New "When Parents Aren't Around" Seminar (diary entry)

11.06.2023 Clubb Chimera Martial Arts were honoured to be Kuroten Practical Karate's first open seminar guests. I was booked to teach a children's self-protection and adult martial arts cross double event in Wivenhoe, Colchester. My new "When Parents Aren't Around" model was very kindly launched through Athena School of Karate to coincide with the release of the associated book in paperback form. Unlike previous iterations of the seminar, these events are more closely linked to the text of the new edition of the book and include readings from relevant chapters. The lesson began with an extended "warm-up" where children were made to be more mindful about how they walked and moved. We then layered on reaction drills, beginning with accessing exits and then developed this into better strategic escaping. They sprawled to defend lowline takedowns, tackles or being picked up, used hand strikes from neutral walking positions and covered. Next we introduced obstacles in the form of other people with these increasing in difficulty as continued to work harder on agility skills. After a break I read an excerpt from the book's special chapter on awareness, which was followed up with questions and answers/discussion on states of awareness and understanding context. Physical training was finished with build-up tig and predator versus prey games, all of which were discussed and improved with repeated attempts. We then had another book excerpt as the fence and the importance of boundary setting (a subject raised in the predator versus prey game) were covered in theory. This was followed handling the aftermath of an incident and how to train with one's parents. I received very good feedback from the parents who attended. Kuroten Practical Karate had already done a huge amount of foundational work with the children and I regularly pleasantly surprised by the knowledge on display. https://clubbchimera.com/services/