Cedar Ridge Academy Coed Boarding School held tryouts for their competitive karate team on January 9, 2011. Karate, which is taught by Rob Nielson, program owner and therapist, occurs three days out of the week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
A team of seven members and two alternates train on Sundays in addition to our weekly training schedule of karate on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The team training on Sundays places more emphasis on the strategies and rules of competition, to supplement the basic forms and partner practice the students get in the weekday classes.
Karate is proven to be the best physical activity for the developing brain since it activates nine out of the ten neuro linguistic neurons. Karate also has a positive effect on ADD/ADHD and nonverbal learning issues. Overall, karate is a very beneficial and healthy activity to participate in.
Students on the karate team train to compete in two categories when they attend a tournament. The first category is kata, which is a choreographed set of moves designed by some previous karate master that all students in the discipline learn and perform. If you attend a tournament, you will see several of the competitors in any given division perform the same kata. In kata, the student who performs with the best form and timing, the most power, and the most technical accuracy wins. Obviously, different judges see different things from different angles, so a winner is essentially determined by a group vote.
The Cedar Ridge Shotokan Black Belt Challenge Karate Team has started training for our 2011 tournament schedule. The team begins its competitive season in April at the Ozawa Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cedar Ridge Academyis a nonprofit boarding school for grades 9 through 12. Our flexible academic design allows students to accelerate their learning, achieve academic success, and actualize their inner potential.