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Third-graders learn ‘The ABC’s of Success’
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .As a prize for her continued cooperation and politeness during his presentation, karate instructor Matt Gallo (left) invited Kyla Cambert (right) to come up and try and break a wooden board. Cambert succeeded and brought the board home as a prize.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Northeast Martial Arts Academy instructor Matt Gallo (left) received some help explaining the concepts of aim and focus with fellow instructor Justine Dikun (right).
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Watson third-grader Robert Hoffman (left) helped his classmates practice their hammer fist moves on a foam pad he held out during the Oct. 10 presentation.
By SARAH FOOR
Thanks to Matt Gallo and Justine Dikun of Austintown’s Northeast Martial Arts Academy, the third-grade students at Watson Elementary learned “The ABC’s of Success” on Oct. 19.
Gallo taught life lessons by taking the first letters of each part of his phrase “The ABC’s of Success” and having them represent a word that would help the students thrive in life and in karate.
“ABC” stood for aim, backup and confidence, respectively. While showing the students how to use those theories during a hammer fist karate move, Gallo also told the third-graders how to use them every day.
“If you have a goal, you have to aim for it and you have to have confidence that you’ll get there. Backup is all about how you support yourself and how others support you – always surround yourself with people who will never guide you away from achieving your goals,” Gallo said.
Gallo and his assistant, Justine Dikun, also stressed technique, speed and support of others. Through “The ABC’s of Success,” the students learned an explosive karate move and were invited to a free second karate class at Northeast Martial Arts to continue their training.
At the close of the event, Gallo and Dikun chose two students each to break a board, explaining that those students were quiet, courteous and consistently involved during the program.
Although Gallo and Dikun taught protective karate moves to the students, the teachers stressed that their lesson and their sport is not about fighting.
“Karate is more about learning discipline, focus and respect than ever learning combat. We love to share our sport with the students because it can teach them positive messages,” explained Gallo.