Childrens Martial Arts Curriculum

Wing Chun Kung Fu Martial Arts Children’s Curriculum

Children Curriculum

The Children’s training Curriculum is broken down into student phases in the same way as our adult Programmes, these define the progression of the children and help to demonstrate the knowledge and Experience that they have gained. The classes are there to build skills that are practical and realistic when applied to real life situations, however we understand that Children learn best when they are having fun and are enjoying themselves. We start with introducing the children to our Martial Arts classes in no different way than when a new child starts and first walk through the doors of the classroom, We allow them to be themselves and when they feel comfortable and have started on there journey we then start to shape them into young Martial Arts Students.

The first phase of the children cover grades, White Sash through to Red Sash and is all about Learning how to work together and the understanding of how to use there arms and legs in a controlled manor, how to respect there friends and peers in the classroom environment, Children already know how to punch and Kick so we take these movements and put them in a structured way so they can begin to learn from.

Wing Chun Kung Fu is predominantly a self defence system, a martial art to improve and develop us as people/Individuals, Unlike our Adult Programme which start straight away with the Physical elements of a confrontation this is not our belief with our Children.

Within the Children’s classes we focus very much on there life skills rather than the Physical Elements (80%-20% Little Dragons / 50% – 50% Junior Warriors) and developing them as young individuals who will succeed in life, At home, At school and of course into there young adult life.

Self Defence (The Understanding of being Bullied and dealing with it) Character education (Being a great individual in life) Peer to Peer development (Working as part of a Team and helping others) These traits and many more are what we believe our children should be developing, not just how to punch and kick a pad or in a sense how to hit someone unnecessarily.

In The Children’s second phase (Green/Red Sash Through to Blue Sash) we introduce the Physical Wing Chun System to them, this is held until the Second Phase due to the complexities of the System and the lack of fun that children need to learn, once we have there attention and basic ability to train in a class this is easier to now teach to them.

The third phase for the Children (Brown/Blue Sash through to Black Sash) is a progression of the Wing Chun System for them and is classed as intermediate juniors, whilst working through these programmes we are educating them on how to become senior/Advanced children working towards there Black Sash. By this stage they will have a great foundation in the Wing Chun System and for some is the stepping stone to moving into our Adult classes.

Our Children Classes are structured in the following way and we aim to include these core sections within each class;

Children Prep Zone: This is an area of the class room where the children warm them selves up and get together as a team to get organised and ready for a great class, This will be lead by either a Leadership student or the most senior student and they will run through what they had learnt in the last lesson and make sure to be fully ready and focused for the upcoming class.

  1. Class Opening: The Children will start in class Lines so the instructor can introduce them to what they will be doing in this weeks classes, All children will then work through our schools Student creed (Can be found on the Junior Warrior or Little Dragons page).
  2. Warm Up: Once all Children are organised and ready to go the instructor will run through a class warm up, this will vary each week so the children learn different ways to get themselves ready for exercise, Breathing and Stretching exercises will also be included.
  3. Drills For Skills: This is where the children work on Specific parts of there curriculum drilling the movements from there last class as well as understanding how the Word of the Week accompanies these drills.
  4. Mat Chat: The children will in some format discuss and demonstrate the Life skills, Word of the Week, Leadership traits and much more in this element of the class, how there Martial Arts training should be developed and implemented into there Home Life, School Life and Kung Fu Classes.
  5. Main Curriculum: This element of the class is where the main body of material is taught, this will be from the Phase Curriculum that can be found on the Junior warrior page or the Little Dragon Page, This material will be used in the next class Drills for Skills element so to see constant improvement.
  6. Weapons Training (Black Belt Classes only): This section of the class is where children who are on the Black Belt course work through the material required with there Weapons Training.

CHILDREN COURSES AND GRADING CURRICULUM

PLEASE NOTE our grading system is NOT a test, A test is something that you fail or pass and this is not what Wing Chun is about, Our Grading system is a Mark of improvement and for the Children a VERY important part of there Martial Arts Training, Children love to demonstrate back to there parents what they have learnt and how they have improved and is also a great way for the parents to see great value in the investment of Martial Arts training. This also helps younger children/Students identify where they are placed in a Martial Arts School and feel a great sense of acheievement with the younger grade students, This achievement should not be taken away from children on there Martial Arts Journey.

Basic Course Overview

Wing Chun Kung Fu Basic Course is as it says, its a basic method for new students to try our classes and introduce them selves to Martial Arts, It gives the parents an opportunity to see how the children are when they first start and that the children are going to show commitment to there classes and training, As with all of our courses there is no pressure or obligation to carry on however we understand that Parents like to test the water first, The Basic course is for this purpose only and was never put in place to give the Children the understanding that this is what Martial Arts is about.

The classes will be slow paced and kept to a minimum with the material that is covered so not to overload the new Children with to much information, it is just enough to help the new student get started and see if setting the goal for there Black Belt is something that they wish to do, The following grading material is by no means a fixed curriculum to be stuck to, it is a guide for you only and the instructor has flexibility to change this if he/She feel its appropriate.

Grade 1 Preliminary (White Sash)

As Crazy as this may seem the White sash is awarded to every child at the end of there very first class!

The hardest step for all children is taking that first one, Martial Arts is all about motivating, inspiring, energizing and overall developing your children, The sense of Achievement that a child gains by wearing this very first belt has far greater value to them than not, it sets them there very first goal to work towards Grade 2, Yellow Sash/White Yellow Sash.

Material That they will have for this is as follows and will be reinforced with in the first 8 weeks of training:

  1. Enter: How to Enter the classroom and Great other students, This is the Bow in and pay respects
  2. Stances: These include the student Set Position, Locked Up Position.
  3. Children Basic Stances: The Guard Stance and Horse stance.
  4. Hand Movements: The Star Block Set, The Jab and The Cross.
  5. Body Movements: The Bob and Weave Combination.
  6. Leg Movements: The Front Kick and Round Kick.

Grade 1 (Yellow Sash/White Yellow Sash)

Basic Striking

  1. Jab, Cross, Hook, Upper Cut and Bob Weave
  2. Front Kick
  3. Round Kick
  4. Side Kick
  5. Back Kick
  6. Kick Boxing Form

Grade 2 (Yellow Stripe-Red Sash/Orange Stripe/White Sash)

Flight Training

  1. Pop Up front Kicks
  2. Pop Up round Kicks
  3. Pop Up Side Kicks
  4. Jumping Front Kicks
  5. Jumping Round Kicks
  6. Flying Kick

Grade 3 (Red Yellow Sash/White Orange Sash)

Partner Training

  1. Footwork including Forward Step, Back Step and Side Steps
  2. Half Step Forwards and Half Step Backwards
  3. Replacement Step forward and Backwards
  4. The Covers Form which includes Head Covers, Picks, Body Covers and Leg Covers
  5. Pad work
  6. Pad work Following.

Grade 4 (Red Sash/Red Stripe White Sash)

Self Defence Training

  1. Self Defence Stance
  2. Vocal Identification and warnings
  3. Palm Strikes
  4. Break from Grabs 1 through to 3
  5. Break from Grabs 4 through to 6
  6. Safety Zone Awareness

Black  Belt Training Course

Our Black Belt Training course is designed to set the Children the goal of his/Her Black Belt grade, this can be set from the start of His/Her journey and in Martial arts is the recommended method, we simply have the Basic course to allow students to try Martial Arts/Wing Chun before setting the goal of learning the complete Wing Chun System, With in the 12 student grades you will see your children develop so much as young adults and a great peer for other children, we focus on building great role models with in the community and our children on there journey to becoming a black belt are leading the way.

Grade 5 (Red Stripe Green Sash/Red Sash)

  1. Sui Nim Tao Sentence 1 + 2
  2. 3 Elbows and Knee Stikes against a pad
  3. Pak Sao with continuous punches/Palm Strikes
  4. Dan Chi Movement of Punch to form the Bong Sao
  5. Wing Chun Single punch/Palm Strike (Advancing step/Arrow Step)
  6. Basic Centre Line Theory Knowledge

Grade 6 (Green Sash/Green Stripe White Sash)

  1. Sui Nim Tao Sentence 3 + 4
  2. Lat Sao Forward and Backwards stepping/Pivoting left and right
  3. Garn Sao and Punch, Gum sao and Punch
  4. Dan Chi Movement of maintaining an outside Tarn Sao
  5. Wing Chun Double punch/Double Palm Strike (Advancing step/Arrow Step)
  6. Similtanious attack and defence explanation

Grade 7 (Green Stripe Blue Sash/Green Sash)

  1. Sui Nim Tao Sentence 5 + 6
  2. Lat Sao Changing Sides
  3. Wu Sao Defence with added V step Movements
  4. Dan Chi Movement palm strike to create the low sinking elbow (Jum sao)
  5. Wing Chun Triple punch/Triple Palm Strike (Meridian Stance/Flanking Steps)
  6. Wedge Theory Explanation

Grade 8 (Blue Sash/Blue Stripe White Sash)

  1. Sui Nim Tao Sentence 7 + 8
  2. Lat Sao bong Gerk and Yup Gerk Movements
  3. Flanking steps left/right with Fook sao Cover
  4. Dan Chi Movement to complete the Dan Chi Roll Movement
  5. Wing Chun Continuous punches/Continuous Palm Strike (Meridian Stance/Flanking Steps)
  6. Managing your distance

Grade 9 (Blue Stripe Brown Sash/Blue Sash)

  1. Chum Kui Form, Opening Elbow turning
  2. 3 Elbow and knee stikes to pads
  3. Double wrist grab high with use of Elbows
  4. Chi Sao Two arm Roll
  5. Punching Drill of 2 high and 2 low punches/Palms
  6. The theory of the Four Wing Chun Principles

Grade 10 (Brown Sash/Brown Stripe White Sash)

  1. Chum Kui Form, Grab and Kick
  2. Avoiding waist grabs and head locks
  3. Double wrist grab waist use of Tarn Sao and Gum Sao
  4. Chi Sao 3 Basic attacks from the Roll
  5. Punching Drill of 2 high/1 low and 2 low/1 high punches and palms
  6. The Theory of the 4 power principles

Grade 11 (Brown Stripe Black Sash/Brown Sash)

  1. Chum Kui Form, Turn with Front Kick and step
  2. Balance control from a sweep and basing out from a throw
  3. Single wrist grab use of Huen Sao and Lap Sao
  4. Chi Sao entry movements
  5. Punching Drill of 1 high/1 low/1 high and 1 high/2 low/1 high punches and palms
  6. The Theory of Mirroring your opponent

Grade 12 (Black Sash/Black Stripe White Sash)

  1. Chum Kui Form, Gum Sao with Punches
  2. Landing on floor correctly and getting back up
  3. Double Grab arm control
  4. Jut Jun Sequence
  5. Punching Drill of double vertical and horizontal punches and palms
  6. The theory of finding the best and quickest exit

Leadership Course

The above criteria is only a guide for you to see what entry level material is taught and learnt however this is by no means the complete system of Wing Chun Written down on a website, for that you should invest your time watching your children in class and allowing theme to invest there time into training and attending classes.

Please also note that as an organisation we do not believe in putting pressure on any students or parents and all Parents are under no obligation to join or continue with classes for there children, we do not implement contracts or agreements, do not enforce uniform or in any way that parents should spend there hard earned money on anything other than Tuition for our Basic/Black Belt or Leadership classes, If you are however investing a child’s time and effort into there Martial Arts training it is our responsibility to guide and direct our students/parents to the options that are available and what is best in our expert opinion on how to get the best out of the children’s classes.

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