It’s pretty hard to pick just 4 benefits of a kids karate class- it’s been practiced for thousands of years. But for the purposes of this blog, the best 4 benefits are- healthy stress management, discipline and perseverance, better grades, and bullyproof-ness. Pretty awesome right? Check them out below!
1. Stress Less
From juggling unprecedented issues like cyberbullying and social media pressures to making friends in a socially distanced world, kids nowadays are more stressed out than ever.
Stress happens to everyone, so it’s really best to teach your child early on about how to cope with and manage the stresses of day-to-day life- in a constructive way. There’s no doubt that kids karate class is a major stress reliever for your little one!
One of the benefits of kids karate class is that they have mental and physical outlets for their energy. Our instructors are ninja-like and sneaky in how they teach important life skills that help your little one succeed outside of the dojo, including stress management.
Teaching the kids martial arts is their life passion, and they pass along their own sense of discipline and perseverance to their little ones with every class they attend! This 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, your child will need discipline and perseverance to see it through.
Kids karate class 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 go to swim class – 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 the self-discipline to keep on keepin’ on. 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’ll have a gigantic smile on their face – trust us!
3. Improved Grades
This one always puts a smile on parent’s faces! One of the greatest benefits of kids karate program is that it helps improve your child’s grades. How? Well, as we mentioned, they learn how to self-discipline, which helps them stick it out when doing their homework or during a long kids karate school day.
But perhaps one of the best benefits of karate for kids is that it helps them improve their behavior. When our students learn self-control in their bodies and in their minds, we see those skills translate to the classroom. Instead of getting distracted by 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. Pretty cool, right? And that focus and self-discipline are key components of kids karate that they’ll carry with them forever.
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 improving on the mat – 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 teach our students not to use their martial arts outside of the dojo – 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 incredible, 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 all the time 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.
Hands down, it’s our favorite part of our jobs! Hopefully, now you can understand that the benefits of martial arts for kids go far beyond just self-defense- martial arts is more of a mindset, or a way of life, that promotes success far beyond the dojo!
Check out our life-changing, transformative kids martial arts classes right here at our school!