ROCK AND WATER PROGRAM

Why is it so popular?

Practical Anti-Bullying strategies
Alternatives to aggressive verbal and physical responses to fear and doubt
Thinking and being in control, through grounding, centeredness and mental focus
Self-respect, self-control and self confidence

THIS IS DONE BY TEACHING STUDENTS :

1 Grounding, centering and focusing

learning how to stand firm and relaxed. How to concentrate your breath in your belly and focus attention (first external, later transformed to an internal goal).

2 The golden triangle of

body awareness
emotional awareness
self-awareness

Emotions are expressed in the body by way of muscular tension high breath/ low breath etc. Therefore, increasing body-awareness can lead to more insight and experience of one’s own patterns of reaction which, in turn, can offer a chance to deepen and further develop emotional awareness and self-awareness.

3 Communication

The development of physical forms of communication as a basis for the development of other, more verbally oriented, forms of communication.

4 The Rock and Water concept

The tough, immovable rock attitude versus the mobile, communicative water attitude. This concept can be developed and applied at various levels: the physical, the mental and the social level. At a physical level it means that an attack can be parried by firmly strained muscles (rock) but also — and often even more effectively — by moving along with the energy of the attacker (water). At a social level — for instance in a conversation — it is also possible to choose between a rock or a water attitude and the same choice applies to the way in which one maintains relationships with others.

Freerk Ykema (developer of the Rock and Water program) and Jeremy Welan (chaplain from John Curtin COA) are applying a combination of rock and water skills to endeavour to win a game of Chinese Sticky hands whilst at a training in March 2012 in Fremantle

Freerk Ykema, developer of the Rock and Water program, teaching centering and grounding at a 3 day training in March 2012, Perth WA.

A young Yr 9 student involved with the Rock and Water program at Roleystone Community College doing some Chinese Boxing with the master, Freerk Ykema