10 Reasons For Kids to Learn Martial Arts
Posted: May 29, 2020
10 Reasons for Kids to Learn Martial Arts
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Focus: Martial Arts is not just about kicks and awesome moves, also about being able to focus hard on something important. Black belts have to hold ready position no matter what is going on around them. Honed focus skills learned through Martial arts carry across to better focus in the classroom, at home and elsewhere.
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Leadership: Part of becoming a Black belt and higher is teaching beginning students. We encourage new students to continue striving for their best, even when they fail. When student have goals of reaching the next belt/level, they continue to help those who aren’t as far along as them. Black belts get opportunities to assist, teach, and judge. Leading is giving back that value they were given when they worked hard. This is huge for them and for the younger students who see what they can achieve if they work hard.
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Health: During class, our students get their bodies moving, and get excited each time they come. A student that might not be in great shape will feel the rewards if they continue to work hard. We’ve seen than many incidentally, start taking better care of their body as a result and begin making healthier choices because they want to succeed in martial arts.
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Endurance: Many kids in this generation are used to technology being so prevalent and accessible. This leads to the main types of activities kids are used to are more sedentary lifestyle. It can be hard to break kids away from this to realize the benefits of exercise. Martial Arts mix the fun and excitement kids are looking for with the hard work and endurance you get from an awesome run/workout. Some kids start out having a hard time at first but with practice, they are able to do more and more, and their endurance builds.
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Confidence: Martial Arts helps our students to realize their potential and be strong about who they are. Many kids start classes shy and once they practice different moves and pass belt tests, they begin to realize they are improving at something that other kids at school might not be able to do. Those shy students are hardly recognizable as such by the first belt test. Earning different awards as they test for different belts helps them realize they are achieving greatness and makes them continue to want more while making friends along the way. Tying in health, they also build confidence in their physical appearance as they work hard in class.
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Discipline: While working hard to meet goals is important, discipline in meeting goals is something our students learn is equally important. Martial arts teaches kids that 90% or 50% is not the best they can give. They have to dig deep to get the 110%. It’s hard but they are encouraged along the way to meet these goals and they see that they come out on top because of it. They also learn that disrespect to those above them and misbehavior is not acceptable and takes away from their goal of 110%. We have seen huge success with students who have behavior problems in the beginning. Consistently coming, that wears off and they realize they are doing themselves and others around them a disservice by continuing that behavior. They consistently they begin to listen better and are more respectful in class and everywhere in their life.
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Defense: Kids may not be able to prepare may not be able to defend yourself in any situation, but Martial Arts teaches our students to prepare ahead of time, know what to expect, should an attack happen. This enables clear thought process when/if the time for an incident comes.
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Learn How to Take a Punch: Taking a punch never gets easier, but in Martial Arts, students practice and learn how it feels in a controlled environment, where instructors take control of the situation and teach the students how to do the same. The result in a future case where if they end up having to take a punch is no longer frozen fear or uncontrolled rage, but clarity of thought and ability to process what the best move is.
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Awareness: Martial Arts teaches Body Awareness and Situational Awareness and requires that you always be aware of your environment.. Body awareness teaches proper form and strength which helps the body form muscles in the right way without undue stress or strain. Situational awareness teaches the ability to tell if someone is coming toward you, and what their intention is. These are key to avoiding undue harmful situations. In addition, kids gain confidence in bullying situations.
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Ability to Assess an Opponent: Using Martial Arts, kids can assess their opponent’s characteristics and find weaknesses, should they need to use them. How tall, short an opponent is can be used against them if need be with different pressure points, kicks, leg sweeps, etc. Students learn to quickly assess their opponent’s skill level and know where to go from there easily.
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