9 Reasons Why Martial Arts are Better for your Kids than Team Sports By Sensei Tommy Revell, I grew up from the age of 7 til 17 playing sports year round.....Basketball mainly but football and baseball as well! I Didnt start my Martial Arts Training til I was old enough to drive and pay my own tuition which was 17 years old, although growing up I had a cousin in California that I would visit as a child periodically that trained in Karate from the age of 5 that would teach me a thing or two and fueled the fire of interest for Karate! Once out of High school, I began my search for the Martial Arts!! Although I enjoyed playing sports in my youth, I truly wish I would of started my Martial Arts training much earlier! I believe there is no program out there that encompasses physical education and character development like Martial Arts does. Below are a few reasons to consider Martial Arts for your Child or Adolescent over or in addition to Team Sports: Self-Defense This is the number one reason why most people decide to study martial arts, and pretty much any style is a great way to learn how to defend yourself. Martial arts teaches you the techniques to defend yourself, but also the way to think about defending yourself - anticipate and avoid potential dangers. Training also helps build up the reflexes and intuitive reactions you need if you’re ever in a dangerous situation, and give you the confidence to stand up for yourself and fight back if needed – which brings us to our next topic... Self-Confidence: As children become more proficient in their selected style of martial arts, their confidence gets a big-boost. They become more self-assured and confident. Their Professors (Teacher’s or Sensei’s depending on Martial Art style) encouragement goes a long way to help them achieve this goal, but the confidence level will extend far beyond the Academy (Martial Arts Studio). Belts and Ranking: Belts and rankings are a public recognition among peers for the student’s effort and progress. Martial Arts ranking system helps teach children to set goals and achieve them, to persevere and prioritize. Gives them a sense of accomplishment to keep moving forward!! Discipline: Martial Arts training is a physical expression of practice makes perfect. In a class a student may execute a single movement or series of related movements, hundreds of times. This teaches the student that the progress that always happens during small improvements in technique and stamina, flexibility or power - will come through endless repetition. Even during Kumite ( or sparring) – where the student shows how creatively he or she can apply their well-honed skills – there are still rules and protocols to be followed. All of this teaches children to respect one another, their opponents and colleagues, and how to play games fair and square – lessons that follow them in their non-Martial Arts lives. It also teaches them to commit, to go to practice even when they don’t feel like it. Individual Achievement: No one sits on the Bench Many kids have the chance to experience the benefits of Martial Arts early on, however a big number of children abandon their martial arts training when reaching the teen years in order to participate in school sports. Although there are many lessons to be learned from team and individual varsity sports, the make the team model often favors the more physically developed players while alienating the late bloomers. Coaches have access to a endless supply of players that renews itself each year, the big and strong get picked and get to play while the less physically developed watch from the bench, this leads to a even greater disparity in skill development as the season goes by. At the Classical Martial Arts Academy, our mats are packed while the benches are empty, all kids get equal playing time. Naturally some kids develop their skills and physical abilities earlier than others but we personally find that many kids who start out with underdeveloped athletic attributes such as strength, speed and size, end up blooming onto some of the finest technicians we have in all of our programs. If your child is an athletic wonder who is able to stay ahead of the game with his natural talents, athletics may very well bring out the best in him or her. But if want your childs full potential to be nurtured through years of disciplined and diligent training look for a martial art school who offers a serious program taught by world class accredited instructor. Gender Equality: I am sure that while many parents would consider martial arts for their sons, not nearly as many would consider it for their daughters. However the martial arts are one of the few sports where both boys and girls can play together. At Classical Martial Arts Academy, we have a large amount of girls in our Programs. The girls are among the most technically proficient students we have and often dominate many of the local, regional and national competitions they...
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 21:43:32 +0000