Northern River Karate School
Children's Curriculum
Ken says he loves to teach White Belt beginners because they will be black belts some day. He says it feels good to teach the movements you will do so well and so powerfully as a black belt.
The most important thing to learn as a white belt is how to be a good Karateka (a person who studies Karate). A good Karateka is a happy person who works hard, and is very careful not to harm others.
Study your handbook, practice for your next stripe, and be the best person you can be.
To get your Yellow Belt you have shown that you can do Sanchin and that you understand how to behave in the dojo. You have worked hard to learn Sanchin, and you have been careful not to hurt your partners in class.
Now you are ready to learn the next Kata, Kanshiwa Kata. This is one of Ken’s favorite kata and it has some powerful, dangerous fighting movements in it. It is very important that you make sure that you never use your Karate to harm another person.
If you need to use your Karate to protect yourself or another that is fine, but usually you can use your head to think of smarter ways to fix problems than having to hurt another person.
Any NRKS student who unnecessarily uses his or her Karate to hurt someone will be suspended from classes.
Blue Belts have been around for a while and are comfortable in the dojo. This is your chance to get down to the real work like the black belts do because there are not a lot of new movements to learn at this level. Black Belts spend most of their time not learning new stuff, but practicing old stuff. Some of the Black Belts in NRKS have been practising their Sanchin for longer than you’ve been alive!
Your goal is to do a much better test for your Red Belt than you did for your Blue Belt, and that means a very good Kanshiwa Kata and a very good Sanchin.
Blue Belts don’t have to be asked to work hard. They work hard from the minute they put their gi on to the minute they take it off. They come to classes regularly and on time, they do their schoolwork well, and they are happy, smart and trustworthy.
Jon Taylor, Blue Belt
Red Belts start work on the third kata in the curriculum, Kanshu Kata. This is a real badge of respect. At this level, young students begin to realize that the adults in the dojo genuinely respect their work.
Now you may find yourself partnering up with adults a bit more, and finding ways to use your skill and understanding to make up for the adults’ greater size and strength.
Each belt is darker than the one before, working your way to black. In the old days of Karate when it was practiced mainly by men, the ranks from white to brown were named “Kyu” ranks. Kyu means “boy.” The black belt ranks were named “Dan” ranks. Dan means “man.” Now many of the best Karateka are women and girls, so instead of “boy” and “man” we think “child” and “adult.”
The idea is that we are not just learning how to fight, we are growing up. After all, the most grown up person is always the best person at dealing with problems, like fights or anything else. Unfortunately, growing up does not occur automatically with getting older. That’s why we practice Karate
The next rank in the curriculum is Gokyu, (Green Belt), which is an adult rank.
Vedran Jelic, Purple Belt
"When changing position, you should move like a cat.
In performing the forms, you should be like the eagle which glides serenely on the wind, but which can swoop instantly to pluck a rabbit from the ground."
Wu Yu-Hsiang