We’re the Ostmo family, and we love learning about countries and people. Our oldest daughter, Melaya, has tons of friends all around the world!

Raphaël Practices Karate

Melaya has a friend named Raphaël who lives in Paris, France. He was telling Melaya that he’s been practicing karate for a while now and he just got his orange belt. He explained to Melaya that karate is a self-defense martial art where you learn kicks, punches, and throws, and as you advance in your training, you rank up and earn a new belt color. You start with a white one, then yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, red, brown, and finally, black.

Raphaël says that his karate master can break bricks, wooden planks, and even metal by striking them with one single punch or kick! 

Have you ever seen a person breaking a brick or wooden plank using only his hands or feet? That’s crazy!

Raphaël told Melaya that his favorite part about karate is that his master taught them to use the kicks and punches only in self-defense and never in a malicious way.  Malicious means doing something with the intention of harming someone else.

Min-Ju from South Korea Loves Taekwondo

Now, in South Korea, over 5,000 miles away from Melaya’s home in London, lives her friend Min-Ju in the city of Seoul.  She and Melaya chatted a little last week and Min-Ju said she and her brother had just started to practice taekwondo. She said she found out about taekwondo when she saw two women competing in the Olympic games last year and one of them did an excellent flying kick, then Min-Jun thought “Where can I learn to do that?” and her brother told her that there’s a taekwondo dojo not far from their home where they could both learn. A dojo is a room where people practice all kinds of martial arts.

What about you? Did you find out about a sport thanks to the Olympic games from last year?

Sousuke’s Favorite Marial Art is Sumo

Melaya has a friend named Sousuke who lives in Kyoto, Japan. The last time they talked, he told Melaya he is training to one day become a sumo wrestler. Sousuke explained that sumo is a martial art practiced by very big and strong men who, in order to win a match, have to grab their opponent by his belt known as mawashi and push him out of a big circle on the ground. Wait a minute! if sumo wrestlers are supposed to be super big and strong, how can a little child train in sumo? Well, sumo dojos don’t exclude anyone who wants to learn a martial art. 

Sousuke told Melaya that not only big men can learn sumo, but women and kids can also learn it. They even have a division where kids can compete against other kids!

Valentina does Capoeria

Now, really far from Japan, over 11,000 miles, in Brazil lives another good friend of Melaya called Valentina, she lives in the famous city of Rio de Janeiro. She called Melaya yesterday and told her that her dad learned to play the atabaque, which is a Brazilian drum, and he will play it during capoeira practices. Melaya had no idea what capoeira is but Valentina explained that is a Brazilian art form that combines martial arts, dance, and acrobatics, and is accompanied by traditional music. Capoeira’s moves are so smooth and fluent, Valentina said she would like to learn them one day. 

Meet Noah who Practices Kendo

Have you seen those Japanese swords called katanas that samurais used many many years ago? I bet you didn’t know there’s a martial art that basically teaches you how to use one of those swords. Melaya has another friend named Noah, who lives in Manitoba, Canada. Noah loves Japanese culture, especially the samurais, ancient Japanese warriors that wear really scary masks and used large swords. 

Noah says that since he is still very young, he can’t have a real katana, so he decided to practice kendo instead. He explained to Melaya that Kendo literally means “the way of the sword” in Japanese and people who practice this martial art use swords made of bamboo called shinai. They also wear a uniform that includes a coat-like top called Keiko- gi, skirt-like pants called hakama, and a helmet called bōgu.

Other Types of Martial arts

There are a lot more martial arts from around the world! Melaya says maybe she would like to try some of them, like judo or kung-fu. Melaya says that kung-fu is actually a term used to refer to all the Chinese martial arts that are based on philosophical principles, which means that kung-fu not only focuses on kicks and punches but also on keeping a good and peaceful mind, always remember you should your knowledge in martial arts for good and not maliciously.

Tell us in the comments what your favorite martial arts are! If mom and dad are reading with you, please use @learningtail on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to keep in touch!

If you want to learn more about different martial arts, make sure to download the activity pack. We have flashcards, a learning guide, handwriting sheets, and drawings pages all dedicated to various martial arts!

Ciao friends, until next time!