“… In regard to the benefits of Tae Kwon Do lessons, we have identified ten primary ones. Four of them are mental and six of them are physical. The mental benefits include helping each student improve in the areas of discipline, of respect for oneself and others, of focus or concentration, and of self confidence or self esteem. The physical benefits are improvement in flexibility, coordination, balance, stamina, body tone, and, of course, in the ability to defend or protect oneself. By working to become better in these ten areas, we believe that not only will our students become good martial artists, but they will become better people as well. Now, isn’t that one of the dreams of every parent for their children?”

“Yes, it definitely is a parent’s dream. My husband and I certainly want our son Joey to become a valuable and responsible addition to society when he grows up. We want him to become a well adjusted, productive adult, which is a major reason that we are even considering enrolling him in a martial arts program. Joey suffers from a lack of confidence, and, as such, doesn’t socialize enough with other kids. We want him to venture out and become more outgoing rather than being happy with staying home by himself.

“I have no doubt that we can help your son in these areas,” stated Master Carter. “Are there any other questions that I can answer for you?”

“I do have two more questions. First, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t want Joey to learn how to become overly aggressive or a bully. How does your program prevent that from happening? And secondly, since he is so shy, how will you be able to help him get over his lack of confidence?”

“In regard to your first question, I believe that our academy philosophy will answer it. Briefly, our philosophy is that we teach students these various Tae Kwon Do techniques for self defense… and self defense only. Any student, whether it is a child or an adult, a beginner or a black belt, who misuses his or her training, will not be allowed to continue taking classes with us. We will suspend that student. As such, in the case of children, should a child have some difficulties at school or at home, we teach the child to first seek out an adult, such as a teacher or parent, to help resolve the problem. Engaging in a physical confrontation should always be the last resort. We carefully explain this philosophy to each new student, and in the case of children, also to their parents, prior to that new student starting classes. Therefore, since every student is made aware of our policy from the very beginning, there is no excuse for a student to violate this rule and later claim ignorance. To date, we have never had to expel a student for misusing their martial arts training.”

“As to your son’s lack of self confidence, our program is a self paced one. We will teach Joey new techniques at a pace that he can handle…”