As a concerned parent, you are probably thinking:
- “I want my child to be safe inside and outside of school”.
- “I don’t want my child to become obese, unfit or teased”.
- “I want my child to be happy, to have confidence and self-esteem”.
You may say the problems are:
- “Our child gets lots of homework and we feel school physical education is just not effective enough!”
- “Our child has become addicted to computer games and does not get any real exercise, what can we do?”
- “We don’t want to put our child on a diet! If only he/she could get enough exercise!”
- “Our child is not willing to commit to anything and we find it difficult to instil any discipline”.
- “If only there was something enjoyable and engaging to keep our child motivated”.
In reality, just like us, children need to be motivated as it is natural to take the easy way out.
As a nation, we have become happy to live with creature comforts; but this has extended to exercise too; computer games allow exciting, deadly fights on screen with little effort and little exertion. This may lead to a desensitisation to violence, agression and respect for others in your child.
As a nation, we are also hooked on high “quality” foods, which could lead to becoming obese.
Is it any surprise that our children become hooked too!
What could the answer to this dilemma be?
Yet there is an answer!
Martial arts developed for self-defence in the Orient and became a way of life because of the fitness, agility and spiritual and mental harmony that came with training.
As they grow their muscles and joints need stretching to keep up with growing bones. Growing bones need engagement to increase density and to become stronger.
Because of this, most children find martial arts fun and engaging!
- Like some computer games, it offers some contesting and combat, also in a controlled environment.
- To be good at it, practice is needed and results are almost immediate, which gives a real sense of achievement.
- Provided you support your child’s efforts, they will enjoy themselves, become eager to train and respectful of other children who are also committed.
As a by product, martial arts training has similar effects to brain gym techniques, developed and used in some education programmes. This helps with spatial awareness, music, maths, dance and drama.