The Benefits of Karate For Your Child
Karate offers numerous physical, emotional, and psychosocial benefits for children. Martial arts are unique in their broad ability to assist with critical elements of childhood development.
Physical Fitness:
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of karate is the development of physical fitness in the student. Karate involves various movements, exercises, and techniques that enhance flexibility, strength, coordination, and balance. Regular practice helps to develop a child’s overall physical fitness, motor skill/control, and hand-eye coordination.
Karate is a year round sport – there is no “season” for karate, however we have many students that do multiple sports while in karate. We have found that Karate’s physical development potential helps prepare children for participation in a wide range of physical activity.
Emotional Regulation:
Karate helps teach children how to manage their emotions and channel their energy in a positive manner. It promotes self-control and helps children understand the importance of patience and calmness.
Discipline and Focus:
Karate instills discipline and helps children develop the ability to pay attention to instructions and execute those instructions. For a younger student, this can be a simple one or two step task, for older students the tasks can require many more steps, as well as decision making along the way. Focus and Discipline are critical skills which can carry over to other areas of a child’s life including school and home.
Self-confidence:
Self-Confidence is a growing concern in our society. Social media has created a challenging environment for today’s youth. A healthy level of self-confidence helps children navigate the “uncharted waters” they will encounter as the grow and mature. As children training and achieve each new belt level, they gain a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence. Within our 8-week belt cycle, numerous opportunities exist for child to set and reach intermediary goals. The resulting confidence and self-esteem increase sets the stage for a child to have positive social interactions with peers.
Goal-setting and Perseverance:
The belt-ranking system in karate encourages children to set goals and work consistently towards achieving them. We encourage regular attendance over our 8-week cycle and provide achievement belt-tips every two weeks for Kicks (week 2), Combinations (week 4), and Kata (week 6). The focus on incremental improvements and the ‘Big Goal’ of earning the next belt (week 8) helps develop perseverance, as they learn that progress comes with effort and practice.
Respect and Courtesy:
Karate emphasizes respect for instructors, peers, and the art itself. Children are taught to bow when entering and leaving the dojo, listen to their instructors, affirm commands with confidence, and treat others with kindness and courtesy. Many parents of children in our program have been able to leverage the expectations set for behavior in the dojo, into home based situations – helping to improve behavior and compliance with rules and expectations.
Social Skills and Teamwork:
Karate classes provide opportunities for children to interact with their peers and instructors in a structured and respectful environment. They learn how to work with others, take turns, and cooperate during partner exercises and group activities. Our programs do not promote physical contact between students until the students earn their Orange Belt. All Little Dragons work with and instructor for any hands on skill practice.
Self-defense Skills:
Many parents ask why we do not list “self Defense” as the primary benefit of Karate. Our curriculum does teach self-defense techniques at all belt levels. However, for our younger students, self-defense is not initially our goal. We must build confidence, skill, and the concepts of humility and respect in our students before they are taught the implements of “physical” self-defense. The foundational developmental benefits listed so far, provide a springboard for our students as they progress in belt-rank and learn the more practical applications of martial arts for self-defense and life.