific skills are dominant in each stage. The dominant skills will differ somewhat for each individual.