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What makes S A Gorei Karate highly recommended for children of all ages.
Karate as an international sport knows no boundaries and as such is contributing to friendship and harmony among nations. As a sport, karate distinguishes itself as a form of discipline and maturity. The emotional, social and intellectual development of participants runs parallel to the physical achievements of the karateka. As a constructive and systematic sport, karate develops the intelligence and the emotional well-being of the karateka. Although the concept of intelligence is very wide, it is certain that the basis of intelligence is perceptual-motor, as it is through our senses that we discover knowledge. As a perceptual-motor activity, karate can also be an aid to children with physical and or learning disabilities. To illustrate this concept, one must look at some important perceptual-motor functions and there bearing on scholastic achievements.
Discipline: This concept is a major aspect of karate teaching. Children entering school for the first time often have a hard time waiting for their turn to speak and having to wait before using school equipment. Karate reinforces this non-threatening form of discipline.
Balance: This concept is not only a first principle in karate, but a very important aspect of childhood development. A child who has a problem with balance when entering primary school will probably develop some sort of learning disability.
Mid line: The child ,who, because of a balance problem, is unsure of body mid line, will normally have problems with left-right orientation, which is crucial in school to aid both reading and writing skills. Children who are unable to cross the mid line also find difficulty with understanding crucial maths concepts.
Lateral Dominance: It is surprising that nowadays there are still a large number of children and adults who are not sure with which hand to write. A child with this problem will often reverse numbers and words and develop illegible handwriting. In the various karate techniques, the child will soon internalise the concept of left and right and find out their stronger side.
Body Image: The child not only discovers the workings of there own body parts, but transfers this knowledge onto the body of their opponent. This is an important milestone in spatial orientation, which affects all their written work.
Gross Motor Co-ordination: The various, often complicated movements that the karateka has to master cannot take place without excellent body control. The immediate effects of these activities is motor strength, but on a higher level they effect body posture (self-image ), and form a gateway to many other perceptual-motor, as well as conceptual achievements.
Fine Motor Control: Through the discovery of his/her dominant (strong) side, the karateka strengthen their hand muscles, which in turn lead to better handwriting and writing endurance (N.B. At school, pupils are judged mostly on their written work).
Spatial orientation & Directionality: A majority of learning problems can be ascribed to dysfunctions in this area. Mathematics is not only a spatial science but also requires perceptive agility in reading and writing. A child with a spatial problem has difficulty distinguishing p, b and d. Reversals in reading and writing become common. In this area karate techniques are of the utmost value. One should try to visualise techniques such as the complicated karate katas, to understand the extent to which spatial concepts must be mastered. Perceptual-motor activity in karate does not remain on the perceptual level only: perception is just the first stage to conceptual (intellectual) development. Moreover, there are many emotional parallels that can be drawn, e.g. a person that is well-balanced; a person who is disorientated ; a person who has no direction in life.
In summary : S A Gorei Karate develops the whole person through play, discipline, respect and discovering oneself in one’s opponent and as such will lead to happier and better adjusted individuals
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