Sifu Anne Vandrus
Youth Student’s Corner
In Kung Fu, everyone is responsible for different things. The Sifus are responsible for teaching your classes, and the assistant instructors are responsible for helping the Sifus teach. As students, you have more that you’re responsible for than just learning Kung Fu!
It can be easy to blame your parents if you show up late to class, or forget something at home, but as Kung Fu students, we practice taking responsibility for our own actions so that we can learn for next time. If you forgot your belt, that’s not your parents’ fault – because it’s YOUR belt that you are responsible for bringing. If you are late to class because you weren’t ready to go when your parents said it’s time to leave, then that’s not their fault either—because it’s YOUR job to be ready.
Why are these things important? Your Sifus want to help you become a more responsible person… If you show up late, you’re disrupting the rest of the class which isn’t fair to your classmates or Sifu. If you forget your equipment, you might not be able to participate in certain activities. If you don’t know your sign-in number, you won’t get credit for attending that class. If you can’t tie your own belt, you won’t be able to wear it. If you don’t practice, you won’t get better or you’ll just forget everything.
It’s a great idea to ask for help when you need it, and your parents can be super helpful, but if you always ask your parents to do these things for you, how are you ever going to learn how to do them? It might take longer when you take responsibility and do it yourself, but after a lot of practice it becomes easier (just like Kung Fu!!!).
Here’s a checklist of things that are YOUR job as responsible Kung Fu students:
- Be ready when it’s time to leave for class
- Tie my own belt
- Bring everything I need with me to class: uniform, belt, water bottle, sparring equipment, weapons (depending on rank)
- Remember my student ID number and type it into the sign-in computer myself
- Practice all the forms, sequences, and techniques that I’ve learned, at home between classes
- Ask questions if I don’t know or don’t understand something
What else can you add to your Responsibility Checklist for Kung Fu?
Can you make a Responsibility Checklist for school too?