We are back in full swing this week with a lot of our kids returning after they took a summer break. It's been great to see all of the familiar faces back on our mats. We run all summer long of course, but some parents take their kids out for a well earned break.

One of the more relarkable things about running an academy for this long is watching kids grow up. I'm now coaching 26 years, and I had a real milestone the other day when Adam, who started as a 14 year old with me (and who is now a Black belt and a detective!) sent me a photo of his newborn!

We do operate our academy differently than a lot of places. We put a lot of time into our ethos, and I finally did a full presentation of our programmes and how we do things for our parents. Below is a brief synopsis, but if you'd like to access the full video please email me barry@kyuzo.ie

• Long-term enjoyment over short-term results
• Replace the street
• Develop athletic ability
• Build self-discipline
• Create independence
• Teach responsibility
• Respect children and coaches
• Take care of training partners
• Use competition as a learning tool
• Treat winning and losing positively
• Develop athletes progressively
• Give teenagers increasing ownership
• Keep them in sport for the long term

The ultimate measure of success isn't how many medals a child wins at 10 or 12 — it's whether they're still training, still enjoying sport, and still developing at 16, 18 and beyond.

If you'd like to know more, barry@kyuzo.ie and ask for the link to the video. I'll be glad to help.

Barry