Best Martial Arts – Kids
Many people realize that practising martial arts for children can help with fitness, self-defence and other physical and mental benefits. Martial Arts are great for children who are not fans of team sports.
Many people think that enrolling children into Martial Arts will lead to an increase in aggressive behaviour. However, according to studies, Martial Arts actually increase children’s concentration and discipline.
It is a good form of exercise to help children become active in a positive way. Also, a good Martial Art Studio emphasizes kindness, honesty and respect. In some situations, Martial Arts help children to gain self-confidence and self-defence skills.
There are many types of Martial Arts available for children such as Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, Kungfu and many more. Each of the Martial Arts has its own advantage and disadvantage and the main issue is which one is the best for each individual child.
Choosing the best Martial Art for children is not easy. There are lots of factors to consider before choosing the right Martial Arts for children.
Which Martial Arts is the Best for Children?
According to studies, learning Martial Arts has a greater positive impact than the potential negatives, especially on personality development. Martial Arts also reduce aggressive and hostile behaviour.
The effects of Martial Arts can be different according to each of the Martial Art forms.
However, there are two types of Martial Arts which are considered as the best practice for children. Karate and Taekwondo are to be said as the two best martial arts practice for children.
These two Martial Arts have lots of benefits for children’s well-being and character development. Here are the differences between Karate and Taekwondo.
Karate
- This Martial Art originates from Japan. The basics of Karate includes blocking, striking and kicking.
- However, karate emphasizes self-defence and features fewer fancy kicks than other forms of Martial Arts.
- Karate is a safe activity to address excess energy for kids as well as let them set tangible goals.
- While they progress, they will move to another level and earn different coloured belts which create a visual representation of the achievements.
- The best age to start Karate is around 6 to 10 years old.
Taekwondo
- This Martial Art originates from Korea.
- The basics of Taekwondo is kicking, striking and blocking but this martial art emphasizes tournament fighting and competition skills more than Karate.
- The foundation of Taekwondo is self-respect and respect for fellow students and instructors.
- Children will be taught about controlling the mind as well as mind-body connection with breathing techniques.
- The best age to start taekwondo is around 7 to 12 years old.
Other Martial Arts for children
Besides Karate and Taekwondo, there are other types of Martial Art forms which are good for children such as Aikido, Jiu-jitsu and Judo. These Martial Arts do not promote aggressive behaviour in children.
Other Oriental Martial Arts such as Boxing, Weight Lifting and Wrestling are not recommended for children as it is feared to be associated with a negative impact on children’s behaviour, they can become violent and antisocial.
How to find the best Martial Arts for children
Even though there are studies showing Karate and Taekwondo as the best practice for children, choosing the best one is still a huge challenge for children.
Besides considering the child’s character, it is also important to take some of these points into consideration.
Safety
The most important point is the safety of the kids. The Martial Arts Studio where kids are learning should put safety first. This includes requiring the students to use a kids sports mouth guard and so on.
Choose the right studio
Different Martial Arts forms have a different style, technique and origin.
Parents should look closely to the Studio’s technique and philosophy. Asking the Studio’s philosophy and technique is actually far more important than focusing too much on Karate versus Taekwondo. A good Martial Art Studio is the place where children can learn Martial Art happily, not be fearful and they can love themselves and enjoy the training.
Try it out
Before enrolling children to a Martial Art Studio, it will be best to try it out first. Some Studios may give you a week or two try-out time to see if the kids love the training and situation. Having a trial period is also a great way to see if it is a good fit for the kids.
Some kids with too much energy to burn may not stay still during the lesson. However, you will still expect the instructor to be patient with this kind of kids instead of stand over them and yelling.
Editors Note:
I’m very keen on Martial Arts for all the reasons listed above, especially the discipline and concentration. My son did one trial session of Karate about a year ago but he wasn’t ready to start Karate yet. The Studio we tried offers 4 free trial sessions which I think is quite amazing.
Have you enrolled your child in a Martial Arts Studio? Which form of Martial Arts did you choose?
Image Sources: https://www.amazon.com/oralmart
https://www.oralmart.com/product/mouthguard-for-kids/
This post was published in partnership with Oral Mart.
Oral Mart Advantages
PREMIUM QUALITY
Our dual-layer sports mouth guards give you the best-customized fit (Inner Gel Layer) and the most superior impact resistance (Outer Impact layer).
SUPERIOR DESIGN
Our in-house designers come up with superior design and our customers totally in love with our sports mouth guards.
2 SIZES / 9 BEST COLORS
2 different Sizes, Youth & Adult, and 9 most popular colours for customers to choose from to match their team colours.
PASS ALL SAFETY TESTS
High-quality 2-layer BPA-free sports mouth guards give you maximum protection for any contact sports and the instruction is super easy to follow.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
We listen to our customers carefully and we work with our manufacturer closely who can address any issues immediately.
Connect with Oral Mart on:
