By Rochelle E. Brenner
Attendance is important in every educational setting. At a recent high school orientation, the principal emphasized the major role of showing up.
“Being here is the most critical part of the education process,” he read from the slide on the PowerPoint hovering over the auditorium. “Get them here. We can do the rest.”
This blog is about the value, importance, and ongoing requirement to maintain good attendance at karate.
When attendance declines, it’s a path toward quitting. When attendance declines, it’s hard to keep up with curriculum and reinforce the life lessons. When attendance declines, confidence and skills drop.
School is life, and martial arts is a lifestyle. Instructors record attendance in every class. We’ve recorded 2,891 classes over the summer, and 710 in the last three weeks.
We send dozens of messages each week checking in on missed classes. We simply can’t meet your goals if you’re not here. The goal of this blog is to sway parents and families to recognize and commit to a consistent attendance schedule.
The expectation to earn a stripe or belt is that students attend twice per week. At that pace, athletes complete 24 classes and get the training to pass the requirements to get a belt. Attendance is a requirement to:
Maintain the integrity of the belts
Foster a sense of community
Provide more opportunity to learn challenging moves
Reinforce learning in multiple classes
Create opportunity for progress and connection
Demonstrate knowledge and abilities with instructors and classmates
Experience high-level martial arts classes
Maintain confidence by progressing and improving
We will do everything we can to get every athlete to their goal. But the absolute bare minimum is showing up. For anyone who is behind in classes, there are several ways to help get caught up:
Complete on-demand classes at home. The website is actionkaratema.com/ondemand and complete the form to get class credit.
Log in to Action Karate on Teachable, review the curriculum you need to pass and send short videos of your practice to actionkaratemtairy@gmail.com for feedback within 24 hours.
If you’re out of town or on vacation, consider taking a Zoom class.
Ask an instructor (or classmate) if you can get extra help by coming in early or staying late after your next class to get in extra training. There is no fee for this.
Plan to attend more classes.
Schedule a private lesson with an instructor. There is a fee, but it will maximize focused training time.
In karate, getting on a good schedule requires a little planning and communication. We have to be on the same page in requiring a child’s attendance, that showing up isn’t optional just as kids are required to brush their teeth, attend doctor’s appointments and get to school on time.
In school, it’s the law.
The truancy law for school is this: 10 unexcused absences during a school year is a crime. The law exists to reduce dropout rates, improve academic performance, increase opportunities, address setbacks and expose challenges. It isn’t a crime, but martial arts law follows the same logic. What’s true in martial arts: good attendance reduces quitting, teaches grit, improves performance, increases opportunities, addresses setbacks and exposes challenges.
By simply showing up, your child is set up for success. By showing up, you’ll see tangible improvement in their physical coordination and self-esteem. By showing up, you’re setting up good habits. By showing up, you’re pressing the “easy” button on surrounding your kids with a good supportive community. By showing up, your kids are among the 5 percent of kids who write down and follow-up on their goals. Show up, and all of this is guaranteed.
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