Indeed, young children have the ability to learn and understand new ideas and techniques at an early age. In other words, the best time to instill skills and discipline in someone is when they are young.
This also applies to important aspects of life that define us as human beings, such as personal discipline, self-esteem, respect for others, respect for authority, and even physical health and emotional balance.
Unfortunately, many parents believe that these are traits that children develop later in life as they grow up, but the opposite is true, at least in the world of martial arts. These are considered skills and behaviors that can be honed early on.
To fully understand this, you have to talk to karate coach Guy Didier Lulangailre. He truly believes that learning karate and other martial arts is one of the best ways for children to develop both physically and mentally.
Also read: Rurangailea's passion to spread karate in Rwanda
Rurangaire believes that when a child joins martial arts classes early on, he or she will have the opportunity to reach their full potential, which is why parents should do their best to enroll their children in martial arts, especially karate. We believe that it is.
He observes that if children are exposed to martial arts like karate from an early age, it is a sport that shapes their behavior, personality, and physical conditioning.
This is primarily because most martial arts disciplines are guided by rules and regulations that encourage self-discipline and inner human development, giving an example of Buddhist practices followed by most karate athletes. .
Also read: How Flying Eagle won the 2023 National Children's Karate Championship
This sport focuses on self-development and encourages you to always be better than you were yesterday.
“Therefore, starting from an early age will help children develop their personality and change their behavior in a positive direction,” he says, adding that when children actively participate in sports and fitness, they can also benefit from other benefits. He added that it has particularly good effects. Affects their personality.
Some of the skills they develop include self-defense techniques based on reflexes learned in sports. In this day and age where children can easily be bullied in various places, teaching self-defense techniques, especially karate, is very important.
This is a mission to which he has been dedicated since he left his position at the Ministry of Sports in early December 2021 as director-general responsible for high-performance and elite sports with a focus on national teams. be. .
At the time, Rurangaire said he had previously held various positions in the ministry but had resigned due to personal reasons and returned to his community benefit project, which was his dream of promoting sport karate from the grassroots.
His focus now is on helping young children begin training and developing survival skills, while instilling discipline and other values in life through community benefit initiatives. Masu.
“We intend to develop a high-performance training center. Currently we are partnering with Cercle Sportif, where we will have a basketball court, soccer field, table tennis and various other play areas.”
“We have projects in basketball, karate and soccer, where we aim to develop young players and take them to elite and high performance levels.”
Rurangaile has teamed up with a group of over 15 coaches who share the same vision of developing sports and fitness. Most of them are his colleagues.
There were about eight basketball coaches, 10 karate coaches, and four soccer coaches in their group, and most, if not all, had worked with him in some capacity. there is.
“It's a homogenous group. We've been together since we were young,” he says of the group he's now joined to develop the sport from the grassroots.
Lurangaire said children who are trained in martial arts early on will have an easier transition to other sports when they reach the age of 14 to 16 because they already have a minimum level of physical fitness and the basics of the sport. .
“When a kid transitions from karate to basketball, it will be very easy because they have the physical strength and the mind and discipline,” he says.
Rurangaire believes that such an approach can help if you start training with a martial art like karate, which helps develop all-round athletes with the highest levels of fitness and strength, before moving on to soccer or basketball, for example. I believe it will produce the best athletes in the country.
Also read: Multiple-time world champion Pina says Rwanda has talent, promises more seminars
You can make a living through sports
For many Rwandan parents, sport is more of an added talent than something they do for a living, but Rurangaire begs to disagree. Although the industry may not be as developed as in other countries, it is possible to make a living from the sport if you play at a professional level.
Another option is to take advantage of available opportunities and start making money using your talents and skills, especially after you retire. For example, in the case of karate, you don't need a large space to start a karate class.
Depending on your ability to brand or market yourself and your track record, you can start something for people to come learn or train their children. If you do it well, you can make a living.
To do this, it's important to build a platform of communication and be flexible to client requests such as time and availability, but it also requires an enterprising spirit and training skills, Rulangaire says. . .
“If you have a very good, well-designed and well-structured business plan, you can easily make a lot of money,” he says.
Especially when it comes to karate, he says he is doing his best to grow the sport. We currently have some high-performance athletes in this country, but we still have a long way to go. The future is promising as the government provides the platform.
What remains is to leverage it and partner with international organizations to increase karate opportunities and potentially lead to more income through endorsements and appearances as well as exposure.
This is still a work in progress, but what is most important to Rurangaire is that the country is in a position to attract such partnerships. The opportunities are immense. For now, work continues.
Mr Rulangaile said there are some adjustments that need to be made here and there to maximize the opportunities available to young people if the sport grows to the desired level. Unlike many careers, sports are short-term careers and athletes transition very quickly.
You start to shine as early as the age of 17 and are considered old by the age of 30. One of the key areas that needs to be addressed is how players can earn enough to maintain the lifestyle they should be living.
build a society of warriors
Lurangaire said the unique thing about karate is that the sport combines both self-defense and self-defense, recognizing that you can be attacked at any time, while promoting peace and harmony. He says that it is also a sport that can be played.
Just as every aspect of karate is all about fighting, this discipline is also focused on learning how not to fight. So children grow up healthy and calm, never quarrel and are able to defend themselves when the need arises.
He says the philosophy behind karate is that he would rather be a garden warrior looking at flowers and nature than a gardener during wartime.
In summary, while equipping our children with martial arts skills, we are raising many disciplined boys and girls who are typical warriors at home and abroad and can face the world ahead.
For Rurangaile, this will solve many problems in society, including some that affect the youth, most of which stem from a lack of discipline and self-control.
This is primarily because sports like karate require complete discipline, and boys and girls who take such classes respect a strict code of conduct and respect their “masters” whom they regard as “little gods.” You must take responsibility for your actions.
While sport stands to benefit most from this approach to developing young, healthy and well-rounded young people, society benefits more because healthy, well-established young people can be the foundation on which the future is built. be.
The 44-year-old former athlete, who was born in Burundi, where his family lived as refugees in the early 1980s, has represented his country in various karate competitions at regional, continental and global levels, and believes sport can be transformative. I believe that. Young people have many distractions.
It's not just something he says, it's something he does, lives and learns. He holds a master's degree in sports and Olympic studies. He is one of the few Rwandans with such qualifications.
He represented the national karate team for the first time in 1999, making his first appearance at the 1st African Championships and subsequently competing in various regional championships. He won various medals at national and regional levels.
He has also held various technical positions within the Ministry, meaning he understands how the industry works.
Currently, he does private consulting on sports and community benefit projects, which he believes can be a platform for promoting not only sports, but also a healthy and disciplined society.
Born the eldest son in a family of six, Rurangaire was stubborn as a child, but discovered karate around age 14 after his family returned to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
In Gikondo, where they lived, he met a neighbor who introduced him to karate, after which he joined a club at the Lycée de Kigali, where he was taught by Sensei Fidel Karuranga. Since then, he has never looked back.
In 2003, he and some friends founded their own karate club based in Gikondo and began training and competing at various levels. He's been doing it consistently for 30 years, and he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Thanks to karate during his school days, Rurangaile also excelled in other sports such as athletics, soccer, and handball, and played as a goalkeeper before finally focusing on the sport that stole his heart: personality. became.
It's a journey he fondly recounts, reminiscing about memories, triumphs, falls, and recoveries. This is the kind of thing he wants to instill in young people today who are faced with the challenge of living an inactive and sedentary lifestyle that can harm their health. It is a discipline.
