Complete Family Martial Arts - Taekwondo

		email Scott Symons

Understanding the Positive Impact of Martial Arts Training on a Young Person's Development

There is a good reason why parents in ever-increasing numbers are turning the martial arts as a recreational and learning activity for their kids... It works.

Even parents of "trying" to "moderately difficult" children, disenchanted with other activities intended to instill positive attributes in their young, are finding that martial art--one of the oldest disciplines known to mankind--is an effective vehicle for infusing their children with qualities that other parents envy.

Aside from watching the child's grades steadily improve (a common and predictable byproduct),martial arts training has the ability to instill such positive attributes as:

Respect
Discipline
Courtesy
Patience
Fitness
Common Sense
Increased Awareness
Hand-Eye Coordination
Self-Defense Capabilities
Self-Confidence
Self-Esteem
Goal-Oriented Achievement
Stress Relief
The Ability to Perform Under Pressure

Taekwondo is now an Official Olympic sport. Aspiring and dedicated students may find it possible to represent the United States in international Olympic competition. Olympic aspirants need to start early and the training I offer is the perfect springboard toward Olympic excellence. In the case of young people, this involves training in the principles and fundamentals of the sport of Taekwondo.

To children, these principles are empowering and give them a sense of control over a world which often seems beyond their control. This has the effect of improving the child's perspective of the world and subsequently changes how the child encounters it. Rather than feeling powerless in a world dominated by people who are bigger, older and stronger than themselves, the child involved in martial arts learns (through both physical and metaphorical examples) how to navigate the rough waters of life.

Most children take to martial arts easily and with little prompting. Their familiarity with the big and small screen images of Bruce lee, Chuck Norris, The Karate Kid, Jan Claude Van Damme, Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles and the Power Rangers causes their imaginations to seize martial arts as their personal opportunity to emulate their favorite characters.

As a veteran martial arts instructor, I realize that there are common principles that need to be instilled in the young before further learning in the discipline can be possible. They include:

1. Safety First

The first rule of martial arts (and living) which needs daily reinforcement in a young mind.

2. Common Sense

In spite of what many parents believe, common sense CAN be learned and when taught in the context of martial arts, children tend to grasp it easily.

3. Respect and Courtesy

Each training session begins and ends with bowing as a means of showing respect not only for their instructor, but also for their classmates, themselves and things they have learned.

4. Discipline

This is the sneaky one where kids are concerned. It takes them a while to catch on to the fact that while they have been learning self-defense techniques and training their muscles and their bodies to respond to their thoughts, it is their MIND which has actually been strengthened and gained clarity. Watching a child's realization of this phenomena is a wonderfully soul-stirring event.

5. Self-Control

Nobody can be truly happy without some measure of self-control. Most of us have seen the disastrous effects of a loss of self-control. The spectrum is wide, going from poor grades in school on one hand to jail and even death on the other. Learning to control our fear and anger by chanelling that negative energy in other more positive directions is an all-important building block in the development of personality and good judgement.

Historically, children involved early in a martial arts discipline grow in self-esteem and self-confidence and their socialization and integration into adulthood comes with less complications from negative outside influences. It's great to watch grades, athletics, interpersonal relationships, self-defense capabilities and self-control grow and improve as a result of my work. But the greater payoff is knowing that the possibility of involvement in drugs, alcohol or gangs is descreased for one of "my kids."

I have a great job.

Kids Forms