That’s been the theme of things lately… something happened and our birthday parties have gone nuts.  We started doing these a couple years back for students and didn’t really make a big deal of it.

Then suddenly we started getting non-students wanting to do parties here, usually because they had attended one for someone else.

Now a weekend without a party is a rarity, and often there are 2-3 in a weekend…

We’ve learnt a lot about what makes a great party, and we’ve delivered a lot of great parties, so here’s some things that make a party work.

Ice breakers.  These are important, not everyone is going to know each other.  Some kids are going to be shy and have trouble engaging with the group at first.  Our parties are very physical and we start each one with a big balloon battle as the kids are coming in.  By the time we get started everyone should hopefully be having fun and moving around.

Structure and organization are key, but it shouldn’t feel that way to the participants.  Down time is the enemy of anyone in charge of a group of excited kids.  If they have nothing to do, they find something to do and then getting the group back as a group becomes a task.  One thing should go to the next quickly and smoothly with pacing to match.  They can’t all be going 100% for a hour straight, they’ll burn out. And if anything goes on too long they will lose interest.  From the time they walk in the door to the time they get picked up, there should be something going on.  Little things matter too, for example when we do a piniata it happens before present opening, not after.  Why?  Because while the birthday kid is opening presents they have their loot to keep them occupied.

Something for everyone.  There are some kids that have a hard time with a big group, anxiety or shyness makes engaging with the group hard.  They might need to observe some parts, but some parts should be set up to get them involved.  Our big group games can be intimidating for a few, but often a one-on-one foam sword battle will get them in the ring.

Cool stuff matters.  Part of a great party is making it a special occasion for the birthday child.  Letting them do a little extra, having them battle all of their friends.  Having them cut their cake with a full sized sword.  Having them smash a piniata with a wooden sword (which they get to take home as a souvenir).  Having them demonstrate all the drills and games.  It’s their birthday, and their day to feel special and get the photo ops in.

If you want more information on our birthday parties visit this page: http://www.innovativema.ca/school-info/birthday-parties/

One thing I’ve noticed lately is a some parents want to give their kid a wide range of experiences.  Trying a little of everything to see what they like.  This is awesome, kids should experience as much as they can without getting overloaded.

But one thing to be careful of is skipping a very important experience, and that is seeing things through.  Learning what it takes to not just taste a skill, but to get good at it.

Whether it is music, dance, martial arts or pretty much anything.  Most people are, at some point, going to think about and possibly want to quit.

You start something, you get real excited about doing something new and it’s great… but pretty much everyone in anything is going to have a point where they want to stop.

It makes sense, we go through stages in learning.  And different people have a hard time with different stages.

For a lot of people, getting started in the first place is the hardest thing.  That first trip through the door.  If all you do is sample different activities you might get good at starting things, and that is a good skill to have.  But learning to coup with the other stages is just as important.

Once you get started you quickly realize how much you don’t know and how hard it all is at first.  (Conscious incompetence in the 4 stages of learning).  This is the second hurdle to get over.  Showing up and learning a skill, even when it is not going well.  We start playing a instrument with a vision of playing well, or start martial arts with a vision of being able to pull things off.  But it’s hard, it takes time, and in the beginning… everyone doesn’t know what they are doing.

If you can get past the second stage you get to where you know what you are doing, but it doesn’t yet come naturally.  You have to think about it and be deliberate.  (conscious competence) .  At this stage there is a lot of repetition, It’s not as much learning new things as it is making things you know instinct and second nature.   The repetition and frustration with making mistakes when your brain tells you that you know better can get the better of you here.

And finally, you get to where things flow.  Where you can pick up a instrument and freestyle, where you can wrestle and move well instinctively.  Where the real joy of the skill kicks in and creativity and the “art” side of it comes out.  At this stage, for those that make it.  Quitting is a lot less common, it becomes a part of you.

That is a experience worth having, taking a skill to the point of unconscious competence.  No one regrets getting to this stage, but a lot of people wish they had.  The number of people that will say they wished they had kept at playing guitar, or kept at martial arts, or stuck with painting is a very high number.  But finding someone that says “I wish I’d been able to quit years ago when I wanted to” is a lot harder.

A short introduction to something is a good experience, taking a skill to the point of unconscious competence, where it becomes instinct and creativity… that is a truly amazing experience and one worth more then any number of introduction to _____’s.  Give your kids the experience of “Mastery”, and the process of reaching it.  It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

It’s really basic stuff, but easy to forget. Teens need a place to belong, and something to belong too. And there is a period in there where it’s sometimes hard to fine. If they don’t find it in a productive and healthy place, it’s easy to find in a unhealthy place.

Kids hit a age where they feel they should be more independent then they are able too, where there is a gap in between being a “kid” and being able to work and gain independence. I think the best thing that can be done at this age is to keep them involved in something outside of school and to help them find a way to feel they bring value to something.

https://mosaicscience.com/story/iceland-prevent-teen-substance-abuse

It’s time to start thinking about them again, and what you want to do in the next year. I know there are a fair number of people that don’t believe in setting them, or believe they fail so why bother?

So here’s a couple things to consider:

Every business that does well sets annual goals. Why? Because goals work, but you have to do them right. If a business said “double sales this year” and that was it, they probably wouldn’t do well.

Goals need to be broken down, and a plan for reaching them set out. Their will be annual goals, quarterly goals, monthly goals and often weekly goals. As well as a plan that to get their, and regular check ins to change course if needed.

Personal goals are no different, if you want to lose 25lbs this year and that’s all you set as your goal… well come December 2017 you may realize you need to lose 30 more to reach your goal…

Instead break it down, that’s 2 lbs a month (far more manageable) or 1 lbs every 2 weeks (even more manageable). And mark that in your calendar. Start with your current weight, and then every 2 weeks for the next 3 months fill in your goal.

If you miss a 2-week mark, concentrate efforts and hit the next marker. If it is measured and monitored it will get done.

Next you need a plan, it’s great to want to reach a goal, but without a plan it’s not going to happen. Think of a plan like a map. Look at where you are, then where you want to go and then you can map out a path on how to get there. Every now and then pull out the map, make sure you are still on course, if not figure out where you are and plot a new course.

So set the goals, break them down, write out the plan and then track them. When they don’t work it’s most often because we didn’t do those things.

As far as I know we are currently the only martial arts school to break kids classes into as many age groups as we do.  A lot of schools seem to run a kids group and an adult group.  A decent number of them split the kids into 2 groups and a small handful go with 3 age groups.

We do 4, and would not want to go back to fewer again. Grouping kids in big age groups like 3-6 year olds is crazy IMO, you can’t put a 3 year old who is still a year or 2 away from kindergarten and put them in the same class and teach the same way with a grade 1 student.  The younger ones will get frustrated
because it’s not age appropriate and the older ones will get bored for the same reasons.

Kids and Martial Arts go together, at pretty much any age.  But it needs to be structured in a way that is appropriate for that age group.

Our kids groups are 3-4 year olds, 5-7 year olds, 8-10 year olds and 11-14 year olds.  And within those different age groups we teac
h different curriculum.  Well, it’s the same curriculum, but it is taught in different ways and structured for the age group.  A take down for a 3-4 year old, even the same takedown, should be taught, trained and drilled very different for that 3-4 year old then a teen or adult should be doing.

One thing to remember is that most of the “big” styles where brought back by soldiers from overseas.  A lot of the training methods where designed to teach soldiers.  When we hear instructors saying they can’t teach young kids martial arts thats why, they are trying to teach them in a way that doesn’t make sense for their age.

We enjoy all of our age groups, and the progress made at all ages is amazing.

For more information on our kids programs please check this page:  http://www.innovativema.ca/kids-programs/