What's Tigers all about?

These children's classes are primarily to teach the Korean Martial Art of Tae Kwon-do, but there is more to Tigers than just kicking and punching

Tiger Cubs: 4-5 year olds

Just like the older children, Cubs always warm up and stretch before starting class. Our fantastic junior assistant instructors often lead this element of the class (under adult supervision at all times).

Tiger Cubs is about having fun and introducing younger children to all aspects of Tae Kwon-do. We don't put the sparring gear on very often, but the children always love it when we do!

Main Tigers

The emphasis shifts slightly towards the teaching blocks in Tigers. We still play the games, but they are not quite such a big part of the class. Discipline is stepped up a little. Techniques are sharpened as the children begin to have more command over their bodies. Focus and posture are gradually improved and expectations are increased when it comes to practice and results in gradings.

Daventry Tigers has an enviable record of grading results - one of the best in the country.

Tigers: Advanced Class

Since September 2015, we have been running Tigers Advanced Classes for students ranked green tag and above. Here we teach more advanced techniques with an emphasis on the higher level patterns, set sparring and more free sparring. From January 2020, this class trains with the beginner adults.

Sparring

Some children get quite nervous about sparring. The way we teach it is as a game of Tig - the only differences are that you score more points if you Tig someone with your foot rather than your hand and there are only certain areas on the body that you can Tig to score. Contact is kept very light and this aspect of training is very closely supervised.

Rewards

Rewards and positive reinforcement of good behaviour, focus and effort are a large part of our classes. We have a Tiger of the Week every week, who gets a medal to take home for the week and a Tiger of the Month, who gets to wear a purple belt and take a trophy home for the month. Regardless of actual grade, the Tiger of the Month becomes head of the class for that month and all the other students bow to them at the end of each class.

Fun!

Throughout the Tigers experience, our aim is to make it fun. But more than this, we try to instill qualities in the children that will stand them in good stead for the future. Tae Kwon-do is built on the 5 pillars: courtesy, integrity, self control, perseverance and indomitable spirit. We feel that these are great qualities with which to equip young people.

Dodgeball!

Dodgeball has become a 'must play' game in Tigers. We play most weeks as a reward for concentrating well at the regular drills. Some of the children take it seriously, but most just have fun running around!

Tiger Cubs: Junior Instructors

These guys and girls are our role models for the younger ones. All have come through Tigers and now train with the adults. They have each now undergone 6 months of training on how to teach. All have gained at least A grades in many of their own belt gradings, and several have gained exceptional A* grades. You could not wish to meet a nicer group of young people!

Why Not?

With that in mind, there is no rush to get to black belt - we are not here simply to push children through gradings. We want to help them to learn and to teach them what it takes to persevere at something. We want to show them what it means to be courteous and respectful.

We give an outlet for excess energy and hopefully turn out strong young people of integrity, fostering an indomitable spirit and strength of character that will help them stand out and achieve to their full potential for the rest of their lives.