Monday 13 June 2011
One of our Core Values at Factor10 is “Family and Belonging is Everything” and this is also a very strong principle of the Martial Arts generally. The concept of family is at the core of the all we do in Martial Arts because first and foremost the study of this modern and ancient art is about the person, their personal development and the development of excellence in a close nit community or family. It is understood in Martial Arts that unless one pursues this Martial excellence in the family environment it will be doomed to failure, for being part of the family martial system is what nurtures this to fruition.
The secular age old concept of family is about being from the same kinship as another person, and this is where the concept of family becomes so uniquely evident in Martial Arts than in any other sport. Indeed at Factor10 our kinship is clearly evident as our roots date back a long way, far beyond the time when Master Damien O’Flaherty started his first club to train members of the public in Innisfail in Far North Queensland in 1989. Whilst this is a very important part of our origins as a Martial Art family, our traditional roots date back to the traditional school or family of Taekwondo Jidokwan and Hapkido Hoohakkwan through our Grand Master Sung Soo Lee. This line of family heritage dates back to the 1940’s in Seoul Korea where these schools of Taekwondo and Hapkido have their humble beginnings.
So what is family all about in the Martial Arts. Well, it’s about a sense of belonging. Knowing that mums and dads entrust their children to learn Taekwondo or Hapkido at this Martial Arts Brisbane based school says it all. Parents know that their children will be cared for as they themselves would care for their children. We care for children as parents do, because when people join Factor10 they become part of our traditional family. The kinship is strong – as it should be at a Martial Arts school – because when someone becomes part of the Factor10 family we presume they will be part of the family for the rest of their life. Another of our Core Values is “Martial Arts is a life journey” and so with this in mind in everything we do, we seek to develop the whole person, physically, socially emotionally and academically, as any responsible family would do.
In a great, family focussed, healthy Martial Arts environment we see things start to emerge that happen in any normal extended family. There is a healthy mix of boys and girls, men and women, and people of all ages. We see this evident at Factor10, just as we see family members training together. At great Martial Arts schools it’s not uncommon to see father and son training together, or mother and daughter doing the same. Families come together on two levels – the concept of family is experienced from a martial arts point of view where people belong to the broader Martial Arts family and also train within their paternal group – it’s exciting. Families come together at Factor10 Martial Arts to experience success through excellence, develop leadership skills, improve focus and concentration, and above all just have fun being together. After all, isn’t that what families should do?
In our next blogg we’ll be investigating the relationship between parents and children and looking at how the Martial Arts helps us to get the most out of paternal relationships.
