Kempo and the Pee-Wee Class

What's a PeeWee?

The PeeWee class consists of five and six year olds. Their class is a simplified version of a regular class. It runs for 35 minutes: 15 minutes of warm ups, 15 minutes of drills, and 5 minutes of "splash" time.

The very short attention span of this age group makes anything longer either useless or detrimental to their learning. In fact, for the first few months, the student may not "pay attention" the full class. We allow them to develop this ability on their own time. They aren't disrupting the others. It helps them focus on their objectives.

A Special Class

Each session works on developing physical skills they'll need for Kempo and school. These mini-skill development drills are couched in the form of games. We segment individual skills out of "regular" techniques and have the children work on one skill at a time. Some of the favorite activities (or games) are jumping and rolling.

Jumping develops strong legs. We also teach proper landing to prevent shin splints. This will give them a "leg up" when they must learn jumping kicks in the older children's class. Rolling is just a small part of the ukemi regiment. Groundwork is the most challenging for adults to learn. When small children learn how to do it properly, they don't fear falling.

He's no Jet Li

The PeeWees isn't going to be "excellent" at Kempo. That's not the objective of this class. In fact, their requirements are lower than that of other students.

It bears reiterating this class teaches skills disguised as games and a limited amount of techniques. They rarely work out with partners because that leads to distractions. This age group loves to perform movements in sync with the large group. Everyone is doing the same thing at the same time.

Then why do they take Kempo?

You must remember these are small children in a very malleable period of their life. We want them to enjoy exercise, enjoy learning and able to follow directions. They should feel good about what they're doing and want to do it again.

Let them have fun. Small children aren't physically or mentally able to defend themselves from adults. If others tell you otherwise, they're lying.

Return to the Article List