There are dozens of benefits of martial arts for kids – that’s why it’s been practiced for thousands of years. But in our eyes, the best 4 benefits are- healthy stress management, discipline and perseverance, better grades, and bullyproof-ness. Pretty amazing right? Read on to find out more…
1. Stress Less
From juggling unprecedented issues like cyberbullying and social media pressures to making friends in a socially distanced world, kids nowadays are stressed way earlier than any kid should be.
Stress is a part of life, so it’s worth teaching your child early on about how to cope with and manage the stresses of day to day life- in a positive way. And that’s where martial arts can help!
One of the benefits of martial arts for kids is that the mental and physical outlet for their energy. Our instructors are ninja-like sneaky in how they teach important life skills that help your little one succeed outside of the dojo, including stress management.
Their life passion is teaching martial arts to your little one, and they pass along their own sense of discipline and perseverance to your little one with every class they attend! Which leads us to…
2. Discipline and Perseverance
Just like stress is a part of life – so are challenges. Every person, including your little one, is faced with tough decisions and mountains they need strength to overcome, and kids are no exception!
Whether it’s a math test they’re studying for or an audition for a lead role they want to knock out of the park, over the course of their childhood, your little one will need discipline and perseverance to see it through!. Martial arts for kids is so fun- trust us!- but it’s not always easy- and that’s intentional.
There will be days when your child doesn’t want to come to class, just like there will be days when they won’t want to do their chores – they’ll say they just don’t “feel like” doing either of them. But our world-class instructors teach them how to dig deep and find self-discipline in order to achieve their goal.
If a student is struggling to break a board, maybe they’re crying or feel like they can’t do it- we’re not giving up on them. All of us, instructors and classmates included, are going to rally around that student and cheer them on. Because they CAN do it, and when they finally do, they feel on top of the world – trust us!
3. Improved Grades
This one is music to parent’s ears! One of the BEST benefits of martial arts for kids is that it helps improve your child’s grades. How? Well, as we mentioned, they learn how to persevere, which helps them stick it out when doing their homework or during a long school day.
But perhaps one of the best benefits of martial arts for kids is that it helps them improve their BEHAVIOR. When our students learn self-control in their bodies and in their mind, we see those skills apply to the classroom.
Instead of wiggling in their seats and dividing their attention between the pencil sharpener, the teacher’s instructions, and whatever their deskmate is doing…
They keep their attention on their teacher, and actually learn better than their peers. Parents really love to hear that 🙂 And that body coordination and focus are key components of kids martial arts that they’ll carry with them well into adulthood.
4. Bullyproof
Of all the benefits of martial arts for kids, this one might be the most surprising.
We’re really keen on building our students up to be BULLYPROOF, meaning they learn the skills they need to stand up to bullies and resist being picked on in a non-violent way.
First, we build their confidence. As our young martial arts students see themselves improve week after week – perfecting their punches and kicks, gaining better coordination, and learning new moves after lots of practice- they gain confidence they’ve never had before in being able to accomplish so much!
We also instruct our students to NEVER misuse their martial arts outside of class – instead of their fists, they learn that their VOICE is their weapon.
We teach them how to speak confidently and with eye contact to our instructors, their peers, and the classroom bully, to stand up for themselves AND others. It’s incredible, and we’re very proud of our Bullyproof kids!
Conclusion
So – did these benefits surprise you? They’re no surprise to us. We’ve seen it year after year- kids walk in the door with behavioral issues, low self-esteem, or difficulty focusing, and they walk out the door with improvement in all these areas and a HUGE smile on their face. These transformations are what we really love about our jobs. Hopefully now you can understand that the benefits of martial arts for kids go far beyond just self defense – martial arts is a way of life that promotes success far beyond the mat! Check out our life-changing, transformative Kids Martial Arts classes right here at our school!
