You may know that martial arts is great for health and wellness, but martial arts for kids in Charlotte can improve other areas of their life too. Did you know that regular practice of children’s Karate or Kung Fu can actually make your child a better student? The skills acquired in martial arts training trickle down to positively influence your child’s success at school.
School presents a complex environment requiring children to focus on their academic pursuits amongst a variety of challenges from disruptive children, bullying, trying to fit in, juggling extracurricular activities, and following the rules. Meanwhile, they face pressure in many academic areas such as working well with others, building test-taking skills, managing stress, remaining focused, time management, and organization – not to mention earning good grades. The long list of character traits required to get through an average day at school is comprehensive. With the many skills gained through martial arts training, your child can improve their experience at school for improved success at school, academically and otherwise.
Martial Arts for kids can provide the following academically beneficial foundational skills for your child:
Focus – Attention spans improve extensively with the focus required to practice martial arts regularly. While a child may initially struggle to pay attention, over time, they learn how to stay focused for extended periods of time, which is wildly helpful in a school setting.
Self-Discipline – While discipline is initially placed on beginning Kung Fu students by their instructor, over time children learn strong work ethic and self-discipline to last a lifetime. As children grow older, parents and teachers spend less time hovering and begin to allow children to be more responsible for their own school work. Self-discipline learned in children’s martial arts can be a saving grace through this transition.
Self-Control – Remaining focused on long-term goals and the task at hand takes serious self-control. Children will learn to control their urges to goof around while they practice martial arts. In a classroom setting, this is vital as distractions and peer pressure can be hard to resist.
Self-Confidence – As children begin to accomplish short and long-term goals in martial arts they will begin to feel a strong sense of accomplishment. An accomplishment only they can take credit for through their hard work and discipline, they’ll enjoy an increased ability to stick with it, work through obstacles, and pursue other positive activities that may seem challenging at first.
Exercise – A regular schedule of physical activity has been shown to promote improved academic performance through the mind/body connection. Establishing a foundation for a healthy, active lifestyle will allow your child to better maintain a healthy body and mind for the rest of their lives.
Respect – An especially important skill to learn for children who have a tendency towards hyperactivity, the respect for instructors and elders required in martial arts training will give your child a foundation for respecting the other authority figures in their life and at school.
Managing Stress & Anxiety – The expectations to achieve in school can be overwhelming to students, especially those with a tendency towards being a perfectionist. With fewer hours per day for free play and physical activity, children face higher stress and anxiety levels than ever before. Through the sheer release from physical activity as well as learning breathing techniques and understanding their reaction to stress, martial arts students learn how to deal with stress so they can avoid letting it disrupt their success.
Conflict Resolution – Personal security and conflict resolution skills go hand-in-hand with martial arts training and play a big role in how a child navigates school on a daily basis. With a focus on conflict resolution without violence, martial arts training teaches respect for others and self-defense skills as a tool to use only as a necessity.
Memory Skills – Not only do martial arts students need to remember sets of forms in a specific order, but they also learn skills and philosophies that they will be asked to demonstrate their knowledge of on the spot. This ability to not only remember, but also recall information is imperative for strong academic success.
Social Skills & Fun – Martial arts training is fun. Students make friends with other students in their class and learn invaluable social skills. Children will face a myriad of situations throughout their life where they will be in a room of strangers who will soon become friends. Being able to enter these situations with confidence, a fun attitude, and the social skills to grow those new relationships will make future school situations easier to manage.
If you are interested in Kung Fu as one of many tools to improve their academic success, call today 704.504.8866 or sign up for a free introductory class to give Kung Fu at The Peaceful Dragon a try.
I like that you brought up the importance of martial arts in making the children better as not many may not be aware that can help.
Since my nephews have been fond of martial arts because of the movies they watch, I will tell my sister not to scold them because that can actually help her children perform well in school. I will show her your article and advise her to have her children get into martial arts training school to develop their confidence, self-control and teach them how to handle stress.
It’s good that you point out that martial arts training can help your child develop self-confidence. I want my young son to be more confident in himself, so I’m considering signing him up for martial arts classes. I’m going to look for a good martial arts school in my area.
Martial arts is not that easy to learn as it seems. But once you mastered in martial arts that’s all. The way you described, It feels nice to read every sentence here. Keep it up.