Canterbury Boys High School

We demonstrate excellence in Boys' Education

Telephone02 9798 8444

Emailcanterburb-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Rock and Water

The Rock and Water program is a program specifically designed to meet the needs of boys. It aims to apply a physical/social approach to assist adolescents in their development to adulthood by increasing their self-realisation, self-confidence, self-respect, boundary awareness, self-awareness and intuition. It includes key philosophies such as brain gym, mindfulness and the philosophies of the "Rock & Water".

The building blocks of the Rock and Water program are self-control, self-reflection and self-confidence. Building on to this foundation, it is possible to pay attention to the themes of safety, assertiveness, communication and finding their own way (the inner compass) that connects them to others (solidarity) and gives them direction (spirituality). The inner compass means that every person has different qualities and that these qualities manifest themselves in the psyche as forces that strive after fulfilment. Self-realisation gives a deep feeling of power, joy and meaningfulness. This is an important concept, especially for young people who are on the threshold of important choices. An answer to questions about meaningfulness and direction is very much related to becoming aware of one's own qualities and desires.

The themes mentioned above are interrelated in the program by four leading threads, which consists of:

  • grounding, centring and focusing: teaches 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).
  • the golden triangle of body-awareness – emotional awareness – self-awareness: motions are expressed in the body by way of muscular tension. Therefore, increased 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 the emotional awareness and self-awareness. In fact, this concept is the basis of every martial art that has an eye for the development of mental and inner power.
  • communication: the development of physical forms of communication as a basis for the development of other, more verbally oriented, forms of communication.
  • 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).