To Quit or Not to Quit

I recently came across an article Shihan wrote for the 5 Towns Jewish Times. I thought it was important and informative and so I’d like to share it with you.

Question:

My 9 year old son started karate classes and in a short period of time I have already noticed a vast improvement in his concentration and his ability to focus. My son now wants to quit. I am very disappointed as I also wanted to quit a sport as a kid on a few occasions in the past, but am very glad that I persevered. Do I allow him to quit?

Reply:

If you are of the opinion that this is a temporary phase that your child is going through you should delay your child quitting karate. It is not uncommon for students to become temporarily discouraged when they have to meet the challenge of the increased focus, discipline and concentration required in order to learn new skills to acquire a higher belt ranking. Karate provides a systematic method for students to acquire the ability to meet these challenges and if you are able to encourage and motivate your child to persevere, not only will your child benefit physically and mentally, but you will be instilling the following valuable life lessons in your child:

1    the importance of setting goals and meeting them. To do this, encourage your child to carry on karate until he attains the next rank. This will motivate your child to achieve a goal and if he still wishes to quit once he has attained the next rank, he will be quitting at a point when he is confident and has a sense of achievement;

2    to be committed to see tasks through;

3    to not quit when he is not winning;

4    patience to accomplish goals;

5    an abililty to believe in himself and to turn an achievement into a reality.

These life lessons will benefit your child in the future whether it is to meet the challenge of obtaining a higher rank belt or to pursue an academic achievement, or generally, to overcome a difficult challenge in life.

Oss,