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Fighting Back
Children in Martial Arts Save Lives
By Tenna Perry
<
IMG SRC="http://a1494.g.akamai.net/7/1494/5949/a7661d4eb21c7e/graphics.iparenting.com/attachedpics/karate3.jpg" width=261 height=272 align=right>"I always encourage the parents of my junior students to take the classes along with their children," Master Tomaselli says. "It provides quality time for the parent and child both in and outside the dojo (karate school). When the parent takes the class with the child, it encourages the child to see someone else struggling to perfect techniques, allows them to practice together at home and will often lead to the child sticking with the program.
"Last but not least, any parent who watches the news or reads a paper should know that children aren't the only ones who need to be able to defend themselves. After all, that is what the martial arts are all about. We don't teach a child to be aggressive, like so many would believe, but simply the art of self-defense. You can bet that for almost every carjacking, kidnapping, rape or murder, someone believed that it wouldn't happen to them. No one wants to be a victim, and while no single technique will work 100 percent of the time in every situation, isn't it better to at least have a fighting chance? To know that if danger does approach you, you will have some idea of how to avoid or survive it?"
