You are never given a Manual and even if you did it would probably be the wrong one!! For our car, boat, motorbike - no ... our children! They are all so different.

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Having three of my own (two multi-World Champions and one a highly qualified and successful lawyer) I have a rough idea about this.

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I originally set up "The Dragons" to provide them with a learning environment that contained the standards set down by the very traditional Chinese Kung Fu system I studied with my Grandmaster but over the past 18 years what I teach and why has evolved to face the challenges of our changing times. It promotes discipline, tenacity, fair play, caring for others, compassion and camaraderie whilst negating bullying (in all its forms) and restraining egos! Certainly it is not about fighting.

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But, building on my studies of children's fitness, it is all underpinned with baseline sports skills such as:-

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• Run, Jump, Catch, Throw
• Balance and co-ordination
• Speed, Agility and Quickness
• Eye to Ball co-ordination
• Teamwork
• Leadership skills

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It is a place of learning targeted at making fit, healthy children who can move on to their teenage years with a set of skills and strategies to protect and guide them. These will last into adulthood helping to make them strong, effective and successful with a deep-rooted sense of morality.

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Interestingly, a problem I have encountered over the years comes from the parents, not the children. It is amazing how many times I have heard...

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"I have brought them to you to give them some discipline".

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My response tends to be:

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"That is your job as a parent, not mine, nor what my classes are about".

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I then explain that we are not here to teach how to "give up" because that is invariably what happens! As soon as their child decides they don't like the boundaries and discipline within which we all train they are allowed to stop.

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This may be weeks or months after they start. Some call that being "free spirited" but I call that "quitting".

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The fact is that you should never "give up" in the martial arts. When you need it the most, that is when you have to "dig deep" - that is the characteristic we instil in them.

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The objective is to help their child develop into a balanced, healthy and confident human with solid physical and emotional skills. This will allow them to follow their own path to the future and be a true "free spirit".

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As a kid raised in the outback of Australia, I know what that feels like to need to be a "free spirit"! That has allowed me to have two very successful professional careers, travel the world and ended up teaching those very skills that I value so much.

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“Show me the boy, I will show you the man”.

“Show me the child, I will show you the adult”.

We help them to “solve the puzzle” inside them.

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—Sifu Steve