Panda Jitsu

Inner Circle Academy uses the cognitive development theories of Jean Piaget to framework the Panga Jitsu Activities.

Panda Jitsu is aimed at self-protection habits rather than more complex and discrete self-defence & includes martial arts building blocks for further development and for when they graduate to higher level classes. Panda Jitsu is basically martial arts based fun & games for 3s to 6s (up to 7 if they are not ready to progress).   There are 50 games played in rotation with some favourites played on higher rotation

Martial arts fundamentals are embedded within simple games. The games themselves are carefully constructed to suit development pathways and get them ready for the next level where they can more easily conceptualise and engage in real martial arts.

Most behaviours are tolerated and poor behaviour and non-participation will wain as a child becomes more comfortable with their surroundings and learns the concept of the games. They will watch and learn and mimic.

There is no need for a parent to discipline or urge a child to participate or change behaviour, this will happen naturally.   

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that intelligence changes as children grow. A child's cognitive development is not just about acquiring knowledge, the child has to develop or construct a mental model of the world.  Research Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes 4 stages of development.

• Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
• Preoperational stage: 2 to 7 years
• Concrete operational stage: 7 to 11 years
• Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up

In Panda Jitsu we concern ourselves primarily with Preoperational and Concrete Operational

Features of Preoperational Stage  ( there are others, but these are the ones we mostly concern ourselves with)

• Symbolic play
• Developing memory and imagination
• Limited number of concurrent instructions
• Limited number of sequential instructions
• Can not conceptualise reversibility
• Limits on logic, spatial concept and conversion
• Can not conceive of another's point of view

Most 2 - 7 year olds are somewhere on this curve.

The age of 3 is nominated as the lower age barrier mainly because of language development.

If your child is meeting their language milestones and can understand instructions, they will be fine to try Panda Jitsu.

The games are designed to support growth from these features and into the feature of the Concrete Operational Stage.

When a child is exhibiting strong tendencies toward any or all of the above features, the first thing to remember is that this is extremely normal.

When a game primarily utilises features of the next stage, and a child is not at that development stage yet, the child is likely to disengage.  Again, this is completely normal, and the main reason why we keep games short and switch up regularly. Through constant exposure, even just watching or being aware of the game, a child will eventually participate in those games and this helps form concepts they need for the next development stage.

Every child passes through these points and stages at different rates. The Concrete Operational stage can happen as young as 5, with martial arts training (Panda Jitsu) it usually happens around 6, but sometimes it does not kick in properly until 8.  These are all normal ranges.

Instructors are on watch key point transitions and if a stage changeover is missed, the child will usually become disruptive or quit (the games will get very boring very fast as they are suited to the child's development stage

      Features of Concrete Operational development ( Ready for real martial arts )

There is some degree of all in every game, however, I have included an example for your reference.

• Conservation - things stay the same   Eg Smelly
• Reversibility - returning to an original state   Eg Woof Roll, Push Bunny
• Classification & grouping  ( We actually don't do much of this in our games, but if you’ve ever heard me ask if your child if they clean their own room, this is why)
• Seriation - logical order  Eg HuHa
• Transitivity -  recognize relationships among various things   eg every game
• Decentring - stepping outside of the central experience, eg jail time in musical sticks, games facilitating capacity for empathy & helping others win games against instructor.

       Activities to support growth from the Preoperational Stage:

•  Highly developed Symbolic play  eg Animal Red rover
• Developing memory and imagination   eg Body language Game, Japanese Simon, Counting to go, PandaChi
• Highly developed ability to follow concurrent instructions  eg increasing complexity of activities adding more rules
• Increasing number of sequential instructions  eg increasing complexity of activities adding more rules
• Ability to conceptualise reversibility  eg woof roll training
• increase logic, spatial concept and conversion eg YTMN with multiple Monsters, WoofStuck with multiple taggers
• Can not conceive of another's point of view.  eg Every game

        Other skills 

• Overcoming fear  Eg Stomp, lava
• Structural Fighting skills  eg Punch noodle, K2p&P
• Avoidance strategy  eg every chasing game
• Following instructions  eg Smelly
• Adverse environment desensitisation  Counting to Go
• Self Calming  Eg Panda chi

      Now you can see why your child may fully engage in some games but not others.  Disengagement comes in the forms of, arbitrary behaviour, recalcitrance and independent nonconforming play.  You can help

What you can do as a parent to support your child’s engagement.

• Allow disengagement, do not coerce or instruct to re-engage, ask them to watch and re-join when they are comfortable, point out features of the game, re explain rules, do not allow them to switch activities to autonomous play.
• Go on the mat with them, participate as a panda, do not give instructions, allow them to mimic you.
• Turn up consistently.  Habit forming while young is a very valuable activity. Children get demotivated, distracted and sometimes just plain cantankerous. I never met an adult that was “happy” that their parents allowed them to quit a childhood martial art. Sometimes you just need to over rule them and deal with the temporary consequences. It will all sort itself out on the mat.
• Don’t use withholding of Panda Jitsu as a punishment or coercion for other behaviours. If there has been misbehaviour at home, please tell the chief panda (me) and we can address the behaviour in ways that will surprise you.  Withholding “discipline: based activities to elicit self-discipline always backfires