There are dozens of benefits of martial arts for kids – that’s why it’s been practiced for thousands of years. But for brevity’s sake, the best 4 benefits are – healthy stress management, discipline and perseverance, better grades, and bullyproof-ness. Not too shabby, 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 really struggling to manage their stress.
Stress is a part of life, so it’s important early on to teach your child about how to cope with and manage the stresses of day to day life- in a positive way. That’s where martial arts comes in!
One of the martial arts benefits for kids is that the mental and physical outlet for their energy. Our instructors are quite sneaky (like a ninja! ;)) in how they teach important life skills that help your little one succeed outside of the dojo, including stress management.
Teaching martial arts to kids is their life passion, 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
Stress and challenges are just a part of life – and kids need to be equipped with how to handle them! 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, your child will need discipline and perseverance to see it through.
Martial arts for kids is so fun – trust us! – but it’s NOT a walk in the park- 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 homework – they’ll say they just don’t “feel like” doing either of them.
But our world-class instructors teach them how to cultivate the discipline they need 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 upon 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 do, they feel on top of the world – trust us!
3. Improved Grades
This one is music to parent’s ears! One of the GREATEST benefits for kids is that martial arts help 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 how to control their bodies and listen to their instructors, we see those skills carry over to the classroom. Instead of getting distracted by the pencil sharpener, the teacher’s instructions, and whatever their deskmate is doing…
They give their full attention to their teacher, and actually learn better than their peers. Kind of awesome, right? And that focus and self-discipline are key components of kids martial arts that they’ll carry with them FOREVER.
4. Bullyproof
Of all the benefits of martial arts for kids, this one might be the most unexpected. At Cornerstone Martial Arts & Leadership Academy 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 focus on 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 become more confident in their ability to “do hard things.”
We also have our students promise to never misuse what they learn outside of class – instead of their fists, they learn that their VOICE is their weapon.
We teach them how to articulate themselves and assert themselves to our instructors, their peers, and the classroom bully, to stand up for themselves AND others. It’s an awesome process, and we’re very proud of our Bullyproof kids!
Conclusion
So – did these benefits surprise you? They’re no surprise to us. We see it time and time again- 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. It’s the greatest part of our job! 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 dojo! Check out our life-changing, transformative Kids Martial Arts classes in Arlington right here at our school!
