Engaging Physical Activity

As a parent who is concerned with raising a well-rounded child, you don’t let the television babysit your kids or allow them too much screen time. You know that loafing after school doesn’t contribute to learning nor does it enhance their life in any way. But, as a working parent, your child’s afternoon activities are at the mercy of the childcare provider you can afford. When your kid attends martial arts after-school programs, your child will be physically active the entire time. The best part is that martial arts is fun and engaging, so they won’t even realize they are working out. The physical activity will help your child maintain a healthy body weight and help them sleep better.

Proven to Raise Grades

Training in martial arts has been proven to help improve your student’s grades. No, we don’t do your kid’s homework for them and we don’t tutor while we kick, but the correlation between training in martial arts and academic performance has been strongly linked. Martial arts training helps children do better in school. Links between the discipline, focus, and problem-solving that martial arts require and how that translates into academic work has been studied by scholars for centuries. Additionally, it is well understood that physical activity promotes healthy blood flow to the brain, which helps students focus and concentrate. We also believe that when a child is physically satiated and energy levels are balanced, it makes them better equipped to sit still and read and retain information. Martial arts training gives children confidence and can help raise their self-esteem, allowing them to answer and ask more questions, promoting better academic performance.

Prevents Bullying

Martial arts has been proven effective at preventing and curbing bullying when practiced by both bullies and the bullied. Children who have been bullied often lack the self-confidence it takes to be resilient to bullying or stand up for themselves. Martial arts training promotes a positive self-image and helps build self-esteem, allowing kids to become more confident and self-assured. A big part of martial arts training is learning to never use the discipline as a weapon, but to anticipate your opponent’s actions and react if need be to defend yourself or others.

Many bullies bully other children because they are lacking in some basic need — love, safety, respect, etc. During martial arts training, kids learn about respect — for themselves and others — discipline, and self-control. The mindful discipline that martial arts requires refocuses energy while offering a healthy outlet for negative emotions. Moving up the levels and achieving belts helps to instill a sense of pride that may be lacking in a bully’s life. Martial arts teaches purposeful intention and offers a sense of calm and peace found little elsewhere. Martial arts also gives children access to positive adult role models and skills that are useful in other applications of life.

Okay, so we whittled the list down to the top three reasons that should do their job at enticing you, but there are so many other great reasons, including:

• Increases family time by completing extra-curricular activities before your workday ends.
• Ability to make friends outside their academic circle.
• Same cost as after-school childcare.
• Develops lifelong skills your child can’t learn elsewhere.
• Offers positive adult role models in your child’s life.

If these top three reasons and the bonus reasons don’t convince you, check out our other posts on what martial arts can do for your kids including 5 Things Martial Arts Teaches Kids.

If you are interested in enrolling your children in after school martial arts training, contact us at Infinity Martial Arts to get started today!