Tag: karate

Karate Can Help Build a Kid’s Self-Esteem

Posted on | by Jason

Karate is an ancient martial arts style that was developed in the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It grew into one of the most popular forms of martial arts worldwide several decades ago and still continues to be a favorite, especially with children. Along with teaching your kid self-defense and performance skills, it can help build your child’s self-esteem in the early formative years.

Karate and self-esteem

Self-esteem is the idea or “picture” we have of ourselves – who we are, what we’re capable of, and what we can be. It is built over time as we get to know ourselves through experience and feedback. It needs to be nurtured from a very young age for a kid to be able to grow into an adult who believes in himself or herself. Parents should take steps to ensure their children develop a positive self-image and self-respect. One of the most fun and effective ways to help children – even pre-schoolers – to develop a healthy level of self-esteem is through challenge and achievement in a structured physical and mental activity such as martial arts.

Karate has levels or ranks represented by belts of various colors and other uniform insignia. Each rank typically has a number of moves that must be learned to proceed to the next level. Forms (movement patterns) challenge students to memorize a sequence of techniques, targets, and direction changes at each rank. Free sparring or controlled combat against similarly-sized training partners (as well as seniors and teachers) helps students to fine-tune motor skills, reflexes, and strategic thinking.

This process of learning, practicing, competing with, and showcasing karate skills – starting at an early age – can have a tremendously positive effect on the self-esteem of practitioners.

  • Testing and advancing through ranks can be a memorable, confidence-boosting ‘personal victory’.
  • Praise and attention from instructors helps them feel good about themselves and their abilities to learn and achieve.
  • Not advancing in rank following an unsatisfactory testing performance (i.e. receiving a “no change”) encourages children to try harder and work to reach goals.
  • Scoring points or winning a free sparring bout gives students a sense of security and self- protection.
  • A properly executed form reinforces the self-esteem gained from incremental learning.

All this eventually leads to a better self-image and a positive attitude that endures throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood.

Other benefits of karate for pre-schoolers and older kids


Besides helping build self-esteem and self-defense skills, karate can help nurture “tiny tots” in a number of other ways to help them become healthy, self-reliant, and responsible young people. Martial arts practitioners are known to improve these traits and others:

  • Discipline
  • Confidence
  • Physical fitness
  • Teamwork
  • Listening
  • Respect

Despite the popular misconception and hype portrayed in popular cinema, the martial arts are not strictly about violence. In fact, most martial artists learn to restrain their tempers and refrain from unleashing their powerful physical skills. Rather, martial arts offer a treasure trove of life lessons and tangible benefits for most students that reach far beyond the training facility to improve the lives of those who train and the lives of those around them.

Improve Your Child’s Self-Confidence with Karate

Posted on | by Jason

Karate is an ancient Japanese martial arts form that became popular worldwide during the 1960s, and today for the vast majority of non-martial artists, “karate” is synonymous with “martial arts.” It continues to be a popular discipline across the globe, especially among children and adolescents. Unlike some styles, karate is easy to teach and learn in segments that are age and fitness level appropriate. It’s also a powerful way to guide your kids into becoming confident, caring, and capable individuals.

Karate to boost self-confidence

Self-confidence is the ability to trust yourself and your abilities. For that, you need to first know what you are capable of physically, mentally, and emotionally. To know this, it is essential that you push your limits on a regular basis to see how much you can take. Pushing yourself just a little bit more each workout is the key to extending and expanding your capabilities over time. Since karate and some related martial art forms are essentially about self-improvement of mind, body, and spirit, training is a natural, reliable, and enjoyable way to gain self-confidence.

You can train your kids to practice pushing their limits from a young age, so they learn to give their best in every life situation. Get them started young, in their pre-school years if possible, to reap maximum benefits of karate. These early, formative years are important times for developing bodies and minds. Parents appreciate the physical fitness, good manners, and new friendships formed by their children being in karate.

Karate involves progression from one level to the next, each level corresponding to various
belt colors going from white to black. Each successive rank includes a number of simple and complex moves that must be learned and properly performed, with tests to be passed, to be graduated in rank and belt color. Classes also include free sparring in protective safety gear with peers and seniors to develop students’ self-defense skills.

Karate classes can help children know themselves better and build their self-confidence in many ways.

  • Passing a skill test gives a sense of accomplishment.
  • Sparring develops and tests strategy, speed, agility, and endurance.
  • Praise and positive feedback – and continual progress in the martial arts skills, visible in
    each student’s moves and techniques over time – are motivating results!
  • Getting to the next level and belt color can be a major milestone.
  • It can be a major tool against bullying, helping your kids defend themselves and be safe.

Knowing themselves and improving their abilities give your children the priceless gifts of self- confidence and self-reliance. They learn to have positive attitudes, goals, patience, and other virtues that are especially helpful when trying new things, dealing with problems and setbacks, and facing life’s challenges head-on.


Other benefits of learning karate

The fun practice of karate offers even more benefits to both children and adults who participate regularly. It can teach them many skills and instill leadership traits, in addition to improving their self-confidence.

  • Discipline
  • Physical fitness
  • Social skills
  • Respect
  • Listening
  • Self-esteem

Giving kids the opportunity to learn karate, or any martial arts form, might be the most formative, beneficial, and enduring gift you can give your child besides your love and care. Training, learning, winning, losing, and trying again through the interesting and motivating practice of karate will help them develop good habits and self-confidence. This often results in young people becoming positive, strong, responsible, and confident adults who are ready to take on life as leaders.

Building a Child’s Concentration

Posted on | by Jason

As an adult performing complex tasks, like studying in college or managing home finances, it is all too easy to take for granted the cognitive processes that go into performing them. The brainpower required to do complicated things develops rapidly through experience and practice, starting at a very young age. Improving children’s cognitive abilities can begin at the earliest stages of their sensory development.

Developing the ability to concentrate on particular tasks is absolutely critical for success in today’s over-stimulated, distracting environments, and those who do so at an early age have a leg up on their peers. By the time a child begins schooling, he or she needs to have developed cognitive ability that will allow him or her to perform tasks that may take a prolonged period of time. Consequently, developing focus and concentration at the pre-school level is very important. Here are some practical tips for parents to help their child or children develop concentration.

Creating a Plan

One of the best ways that a parent can go about measuring a child’s concentration levels is by creating a plan and a schedule. Over time, they should monitor their children and record whether and how much progress is being made. Once a plan has been created, parents should present logic or “thinking” tasks such as age-appropriate puzzles to their children, and encourage them to work on them for as long as possible.

Step By Step Approach

Initially, it is “normal” for a child may to have the ability to focus on a particular challenge for just a few minutes before giving up. However, parents should encourage their children to build their concentration, by ensuring that they stick to a task a little bit longer than they did in the past. This must be done in small steps to ensure that the child does not become exhausted or excessively frustrated. As time goes by, a child will naturally build concentration spans that hold them in good stead as they study further. It is also a good idea to get your toddler enrolled for karate classes. This will help in improving your child’s concentration power a great deal.

Rewards

It is also extremely important for children to feel rewarded for the work they have put into developing their mental faculties. Sincere and specific praise is a good example. At the next stage, parents might challenge their children to complete a puzzle, game, or task in a certain number of days while offering a greater incentive, such as the promise of a desirable toy or an
extra hour of television. Rewarding the child is entirely up to the parents as long as the reward is real and ultimately fulfilled when the challenge is complete.

Karate Class Structure Promotes Self-Discipline in Kids

Posted on | by Jason

Every child needs a certain amount of structure and routine in his or her life to feel fundamentally secure and confident. Lacking structure is detrimental to his or her growth. Structured activities encourage them to follow a lifestyle of discipline. A well-structured environment for children enables parents to create an atmosphere of authority and respect.

When we provide a structured environment for our children, we’re basically allowing them to figure out how the world works. They learn how to deal with failures and disappointments, as well as their powers and limitations. It gives them an opportunity to adopt skills and develop positive traits and habits that will be very useful to them in the long run.

How to provide a structured environment

The basic component of a structured environment is discipline. Expectations are clear. Misbehavior has consequences. Goals are set and met. Routine and order are upheld. Clearly, younger children require much more direct guidance than older ones. As a parent, it is your responsibility to decide how your child spends his or her time, and to arrange for his or her participation in wholesome learning activities. The earlier they learn to control themselves, obey rules, and show integrity and good manners, the stronger the results will be from their self-discipline becomes as they mature and set higher goals. Freedom and trust can be earned and re-earned gradually as they progress in maturity, stature, awareness, and responsibility.

Introducing a routine into your child’s life can help him or her become more disciplined and give them the ability to face challenges as they grow older. Change is an inevitable part of life and children experience many changes throughout their childhood. A fixed routine can give them a sense of comfort, predictability, and security. Once they master a particular routine, they can go on to try more challenging ones.

Karate as a structured environment

Karate is an excellent way to introduce a little structure into your child’s life. Karate is a highly disciplined art form that teaches students of all ages, especially kids, to control their focus at all times. Karate classes teach your children to respect authority, understand the risks and consequences of disobedience, and the importance of sticking to a routine. Karate follows strict rules concerning authority that are similar to the military. Your child will be taught to follow the teacher’s demonstrative instructions, and practice each move with sincerity until it can be replicated independently. This kind of self-discipline repeated over and over is value that will truly be beneficial to them in the long run. Karate teaches children that a disciplined approach is the only way to overcome challenges and limitations.