At The Aspire UMA Academy, we welcome children and adults with attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADD/ADHD) and other learning disabilities. We are very concerned about the children of today, and believe they are the most important people in the world. We’re also worried about the epidemic of learning disabilities in our country. Why is this happening? We believe it may be because so many children are spending so much time watching television and playing computer games, developing lifestyles with little or no regular exercise and an abundance of social pressure and stress. Stress alone can dramatically decrease a child’s ability to learn. It is the root cause of many of the problems of those labeled as hyperactive, ADD/ADHD or learning disabled.
Scientific research at the University of Akron, Ohio, indicated that martial arts is an effective way to help children with ADD. Over a ten-week period, researchers studying a small group of children found that those who took martial arts lessons could control their compulsive behaviour much better than children of the same age who did not receive training. UMA is the best martial arts and exercise program available to help these children (and adults).
At the Aspire UMA Academy, we also understand that people learn in different ways, and we adapt our teaching techniques to give them the best possible experience. Even the education system is beginning to use learning modalities such as visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
Some people process information and learn visually (by seeing), some process and learn auditorally (by hearing), and some process and learn kinesthetically (by doing). Most people have a dominant method/modality, some people have a balance of two, and others use all three. There is no absolute.
UMA (Choi Kwang Do) is taught in a multi-sensory way that supports all three learning types. Children at UMA follow and learn from an instructor at the front of the room who guides the class by telling them what to do and by demonstrating. Students quickly begin to think for themselves and learn by doing.
Although we are not rigid or unbending, Aspire Academy’s youth classes are taught in a structured, methodical, disciplined manner. Students are constantly moving and being mentally challenged and positively reinforced as they progress through the system. We want their attention span and self-confidence to develop, but at the same time, we want them to have fun, make friends and interrelate. With competitions removed, everyone is a winner at UMA.
