I am a martial arts instructor. Even though most people are thinking martial arts means only fighting or bashing - for me, martial arts is a smart tool teaching children virtues like politeness, self-control, helpfulness, respect and patience.

I am working (I have been working?) mostly with kindergarteners and that means I get every lesson this special famous box of chocolates

I never know what will happen next, and every lesson is completely different although I know the kids pretty well after a while.

Of course, I prepare the lessons, but when the children are very restless or too sensitive on that day - I need to change my lesson plan and have to improve, because I want them to have fun, so it will become a lot easier for them to learn. And because I never know exactly who's coming there's a different group dynamic every lesson. Like when I think we could gonna practice kicks and the kids are totally over-excited and giggly I need to switch to simpler exercises so they don’t hurt each other.

On days when I’ve planned to teach my little fighters some skills of self-defense I cannot do that when they arrive and had a bad day in kindergarten. Practicing self-defense means a bit of psychological stress for the children and I feel that it would be too much then. I notice that immediately, because there are little ones who are very sensitive on those days to any change: „Why is there another punching bag hanging today?“ or „Why don’t we play turn into stone , and then it takes them several minutes to relax and play along.

On the other hand the children give very direct feedback, and for me, it is very helpful, even if many adults find it rather exhausting. If an exercise required a lot of concentration and they children reached their limits, they either start laughing or making a bit trouble. Or the youngest then shout: „I need to go to the toilet!“ And because the youngest imitate everything and everybody I suddenly stand alone on the mat and in the bathroom there is a traffic jam.

I have to admit I don’t feel certain if I always reach my goals to teach the children respect, helpfulness or patience. Parents of my little students usually don’t come to me and say: „Wow, my boy is so respectful since he attended your class!“, or: „Thank you, the girl is so much more patient!“ That would be a great feedback, but teaching virtues is a long way and need a lot of confidence in the own right doing. I can do it alone either. It is very important to remember that education starts at home.