Day of the Girl Child
Once upon a time, Fang Qi Niang was a girl child in 17th century China. She grew up to be a Master of Kung Fu, unafraid of fighting with men who came to challenge her, and when they lost begged her to teach them. This former girl child became the founder of the White Crane System of Kung Fu.
At Fujian White Crane Kung Fu & Tai Chi, we still teach White Crane Kung Fu in and around London – to children, teens and adults.
Today is the International Day of the Girl Child. Children are vulnerable to harm and girls are particularly vulnerable to harm because they are girls (boy children face different harms on the basis of being boys).
And so we had a Club conversation around how we teach children (under 13s) in our classes, such as instructor Rob Forsyth's thriving children's class in Winchester. Can we help them train through the early years of adolescence? We teach them to fight without fighting, instructor Sharon Ngo showed me.
Here are the key elements of how we organise and run our children’s training that may particularly benefit girls:
✏️ a non-gendered, loose-fitting uniform that does not focus on body shape;
✏️ equal access to training space with boys;
✏️ an active environment that does not lead to children observing each other; and
✏️ no physical contact (sparring) but skills-based training.
Just hoping for girl children to participate in physical activities is not enough. Giving them girl-only spaces and training are great in sports – but we also live in a mixed society, and most children go to mixed schools. As a Club we provide a proactive environment where we reinforce equal access - to space, attention, opportunity, learning.
Let’s hope our contribution helps.
#kungfu #martialarts #children #kensingtonandchelsea #london
Chief Executive Officer at Boys & Girls Clubs of Hamilton
1moProud to work for a mission that believes everyone belongs! No exceptions!