How will Nate Belcher's Fitness Academy help my 4 – 5 year old child?

The Tiny Tiger program is designed specifically for pre-school aged children between the ages of 4 and 5. This program offers children a strong foundation in essential character qualities such as courtesy, respect, and discipline. In addition, the program is designed to improve a child’s motor skills and enhance their ability to follow directions. All classes are taught by nationally certified instructors using the most effective, fun, and exciting instruction methods available for this age group.

The Tiny Tigers in our program are individuals. No child is allowed to become a bench sitter. Your child’s personal progress is as important to us, as it is to you. We will do everything possible to make sure that your child fully participates in the program.

Our classes are safe, specialized programs designed exclusively for children. Your child will workout with kids his or her own age and size under well-supervised conditions.As a nationally recognized organization, our instructors receive ongoing training in the latest motivation and teaching systems for kids like yours. Due to this teaching system, one of the first improvements you will notice in your child is an increased level of self-confidence and self-esteem.

Having the confidence to take on new and unknown challenges are all important lessons that a child must learn. This program is designed to help prepare them for the preliminary martial art of Kuk Sool training. The students in this program learn the fundamental skills necessary to efficiently and effectively participate in the martial art of Kuk Sool. We provide age-specific programs that target their stages of development and maximize his or her learning and growing potential. This program also reinforces values and good learning habits that the child is taught at home and in school. This provides the child with an early exposure to positive social interaction. The sooner a child is exposed to an educational system or method that cultivates their physical, intellectual, emotional and social stages of development, the greater his or her chances of becoming well rounded at an earlier stage. At this age they become more aware of what they physically can do with their bodies. They are learning how to make friends, how to deal with their felling and emotions.

Deficiency in a child’s physical skills can have a major effect on a his or her self-concept. The development of skills in one area will ultimately affect development in other areas. Learning, remembering, planning, and organizing are complicated skills that occur at different rates in children of this age group, but are often overlooked by most martial art instructors.

Here at the martial art school we identify, influence and strengthened these skills. Emotionally we try to develop more of an independence child by being sensitive to their feelings and focusing on positive support. By exposing them to a rich positive social environment, the child will begin to establish trust with his/her teachers and mentors, and truth for their peers, thereby learning how to interact with others in a manner that fosters their character and personality.

How will Nate Belcher Fitness Academy help to motivate my child?

Golden Star Award

To earn a golden star award, students must be on their best behavior. We define this good behavior as having a Black Belt Attitude. Students may also obtain an award by accomplishing the following tasks:

1. If the student practices at home for 20 minutes, the parent may bring in a note for them to earn a golden star award.
2. If the student demonstrates the “word of the month” either at home or at the school, they will earn a golden star award.

Only 2 notes per month may be redeemed from the parents. If a student earns 10 golden star awards, they can redeem them to receive a special prize. Only instructors may give out the golden star awards.

Word of the Month

We strongly feel that our classes improve the lives of our students by reinforcing positive behavior. To effectively reinforce positive behavior requires that we supply our students with the type of values and behaviors that we wish to emphasize. The monthly themes or what we call the Word of the Month supplies us with an opportunity to both visually and verbally reinforce positive behaviors and values. The main purpose of the Word of the Month is to assist in the development of a student’s character

Colored Stripes on Students Belt

Nate Belcher Fitness – Kuk Sool School has devised a four stripe colored tape system for all the students. Each color stripe represents a different category of the martial arts.

Purple – Forms (Pre-Arranged Movement)	Orange – Falling Techniques
Black – Foot and Hand Techniques	Green - Self Defense Techniques

The four stripe system allows the students the opportunity to track their advancement. The system is set up to reward students for achieving their goals. When a student achieves the goal of proficiency in one of the categories, they are rewarded with the colored stripe that represents that category. Being able to achieve short term goals increases and maintains a student’s motivation. The colored stripes on the belt also allow the instructors and parents a visual guide to the performance level their students or child currently possess.

Rank Testing

Rank testing will be held for the children at the Growing Minds Learning Center. A notice will be sent home to you when your child is ready for advancement. The cost for rank testing for all under black belts is $15.00 per test.

What would a typical class at Nate Belcher's Fitness Academy consist of?

• Warm-ups – designed to warm and loosen the muscles of the body and the spine so as to reduce the chance of pulled muscles and sprained joints.
• Ki Cho Jaki – Breathing exercises – designed to teach the student proper breathing techniques to coordinate with proper body movement.
• Soo Ki – Punching and striking techniques.
• Jok Sool – Kicking techniques.
• Hyung – Prearranged forms used to stimulate inner power, train the joints and teach applications of techniques.
• Nak-Bub – Falling Techniques – the practice of a safe means of falling so as to prevent injury in practice and during a selfdefense situation.
• Self-Defense
• Sparring – the practice and study of footwork, timing and strategy in a self-defense situation.

How will Nate Belcher Fitness Academy help my 6 – 8 year old child?

The Lil Dragons:

At age 6-8 children go through distinct stages in their development; physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually. They are just being to spread their wing and experiencing many wonderful things for the first time. As martial art educators we can greatly enhance their childhood, and make a tremendous impact on their present and future life. Physical growth in this age group is slow but steady; they have gain control of their major muscles which allows them to develop basic skills such as balance, control and coordination. They also enjoy testing their muscles strength and skills along with running skipping, jumping, tumbling, and even dance to name a few. This is a perfect time to teach them fitness skills. Balance wise they are able to stand on one foot, walk on a balance beam, focus to catch small balls, their eye-hand coordination is also good at this time. With this age group our main focus is on the 9 basic fundamental skills (focus, control, coordination, memory, total body fitness, teamwork, balance, discipline, coordination between hand, foot and eye):

Focus
The main purpose of this curriculum is to teach to focus their mind and body, such as in the beginner level keeping their eyes on the target whether it be static or mobile. In the intermediate level the student must not just focus on the target but at the same time focus on each of their techniques kick or hand strike while hitting a target. And in the Advanced level the child is execute techniques where the child takes his/her eyes off the target momentarily for a second and then reacquiring the target again with the same focus on techniques such as in spinning kicks.

Teamwork
This part of the curriculum is to teach the child, how to work and cooperate with other on various tasks. The beginner level introduces the child to good working habits with other people. In the intermediate level they learn to work or perform together in teams. In the advanced level teaches the child how to train with others while following the rules and maintaining good sportsmanship.

Control
The purpose of this curriculum is to teach the child how to have control of their mind and body. In the beginner level the child is taught to have control over their mind and body by responding quickly to commands while in motion and the practice of blocking drills. The intermediate level introduces the child to having control of their body and mind when they are kicking and punching toward each other and the blocking of a kick or punch thrown at their person. The advance level teaches the child how to have control of the strength when practicing their joint locking techniques.

Memory
The purpose in this part of the curriculum is to get the child familiar with remembering the basic martial art techniques and how to perform the techniques correctly to the best of their ability. In the beginner level the child is introduce to the names and the mechanics of the basic strikes, blocks, kicks, and stances. Then the child is asked to perform random combination at the intermediate level to test and strength his/her memory. And at the advanced level the child is required to perform prearranged structured martial art self-defense techniques and form (coordinated body movement in a defenses and offense manner).

Discipline
The purpose of the discipline curriculum is to positively reinforce the importance of following rules, maintaining good behavior, and performing at high standards.

Fitness
The purpose of the fitness curriculum is to expose the child to exercises and activities that build strength and cardiovascular endurance.

Coordination
The purpose of the coordination curriculum is to teach the child their left from right and how to perform multiple physical tasks while maintaining good technique. The beginner level introduces the student to basic coordination of jumping and moving in rhythm. The intermediate level teaches the child how to perform various combinations using both their left and right hands and feet. The advanced level challenges the child to perform various techniques without loosing coordination.

Our martial art classes at Nate Belcher Fitness – Kuk Sool School are a great way for your child to release that extra energy in a Safe, Fun, and Constructive way. It’s no surprise to our highly trained staff that more and more teachers, principles, and doctors are recommending martial arts training for children. If your child has boundless energy, try our martial art school. We will channel that energy in a positive way while teaching personal life skills such as self-discipline, respect, and courtesy. All classes are taught by nationally certified instructors using the most effective, fun, and exciting instruction methods available for this age group.

As a nationally recognized organization, our instructors receive ongoing training in the latest motivation and teaching systems for kids like yours. Due to this teaching system, one of the first improvements you will notice in your child is an increased level of self-confidence and self-esteem.

It’s no secret that Martial Arts training builds stronger bodies, develops motor skills and teaches self-defense. But, did you know, students of this age who study Martial Arts also tend to do better in school. Students enrolled in structured martial arts classes where they learn goal setting and how to focus, develop self-confidence and increase their self-esteem. They get better grades and perform better in school sponsored activities. Martial Arts teaches more than just punching and kicking. We teach life skills, Goal setting, courtesy, respect, perseverance and an “I-Can”, Attitude are all parts of our curriculum.

The martial art, Kuk Sool, is good clean fun for children and a great way to give children a head start in life. The philosophy is one of humility and integrity with the development of mental and physical skills leading to the harmony of body and mind. Besides its physical benefits, it also builds character and promotes social skills and concepts such as team work. Although Kuk Sool practice is challenging, it involves using the child's owns cognitive and physical resources as well as the resources around them. Kuk Sool participation imposes structure and a set routine on children, with freedom within this structure providing a springboard for creative thinking. At the same time it is success-oriented. It teaches the child to deal with the anxiety that precedes new adventures, to cope with the uncertainty, and to survive with increased confidence and a more positive self-concept. They also learn how to win graciously and to lose without shame, knowing that they did their best. This encourages a sense of commitment and instills an interest in achieving excellence. This program is flexible and can be adapted according to an individual's or group's skill and mental level, size, creativity, emotions, and social or physical make-up.

Kuk Sool provides a multitude of stimulating activities so that the child has an opportunity to develop and exercise behavior both in areas for which he/she has strong predisposition, and in areas where he/she may be less gifted. The emphasis of the children's class is cooperation and cohesion, not competition, which increases a student's ability to receive and give support and encouragement, solve problems and make responsible decisions. All of these factors serve to increase the child's awareness of himself and his environment. A child is constantly re-thinking and re-constructing his understanding of himself and his world. Self-improvement is not measured in relation to others but according to ones own potential capabilities.

Children's classes are based on respect, good manners, and the development of mental skills and discipline to produce not just skilled young martial artists, but high achieving, valuable members of our society. Once the student has learned respect and honesty, he/she will have the self-discipline necessary for self-defense and daily life.

Our programs are:

• Age-specific.
• Designed to build gross motor skills.
• Designed to work on the 9 basic fundamental skills:

1. Focus
2. Control
3. Memory
4. Fitness/Total Body training
5. Basic Motor Skills
6. Teamwork
7. Balance/ Proprioception
8. Discipline
9. Coordination between Hand, Foot and Eye

Please know that your child is getting the best, most effective training available.

Our staff members at the Nate Belcher's Fitness Academy  are highly trained and motivated