The Power of Brain SKILLZ

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” – Dr. Seuss

The developing mind is a fascinating field of study that Dauntless Martial Arts / Dauntless SKILLZ takes very seriously. While the physically supportive elements of our childhood development programming are undoubtedly important to ensuring the overall success of each of our students, support of their changing, growing, learning, and evolving minds is key to helping their intellectual, emotional, and social growth & development thrive.

Because of SKILLZ’s passion and care towards understanding the intricacies of the developing mind, eight science and psychology-based skills have been purposefully developed to support the growing mind on and beyond the mats:

1. Speed of Processing

2. Divided Attention

3. Attention Control

4. Response Inhibition

5. Long-Term Memory

6. Working Memory

7. Auditory Processing

8. Visual Processing

Let us take a closer look at the first two Brain SKILLZ, for example:

Speed of Processing

“Speed of Processing refers to how quickly one can process incoming information.”

✅ When this skill is a strength:

Missions can be performed and completed decisively and with accuracy.

The best choice and ability to execute corresponding action steps accordingly come easily.

⚠️ When this skill is weak:

It can take longer than expected to complete a given mission.

Errors and mistakes tend to be made as the mind jumps to conclusions before the logical steps of completion have been formulated.

Divided Attention

“Divided Attention enables you to remember information while doing multiple things simultaneously.”

✅ When this skill is a strength:

One can see multiple missions simultaneously.

More missions can be completed faster.

⚠️ When this skill is weak:

It is hard to do multiple things simultaneously.

Mistakes are often made when trying to do more than one thing at a time.

Through the power of game-based learning, our team of Pediatric Ninja Specialists is honing in on supporting Brain SKILLZ like Speed of Processing as well as Divided Attention to help today’s youth thrive intellectually—in and beyond the academic setting—through our experiences together on the mats. How? By putting brain power into action!

Say, for example, a Basic SKILLZ Ninja is working on their Coordination stripe, understanding how the left and right sides of the body work together. Their instructor holds two dodgeballs in their hands. One ball is red, while the other is blue. As the instructor tosses the ball into the air toward the ninja, they call out, “Right, Red!” The ninja then has to practice their Brain SKILLZ—Speed of Processing in this case—to right-hand punch the incoming red ball before it is too late.

By giving the developing minds of kids and teens the opportunity to be challenged, new neural pathways of operation can be created and then strengthened! How incredible is it that we can access brain-building tools to support today’s youth on and beyond the mats—all through the power of play!

Please let us know if you would like to learn more about how we integrate Brain SKILLZ into our ninjas’ experiences on and beyond the mats! We love helping our students and families thrive and are honored to support today’s youth in the journey of growing into their best selves.