Last Saturday I sat in on the Survive TKD Parents Seminar. Usually when I visit this studio, I watch Master Mario do what he does best: teach kids. This time, the students were gone, and he spent the whole session with their parents. He didn’t spend it on kicks or forms. He spent it on habits.
His message was simple but hard to hear: our kids can’t build strong habits by themselves. The studio gives them an hour of discipline. The other hours of the day happen at home. “If we want our children to grow and accomplish their goals,” he told the room, “we need to work on ourselves as parents.”
Start with the mirror
Master Mario asked a question I’m still thinking about. “What do you want for your kids? And what are you willing to do to help them achieve their dreams?” Every parent in that room loves their child. He wasn’t asking about love. He was asking about sacrifice. “Before I criticize my children,” he said, “I need to look at myself in a mirror and criticize myself. How am I doing? What are my bad habits?”
He told parents that dreams come from “sacrifice, defeats, and habits, habits, habits.” Then he named the hard part. “When we do not improve ourselves, we pass bad habits to our children.” Nobody in the room took that as an insult. You could see parents nodding, because they knew he was right.
Repetition builds belief
He also showed parents what the kids practice on the mat. Students repeat “I am strong, I am phenomenal, I am extraordinary.” He asked the parents what repetition does and then answered the question himself: “If I believe it, I will improve.” That isn’t only for children. It works for anyone willing to say it often enough to mean it.
What it looks like at home
Erika C., whose son Dylan trains at Survive TKD, described the results better than I could.
“He learned discipline. He learned to be strong and fearless. He is no longer scared. He handles himself, he speaks to people, and he smiles.”
That last part stuck with me. He smiles. That’s what we’re working for.
Why this matters to PowerUP
Near the end, Master Mario reminded families that their children train at no cost to them because of PowerUP. “You have a blessing,” he said. “Don’t waste it.” I’ve never heard our mission put more plainly.
PowerUP puts great martial arts instructors in front of kids who would otherwise never get the chance to train. Saturday showed me that the best instructors don’t stop at the student. They bring the whole family into the work, and that’s how a lesson from the studio becomes a habit at home.
Help us give more kids a hand up. Support strong habits and sponsor a child for $500 at givebutter.com/power-up-scholarship-fund-inc.
Connor Cook is the Executive Director of PowerUP Scholarship Fund.