Martial arts are one of the best ways to encourage your kids to take more physical exercises. It comprises various codified systems of combat practices all geared towards keeping your child mentally and physically fit. It also serves as a form of entertainment while preserving the best of communities’ culture and virtues.
Martial arts are typically available in a wide range from; Taekwondo, Karate, Kickboxing, Choi Kwang Do among others. Read on to know the best martial arts that can best suit your child.
Diversity in Martial arts
Different forms of martial arts currently exist with new ones being introduced. Out of the many forms being offered, some are exceptional, more common and most suitable for young kids.
Judo
Judo is great for all-around fitness; developing balance, strength, posture, and a good stamina. It involves lots of throwing and tactical moves. Judo simply means “gentle way” and is nowadays one of the celebrated Olympic sports. Judo’s training involves children from the age of 8 years and above. Those below eight years attend its close substitute, the “Kano Club” which offers simple and progressive actions that are less demanding at the same time.
Once the younger kids graduate from the badge ranks and Kano certificate, they can comfortably join the main Judo system and work their efforts out through the belt system. White belts are usually worn by novices while the masters wear the black types of belts. In between the ranks are different color belts.
Karate
This is one of the most common and ancient forms of martial art. It means “empty hand” which basically involves an unarmed style of a combat system. Karate employs the tactical striking, kicking and defensive blocking using both the arms and legs. Karate emphasizes more on courtesy and mental attitude and these aids in instilling discipline in your child.
Taekwon-Do
Taekwon-Do has more to do with tactical self-defensive skills and combat strategies. It contains some guiding principles in which one has to follow on a day to day life. Taekwon-Do originated from Korea with a series of patterns worth training. These series of patterns (formally 24) has evolved with time and currently serves the “6 Tenets”; this is a sort of belief and doctrine followed by those involved in the sport. The belt- range in this form of martial art has the white for novices, black for Grandmaster with green, yellow, red and blue in between.
Kung Fu
This is perhaps the best-known form of martial arts that utilizes great efforts for great achievement. It comprises a group of different martial arts ranging from tough punches to specific kicks. Accuracy, flexibility, and mental acuity are mostly emphasized and this shapes your kid more into a young adult.
Aikido
Aikido is more of a formal, friendly and peaceful way of physical fitness. It encourages avoidance of direct confrontation to an opponent and discourages the uses of force to oppose another force. Aikido training involves distinct movements from one of the ancient Japanese traditions.
White belt is the starting point with progressive training and learning all the way through yellow, orange, blue and brown belts within the first stage. It’s after this stage, that one can successfully proceed through various black belts all the way to the master’s belt.
Importance of Martial arts to your child
Taking classes on these martial arts are more than just taking hits and being awarded colored belts. Martial arts have a great influence on your kid’s life.
Exercise and health
Overweight cases are currently on the rise with teenagers and mid adults being more susceptible. It is important, therefore, to have your child medically fit from a tender age. This routine exercise will improve on the general strength and physical fitness of your child.
Social skills and discipline
Martial arts help quiet and shy children to come together and build a longtime friendship. Confidence and self-esteem will also develop amongst them and this helps the kids grow some of the important social skills. Through this, they can comfortably and fearlessly perform in front of a crowd.
Discipline is one of the arts to be mastered in the system. Through the instructors, children learn to be courageous, patient, forgiving and other sets of virtues that are necessary for building a good society. The power of accepting a challenge and moving on to learn more after making mistakes instill respect and self-awareness in your kid.
Basic skills in life
Conflict solving and reasoning skills are some of the important aspects we use in our day to day lives. After a complete course in martial arts, your child will definitely have these skills at hand. Most of the knowledge earned from the system is helpful in the classroom environment and will boost the academic success. Physical skills like self-defense will be very helpful where your child finds him/herself in a risky situation.
The various forms of martial arts are offered by a number of institutions and choosing the best one for your child can be a challenge. There are some important factors to consider before picking one from the many schools offering the same arts.
The quality of teaching services should come as the first priority. Find a school with experienced, certified and understanding teachers. Some of the schools may only employ half-baked teachers who have little or no experience. This will be a great disadvantage to you and your child expecting the best of services to be delivered.
The presence of facilities determines the level of learning to be covered. A good school will have all the necessary fitness amenities in place. If the essentials are lacking; make an effort of looking for a better institution. Some courses may be available online, check on the necessities and if you can afford them in your home, then go for it!
Wrapping up
It is important to ensure that your child receives the best teachings and effective techniques that are up-to-date. The cost is also an important aspect but it’s wiser to prioritize the quality of services before the prices. The power of your pocket should not be a limiting factor when you need the best for your child. Sources
