Black Belt By College? Start In or Before Middle School!

June 13, 2012 - PRLog -- The time to start thinking about college is Middle School.  Beginning in 9th grade, every grade is part of the high school transcript and GPA that affects college admissions.  Many families understand the competitive nature of the best schools.  Children are encouraged to perform their best academically and build their resume to be ready for this.

Imagine getting your child off to college.  You got through four years of a push for academic excellence and resume-building.  You helped your child build their resume. You got them through the SAT, the whole admissions process, and they were accepted to a college that makes them proud (and you proud) of their accomplishment.

Then you see something on the news.  A college co-ed has gone missing.  Suddenly for the first time, you ponder your daughter or son on that college campus late at night.  You ponder them walking from the library to their dorm room in the dark.  For the first time you really worry about their safety.  

If that is the first time you think about wishing your child was a Black Belt in some real-world martial art, it is too late to do something about that.  You can do the normal things: Tell her to never walk alone (and hope she can always find a friend or a security guard to walk with her).  You can warn him to stay out of the way of any possible trouble.  

Basically, what you’ve got is “hiding behaviors.”  It might put you at ease a little, but every time you see something on the news, you’ll worry.  That’s just part of being a parent.  One of your biggest worries will be what happens when your child can’t hide.

Middle School is the time to be thinking about martial arts training.  At the Guardian Academy of Martial Arts, there are two paths to Black Belt.  You can train for four years and do the Leader Program (which mostly involves books and audios).  You can trade out two more years of training for the Leader Program and earn a Black Belt in six years instead of four.

The Guardian Martial Arts is an oddity in modern martial arts.  It has two seemingly contradictory aspects to it.  First, it is taught in a steady, safe way.  Rarely do students get injured.  Follow the rules, and you will almost certainly reach Black Belt without getting hurt.  Second, it works in real self-defense.  That’s been proven 29 times.

How is that possible?  The popular conception is that you EITHER train safely in a traditional manner, OR you get good at real fighting.  To be good at really fighting off a criminal, the popular idea is that you have train hard core.  People think you have to go all-out, really hit, really get hit… you know… be the “tough guy” or the “tough chick.”

It is possible to train safe to be safe. Master Scot Conway developed an “innovative” system of training.  Why the quotes?  Because his “new” system of training is actually based upon the ancient masters of martial arts.  

In ancient days, they did not have rings, mats, safety gear, and all the training aids we have today.  Also in ancient days, martial arts that really worked were a must.  Your life could depend upon it.  Certainly they had to be more prepared than any of us in modern civilian life today.

In ancient days, it made no sense to risk injury to gain skill.  Without knowing when you might have to fight, you had to do your best to be healthy and uninjured all the time.  Simple logic dictates that they had to have a safe way to learn real combat skill.  That’s what Conway tapped into to develop his training system.

Master Conway also considered something he saw as he came up the ranks “old school.”  Many students in the old hard-core training style got injured training.  Some got injured so badly that they could no longer train.  In his years, he saw broken bones, students knocked out, torn muscles, and more.

He pondered a chain of simple questions.  Why do people learn self-defense?  To keep from being beat up by a criminal.  So why would someone want to GET beat up to learn how to not get beat up?  Isn’t the goal to “not get beat up”?

Why do people do fitness programs?  To get fit.  So why would someone want to do something that so often results in injury in an effort to be fit?  Doesn’t injury destroy the ability to stay fit?  Doesn’t training in a way that breaks down the body over time damage life-long fitness in pursuit of immediate fitness?

Conway went to work on a solution.  Armed with a Ph.D. in Physical Education and master-ranks in martial arts, Conway crafted his answer.  The Guardian Martial Arts is his solution.

In the Guardian Martial Arts, as in most martial arts, you start with a white belt.  Conway says, “Learn at least one thing.  If you learn one thing, you had a successful class.”  It is a steady progression of knowledge and skill.

The goal, he says, is improvement.  You progress steadily so your body has time to adapt.  You get better.  Conway says, “Better is good.  Better is winning.”  The goal is not to become so tough that you can beat anyone training in any martial art.  You’re steadily shifting the odds in your favor against typical street violence.

To many, his system seems counter-intuitive.  They think you have to push it hard (and risk getting hurt).  They think you have to get hit so you learn to “take a hit.”  They think that getting beat up and beating people up is part of training.  Conway thinks differently.  He thinks differently having trained that way!

In 23 years, Conway’s students have been targeting by violent criminal and bullies 29 times.  In each situation, his student successfully defended herself or himself (or an innocent bystander!) every single time.  The attackers have included low-violence bullies, and they were defeated with an appropriate level of force.  Attackers have included high-violence criminals, and they were likewise defeated with a level of force appropriate to the attack.  Some of those criminals were immobilized and taken away by the police.

It takes four to six years to earn a Black Belt from Conway.  If you’re looking for your daughter or your son to earn such a rank from him before college, enroll your child in or before Middle School.

Consider the power of training with your child, too.  Parents and children working together produce exceptional results.  Siblings often train together as well.

Even more powerful for Middle School age is to encourage your child to enroll with friends.  Talk to other parents about it.  If your child trains with friends, chances of solid training all the way through Black Belt are much better.

Do not interrupt training.  Obviously if it takes four solid years of training and you take every summer off, it will take much longer to earn that belt and have that skill.  When boys and girls start dating, there is a tendency to drop training, too.  It’s two or three nights a week.  Just make it part of the normal routine.

When the parent of a Black Belt away at college sees a news item about a missing co-ed or violence on a college campus, it’s different.  You may still worry (every parent does), but you will also know that of all the kids on that campus, your child is one of the most safe.

A child’s Black Belt is partly about the child really being ready to protect herself or himself.  The college kid’s Black Belt, as much as anything, is for the parent’s peace of mind.  It’s so you, as the parent, can feel more comfortable that your child can be safe even if something dangerous happens.

The Guardian Academy is located at 2782-E Sweetwater Springs Blvd., Spring Valley, CA 91977.  (619) 582-8770.  Info@GuardianAcademy.com. http://www.GuardianAcademy.com, http://www.XianGuardian.com, http://www.SweetwaterSpringsMartialArts.com.

In Summer, 2012, the Guardian Academy is running a $69 - 6 week try-out special that includes a free uniform.  Normal memberships range from $60/month to $200/month.