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| Couple Tame Lil' Dragons |
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The contribution made by the McLeod Academy for the youth of Aylesbury has not gone unnoticed. The Bucks Herald Web Site includes a glowing article and video about the Lil' Dragons class provided by Neil and Rachael McLeod at the McLeod Academy of Martial Arts. The article has been published on 17 May 2007 Click here to view the complete article and view the video This article has been reproduced from the Bucks Herald Web Site. The full article can be viewed on the Bucks Herald Web Site.
Couple Tame Lil' Dragons CHILDREN'S life and safety skills are put to the test at Southcourt martial arts community group Lil' Dragons The club is run by Neil,33, and Rachael McLeod, 26, of Meadow Close who were crowned the British champions of low armour stickfighting, a Filipino martial art last November. They run various classes at their McLeod Martial Arts Academy club which is based at the centre in Prebendal Avenue. Rachael, a mother of two, started practicing Jeet Kune Do at home when she met Neil in 1998. She then started learning other martial arts such as Kali, a weapon based system which was used by Bruce Lee. She helped Neil with classes to begin with and now teaches kick-kick, a kick boxing class for children aged eight to teenage and also an adult class. Rachael said: "I was into horse riding and wrestling with my brother when I was little so I have always been active. Neil used to watch a lot of videos about martial arts and so I decided to give it a go." She believes that the class helps children with self confidence issues. She added: "It is a big thing that we see. It shows respect to one another. For the new ones we give them a buddy from the class to look after them. It is amazing how much they can pick up. We have to move on quickly though because their attention span does not last long so we are always moving on so they do not get bored. We make it fun and friendly." Her own children, Keely, 7 and Sophie, 4 also attend the class and love it so much that they have said they will be following in their mother's footsteps by taking over the business. The aim of the Lil' Dragon curriculum is for children to be good citizens and prepares them for school with the aim of preparing themfor life. It is hoped that it will help the four to seven year-olds become well rounded by promoting their social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth. Very few of the martial arts skills in the older children's programmes is included because for the younger ones focus is on the skills they need before entering the higher classes. Gradings for the children are based on attendance and homework which is based on the life skills set out in the Lil' Dragons curriculum. Children are given a range of different scenarios from the life and safety curriculum to learn about. Other skills they learn about range from care around animals and in swimming pools to electricity and door knocking on Halloween. Kickboxing runs on Monday and Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm. Kick-kick takes place at the centre on Tuesday from 5.15pm to 6pm. Gradings for these classes are optional. To find out more about the classes call Rachael McLeod on     01296 487725 or 07754 121053. You can also visit www.mcleodacademy.co.uk
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