Most definitely! Bullies are opportunistic predators: they go for easy targets, victims they sense will not put up a fight. Children with a lack of self-confidence and self-esteem are prime targets for bullies. At the Schools of Kung Fu Kingston, not only will we teach your child essential self-defence, we will show them how to spot threats and to avoid conflicts. More importantly, we will nurture their self-belief and show them how to conquer their inner fears. When your child walks tall and proud and exudes confidence, it will make them a less attractive target to bullies.

Far from it. Learning to defend yourself will not make you a bully. Because we constantly emphasise the importance of personal cultivation and self-improvement over fighting skills, our students are taught from the start that with great power comes great responsibility, and that they should never use their kung fu skills except in self-defence. The use of physical force should always ever be used as a last resort.

Our lessons are designed to be inclusive, and we have students with a variety of special needs, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, as well as visual and hearing impairments. Martial arts is one of the best ways to engage these children, to help focus their energies, and to give them a great sense of wellbeing and achievement.

We understand the child’s mind set, and appreciate that they can have short attention spans. The most common reasons why a child may quit an activity are:

• They get discouraged when they find it hard to pick up
• On the flip side, they have a natural knack for the activity, but lessons are not challenging enough to maintain their interest
• They fail to gain recognition for their achievements, either from the instructor or their parents
• They do not get the encouragement required from the instructor or parents
• A negative experience with a classmate, resulting in a need to avoid the issue

Our programme of instruction is based on a system of positive reinforcement. We make sure each child receives lots of positive feedback, praise and encouragement. Our upbeat classes and small instructor to student ratio keep the students engaged, and our instructors endeavour to maintain a positive, friendly relationship with each student.

Kung fu is first and foremost a martial art for self-defence, not a sport. Your child’s personal development is more important, not their placing in a competition or the number of trophies they win. We encourage all our students to participate fully in every class, and we constantly remind our students of our two main rules: to always try your best, and to always have fun!

Taekwondo (TKD) is a Martial Art which has its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks and fast kicking techniques. Taekwondo is a competition orientated sport where points are awarded for strikes. Whereas Wing Chun Kung Fu is recognised as one of the worlds most practical and effective Martial Arts which is dynamic but simple using an opponents strength against them, Wing Chun is first and foremost a self defence not a contact sport. The system is about evolving and not using strength to defeat an opponent in self defence.

To enable the fast kicks Taekwondo generally adopts stances that are narrower with the trade-off of decreased stability is believed to be worth the increased agility whilst keeping a distance from the opponent. Wing Chun Kung Fu has a balanced grounded stance enabling you to effectively react to a situation and to re-direct and opponents attached whilst keeping total stability. This gives you not only speed when reacting but also the ability to position yourself close to the opponent from a self defence aspect, to defend and attack simultaneously.