The mission here at NW Austin ATA Martial Arts is to develop leadership in our students in all aspects of their lives - home, school, work, and the community.  We support this through instruction of the six core character development traits seen below.  

In our classes, students are exposed to age-appropriate discussion, drills, and reflection on how each trait applies to themselves, others, the community, and ultimately the world.  

• Discipline 

• Belief

• Communication

• Respect

• Self Esteem

• Honesty

Much of what we are doing at NW Austin ATA resembles the curriculum in social and emotional learning educators are implementing in schools, with the added bonus of we get to work with students over the course of many years.  Developing and maintaining a long-term relationship with students is a key component of social emotional learning programs, and this aspect of those programs is more difficult in the traditional school setting.

We have students who are now 10 years old, who started training at the age of 3 & 4 years old.  I often continue to train them through the end of their high school career, and into college and young adulthood.  It is a great advantage for martial arts students to have the additional mentorship relationships developed in martial arts training to help support the work of their parents and families.

We develop strong athletes in our programs.  Aside from the obvious physical material, we start and end each class with an oath, to remind students of the principles and values that are the backbone of their training.  These life skills are intertwined into the entire class and incorporated into our physical drills, which reinforces the concepts and provides deeper understanding.  

Just as students learn to set SMART goals, practice and train to accomplish physical martial arts achievements like board breaks, belt ranks, and fitness goals; they also do the same with our life skills.   Every skill takes practice to nurture and grow.  

Over time, our students become more confident in themselves and in society.  Increased confidence often results in less need to prove themselves to anybody.  Martial arts students are less likely to get into fights (less aggression).  Although we teach and train a fighting art, it results in less inclination to actually participate in physical altercations.

Martial Arts Students also get bullied significantly less than their peers - and this effect grows with the length of time a student has trained in martial arts.  This is a serious topic in todays schools, and one that will be discussed more thoroughly in a future blog post.

I hope this article helps you to understand how we at Northwest Austin ATA Martial Arts support the healthy social and emotional growth of our students.