Parent’s Corner
by Sifu Veronica Sas
Fu For You Fall 2025
In my last newsletter article, What Are We Teaching Your Child? Part 1, I discussed the different ways in which Kung fu helps your child grow. This article will cover responsibility and self-confidence.
Responsibility
Instructors at the Waterloo Kung Fu Academy expect their Youth and Junior Students to take responsibility for themselves. Many children expect their parents to do everything for them, so this is a great way to teach them how to be responsible and self-reliant in all aspects of their life. For Kung Fu, this includes things like practicing at home, getting to class on time, having their belt or sash and all necessary equipment with them. It is important to try and let your child remember things for themselves, but little reminders never hurt.
Things like getting to class on time (or early) and remembering their belt/sash are your child’s responsibilities, and they might receive pushups in class if they are not met. Your child is also responsible for practicing at home. This helps with remembering new skills and improving old skills. If your child wishes to grade soon, this is one of the requirements for grading. Our Youth and Junior students receive a grading letter when they are ready for their next rank and one of the boxes that need to be checked states that your child is practicing at home. This can be a great motivation to get your child to practice and is the best way to improve their Kung Fu.
Self-confidence
Some people are naturally more confident than others. Some thrive with being the center of attention while others shy away from it. At the Waterloo Kung Fu Academy, instructors strive to build your child’s self-confidence, making them more confident both in themselves and what they are capable of doing. One way that instructors try to grow a student’s self-confidence is when your child is preparing to grade. The first requirement is to test for their form stripe and that might require them to perform their current forms alone, in front of the entire class. Also, when preparing for a grading, students wishing to grade might be asked to come on the floor to perform a form or sequence while the rest of the class watches. All this is to help build their self-confidence, so that on grading day, they will be more confident and hopefully a little less nervous.
Another great way to help build your child’s confidence is having them compete in our Spring Invitational Tournament. Competing in front of judges and against fellow students is scary, but if your child can manage it, they should become more confident in their skills. Building self-confidence in your child’s martial art ability will also help them build self-confidence in other aspects of life. Hopefully your child will realize that they can do things they never thought they could, it just might take a little bit of effort.
Note from Sibok Lloyd: Children should carry their own equipment bags to and from the car. If Sigung Bob saw parents carrying equipment bags, he used to stop the parents and insist that they give the bag to their child, regardless of their age. Just one more thing that instills a sense of responsibility in younger students.
