FAQs on Super Juniors
In USTMA, I consider myself a student first and a mother second. However, when I learned that it was time to recruit a new class of Super Juniors, I thought I’d take the opportunity to sit down and actually explain what the program has meant to my sons from the viewpoint of a parent. Before I set out to document the benefits and the amazing journey that SJ has provided, I took the opportunity to ask Master John a few questions that people have previously asked me and that many parents want answered before thinking about Super Juniors as an avenue for their child’s development.
Please find my questions and MJ’s answers to FAQs on the Super Junior team:
Q: What does Super Juniors offer that regular TKD classes do not?
MJ: Super Juniors is about the team and allows children to learn how to learn a new mindset that is not solely focused on their own immediate needs and wants. Super Juniors are taught to think about others and to be there for their teammates, regardless of the day that they’ve individually experienced. There’s no “I don’t feel like it” on Super Juniors! Athletes learn that life is not about providing the child with immediate gratification on their own timetable, but instead to learn to give and take for the good of the team unit. Being a part of a team at a young age is a powerful way to help children to get past self-absorption and securely attach to larger peer groups that will provide them with a safe and healthy environment in which to explore and exhibit their own personalities.
Q: Why do we need to wait until my child is an orange belt?
MJ: Orange belt has tremendous significance in the taekwondo program and signifies the end of fundamental training and the readiness to begin the next phase of the art and sport which incorporates more difficult kicks, forms (poomsae) and sparring (gyuroogi). With the orange belt, the athlete is ready for self-testing which is developed through board breaking and learning the art of sparring.
Q: Why do most athletes join Super Juniors?
MJ: I honestly am not really sure why certain kids want to be on Super Juniors or whether it is their parents that think it is a good idea for them. What I do know is that once they are on the team, they absolutely love it and quickly develop a hunger for continual self-improvement. What I see is that once they join Super Juniors, the completion of their black belt is almost guaranteed and their love for sports and physical fitness has been firmly established. The vast majority of our Super Juniors go on to membership in C-Crew and many of them stay throughout their middle and high school years.The friendships that are established at USTMA through SJ and C-Crew are authentic and last far longer than most childhood friendships established through school and extracurricular activities. Our athletes really stay together and grow up together in a positive environment in which they tend to flourish.
Q: What’s the time commitment for a Super Junior?
MJ: Super Juniors practice three times a week–just like C-Crew, but have lighter and shorter workouts. Practices run Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings. I like to see team members at all three practices, but two is mandatory. Wednesdays and Fridays focus on improving sparring techniques and building team rapport. Saturdays are an outdoor workout that focuses on cardiovascular fitness and team development. Saturdays are critical as Super Juniors practice with C-Crew and the entire competition team learns team unity through older members teaching younger members. Saturday practices are particularly important because it is when C-Crew members can mix with Super Juniors members and provide the most guidance and support–it is a real opportunity for the youngest members of the dojang to work and model older members while building overall team unity.
I realize that our Super Juniors have other activities competing with their Saturday morning time, but our fitness program cannot be beat. Our athletes repeatedly perform in tournaments and in other sports because of the level of cardiovascular fitness and endurance training that they have undertaken. I think of all practices that Saturday is the most critical and is situated such that siblings and parents that are not on Super Juniors or C-Crew can go to regular TKD classes or leave and return to pick up their athletes.
Q: How long does Super Juniors run?
MJ: Traditionally, the new competition season starts in January and ends with USTMA’s Kick Cancer Out of the World tournament that usually falls in September-October. During late fall (October-December), we go into lockdown training to up our conditioning regiment to ensure that we are ready for the competition season. The team runs throughout the year which makes sure that athletes are continually progressing and not suffering from starts and stops. I’ve found that athletes that continuously train are more mentally alert, do not suffer from “back to school” issues and showcase a more consistent attitude of respect and self-discipline. Our program allows the coaches to continually move forward instead of having to backtrack to re-teach technique or get athletes back into condition.
Q: Wow, Super Juniors seems like a lot. Is this much exercise good for my child? Will they overtrain?
MJ: We don’t emphasize the amount of exercise. What we emphasize is the quality of the exercise. At the Super Junior level, workouts are not seen as “work”, but as challenging play. We make sure that our athletes are fully engaged and that the workout is physically challenging, but more importantly that the workout helps to build their mental fortitude and positive attitude towards physical fitness.
Q: Yes, but outdoor workouts throughout the winter? Won’t my child get sick?
MJ: It’s a total myth that you will get sick if you practice outdoors during the winter or in bad weather. Our competition teams practice outdoors regardless of the weather because it is a life lesson: life goes on whether it is raining, snowing or the sun is beating down. The health of our athletes is always the first consideration and we adapt our workouts to the weather, but don’t stop training just because of the weather. In fact, our athletes suffer fewer sick days compared to their classmates and their parents benefit from healthier kids who sleep soundly and naturally crave healthier foods and adequate hydration. We have years of evidence to support the fact that Super Juniors are more attentive, have better attendance records and perform better on tests through increased physical health.
Q: Are team members required to compete in tournaments?
MJ: Ideally, I’d like for each member to compete right away because you learn so much through competition. It is the time that you can apply all the techniques and skills that you’ve learned and test yourself in a new environment. However, with Super Juniors, the training is really what is most important. What matters the most to me and the rest of the coaching staff is that they are developing the skills, attitude and self-confidence to compete. When they are ready to try competition, I encourage it.
Q: Is it really good for my child to compete?
MJ: Competition is a part of life. People compete for everything. We think that the best way to teach children competition is through good, healthy competition. We teach them to compete with confidence, with dignity and with grace. We believe that teaching them to compete first-hand: to experience the fear, the rush, the sometimes wins and the sometimes losses, and to be ready for the unexpected is the best way to put them on the right path of building positive character development. Our athletes develop flexibility, adaptability and gratitude through competition while developing courage and self-proof that their hard work typically pays off.
Q: Is Super Juniors the training ground for C-Crew? When and how does the athlete move from Super Juniors to C-Crew?
MJ: Ideally, athletes start in Super Juniors and move to C-Crew to stay throughout their childhood and early adulthood. However, this is not always the case and many athletes join C-Crew without ever having been a part of Super Juniors. There is no formal process in place for moving athletes from Super Juniors to C-Crew and it is not done by age or belt rank. Instead, each athlete is constantly monitored by myself and the rest of the coaching staff to assess where the athlete is in his or her individual development. Moving to C-Crew is never about obtaining a certain skill set; instead, the coaching staff is training to assess athletes on a broad range of criteria with heavy emphasis on their character development. We look to see if the athlete has developed strong interpersonal skills, do they understand teamwork, have the developed the ability to teach others, and have they progressed in developing leadership through their verbal communications with other teammates and the way in which they treat their teammates. When we see that an athlete is well-rounded and evidences sound judgement and solid character, s/he is asked to move up to the next level which is C-Crew.
