The parent was struggling to get their son to show respect and follow rules through punishment. Taking away privileges and grounding did not work, and the son would question the parent's authority. Enrolling the son in martial arts classes at Changing Lives Martial Arts helped turn things around. The classes taught personal responsibility, courtesy, and respect, helping the son develop self-respect and respect for others. The son now reflects a great attitude in his interactions with people, without needing to be hounded to continue classes. The parent is thankful for how the martial arts program helped their son.

1. Testimonial on Courtesy and Respect<br />As a hard-working parent I've found that there are a lot of things working against me. No matter how often I told my son he ought to behave better, nothing I said seemed to get through to him. At first, I really thought it was nothing more than a lack of simple respect, and in my day, the solution for that was punishment. After taking away his privileges, grounding him and trying everything else I could think of, I realized that I was up against a modern society that didn't feel the same way.<br />My son's continual questioning of my authority really shed some light on the matter. My wife and I aren't the sort of parents who go for tough love, but we don't accept bad behavior either. The more we tried to fight him though, the more he would do things like bring up how his friends were allowed to act with their parents. In school, he gravitated towards the worst influences he could find, and things only got worse. He would study every now and then, and we knew he could do really well when he applied himself, but when it came to dealing with people or following rules, it was basically like trying to lead a horse to water.<br />His lack of respect embarrassed us in a number of social situations, but it also made it hard to interact. The more we punished him for things he did, the more he shut himself in. It was as if he always knew he was in trouble, but didn't have a firm handle on how he got there or on what to do to avoid the same situation next time.<br />Changing Lives Martial Arts and Master Thomas’ Instructors made a big difference. We initially thought that our son would benefit from something that took his mind off of mischief, but it turned into a lot more than a simple distraction. His mother was quick to point out that with the way he had been going, he might need to learn how to fight before he reached middle school, but as it turned out, things weren't as grim as she thought. His classes weren't just about punches and kicks, they taught him something about personal responsibility, courtesy and respect, because he had to learn these to make progress on his own. <br />We knew that all kids are impressionable, and we tried to set a good example, but he wasn't watching us all the time. By learning the right way from the other students, he's developed a sense of self-respect that he applies to his interactions with people. We haven't hounded him to continue in class, but he seemed more interested in what he was learning than we've ever seen. We're glad that Changing Lives Martial Arts helped him feel good about who he was, because now his actions towards others reflect the same great attitude.<br />Thank you so much for all you have done.<br />Debra W.<br />