Standardized testing season begins in the Spring students will be placed in “high stakes” scenarios that produce “test-anxiety” which is shown to dramatically affect performance. We all face anxiety in our day to day lives but the practice of Aikido can reduce the impact and support performance that reflects our best abilities. Continue reading Performing Under Pressure and the Cost of Anxiety
It is amazing what is studied… research shows that the weight on your shoulders affects perception, judgement, and motivation. The studies put heavy backpacks on participants and demonstrated effects that may make you question how each of us experiences the world. Continue reading The Weight We Carry and How It Affects Our Perception
Aikido practice coordinates physical and cognitive resources toward a common goal. Research shows that exercise improves executive function which is crucial to complex reasoning, memory, and skill mastery. Aikido practice provides the additional resource of meaning, the source of motivation required to sustain action. Continue reading Promoting Executive Function; Teaching What Aikido Teaches #1
Meditation should occur in a place of safety and security. If your house is on fire, if something is about to happen, if you have a wound that needs imeadiate attention (physical or otherwise) goal-oriented action is a better move. Continue reading Don’t meditate under fire…
These donuts are from the Sugar Shack in RVA and they are amazing but could they be a source of aggression in Richmond? This seems silly but research demonstrates that simple choices make emotional control more challenging. Continue reading Donuts and Agression?..Self-Control is Energy Dependent
Research contradicts the theory that “letting off steam” reduces anger and aggressiveness. It also demonstrates that martial arts and physical activity meant to add discipline to aggression prepares you to be aggressive rather then to be in control. Continue reading Letting off steam is not the “ki.”
Traditional and competitive martial arts approaches as dramatized in “The Karate Kid” claim positive effects on teen development but Michael E. Trulson was the first to study actual outcomes in relationship to confidence, aggression, and other social behaviors. Continue reading “The Karate Kid” and Initial Studies of Outcomes for Teens in the Martial Arts.
Sarete is supported by research showing that traditional martial arts build necessary life-skills and have a unique potential to produce positive results.This is in contrast to sports, aerobics, and competition-focused martial arts. (Trulson, 84; Nejafi, 2003) Continue reading Benefits of Traditional Martial Arts; 30 Years of Research