A Holistic Approach to Preparing Japanese Teens for High School in New Zealand
Teens need resilience, confidence and a whole lot more. On a basic level, at Evakona Education, Japanese teens learn language skills for high school, including Maths. But more than that, the 42-week high school preparation programme includes life skills, focusing on the whole person: Evakona’s motto is Our Focus is YOU.
The students develop skills to overcome challenges, and this year Evakona Education are excited to be working with Evolution Fitness Gym to put the students through a 4-session course in self-defence. An improved ability to defend themselves physically will help with confidence and resilience, preparing them well to go to high school in New Zealand.
As Billie from Toa Martial Arts explains, self-defence is more than defence:
“We were super happy to accommodate the language school’s request to run self-defence classes for their students. We at Toa Martial Arts believe that it’s imperative for all young people to understand the benefits of being able to look after themselves, and with this comes a massive sense of confidence in dealing with uncomfortable situations – this then translates into everyday life in many ways, creating resiliency.
Gone are the old stereotypes of what self-defence is – poking someone’s eyes and kicking someone’s crotch to evade danger. It’s actually more about enhancing your ability to control that ‘fight or flight’ response and using it to your advantage … (These are) key principles we take away from training martial arts like Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing and Wing Chun.”
Before the Evakona High School Preparation Course existed, many Japanese students had no choice but to go cold turkey into high schools directly from Japan. They often got overwhelmed and didn’t learn, or just dropped out. The hurdles were just too much: being away from their support network (their whānau), cultural differences, and language difficulties. The Japanese language is very different from English, and our particular NZ English is new to these students. With host families and the Evakona pastoral care staff providing a strong support system, and with our programme designed around both academic and life skills, Evakona students are well-prepared to tackle the challenges of living and studying in New Zealand.
The martial-arts course is a popular addition to the programme, and fits well into the ethos of improving life skills. Student comments include:
“My fitness was at its limit after the first run ….but self-defence was fun.” Lisa
“I think I do this to improve my basic physical strength and protect myself … The teacher was a very funny woman, so I’m looking forward to next time.” Yukumi
“I want to be able to protect myself when something dangerous happens.” Rio
This year, refreshingly, Evakona students are often seen shooting hoops with the Kiwi kids at the Whitianga half-court, whereas in the past a lack of confidence in English led students to panic or avoid mixing with Kiwi kids. The self-defence course pushes students in fitness, confidence and resiliency and sets them up with the skills to think while facing challenging situations.
Words by Rachel Mayne
