TOP FIVE REASONS Why All Parents Should Promote Martial Arts To Their Kids And How Instructors Can Help Parents Parent.

HOW HAS PARENTING CHANGED?

Parenting in todays society is a totally different ball game to 40 years ago. Parents today, face much more competition when it comes to getting your kid's attention and having an influence over their behaviour. As a society we are all addicted to our phones, we spend way too much time on social media and family structures are not what they once were. It's a society that allows children to look to other children to guide them and therefore parent them, despite our best efforts. This is called Peer Socialisation and can be detrimental to our relationship with our child.

That attachment we crave for with our children, the one where there is respect, calmness and positive behaviour can be extremely hard to achieve, especially with teenagers, however this is how parent arts can really be on your side as a parent to help get your kids back.

WE TEACH THE KIDS THAT AT HOME YOU, THE PARENTS ARE THE MASTERS, AND IN THE DOJANG WE, THE INSTRUCTOR IS THE MASTER. SO HOW CAN YOUR KIDS DOING MARTIAL ARTS HELP YOU AS A PARENT?

1: IT TEACHES KIDS TO LISTEN.

Listening is a skill that takes practise, even for adults, and it's a skill that not very many people do well! Martial arts introduces the skill of listening. Students have to listen to their Instructor to learn. Kids soon learn to put listening and learning together and it paves the way for a much more open communication level with your children. Parents must also listen to their children to teach them how to do it.

2: WE ALWAYS PROMOTE THE PARENTS ROLE

Instructors and parents want the same thing for their students and children respectively. They want them to listen, be disciplined, be focused, achieve their goals, be thoughtful, be compassionate, understand and practise a hard work ethic. They want them to show and have respect, be disciplined and be a good role model for those around them. Instructors understand that we are there to support the parents in their teaching of these character traits. We are there as a second wheel to show students that what you are telling them is the right way. We know how hard and how important your job is.

3: KIDS LEARN FOCUS, DISCIPLINE & SELF MOTIVATION

In martial arts we learn to focus physically and mentally. We all want our kids to achieve their goals and be self motivated to chase them. With gradings and competitions kids understand it takes hard work and commitment to get to where they want to be. Martial arts promotes not only discipline but more importantly self discipline. Ultimately you and you alone, are responsible for putting in the hard work to get to where you need to be. No excuses but persistence, spirit and determination.

4: MARTIAL ARTS PROMOTES A GOOD MORAL COMPASS

Instructors promote the five Taekwondo tenants; respect, discipline, perseverance, humility and integrity. As someone who started Taekwondo as a child I learnt these tenants early and was encouraged to put them into my everyday life. Good Instructors should do the same with their students. By promoting and encouraging these tenants kids tend to embody them and that's an amazing thing.

5: TEACHES RESILIENCE

What is the one character trait ALL kids need? Resilience, the capacity to withstand and recovery quickly from difficulties. We want our kids to have the strength to get through life when it gets tough and martial arts training teaches this in abundance. We try, we fail, we try, we fail, we try and we eventually get it right. The mental side of martial arts and the teaching of meditation also helps massively with this.

FIND YOUR NEAREST CLUB TODAY. A GOOD MARTIAL ARTS CLUB IS ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS YOU CAN MAKE FOR YOUR CHILD.