Self defence for children

  Self defence is sometimes an essential skill to have today — sadly, bullying in school is still a huge problem, so it's important to ensure that your child can defend him or herself if necessary. It not only allows children to protect themselves against physical attacks, but also prepares them for other challenges in everyday life — values and principles can be learned. Martial arts don’t just teach self-defence — they encourage hard work, dedication and perseverance. You also learn teamwork and the value of good friendship, as well as the trust that comes with it.

Naturally, children go through many stages of development, so it's best that you explain to your child the correct principles of self-defence. Here are some reasons why self-defence is an important skill to learn for children.

Discipline and responsibility

 One of the most important lessons martial arts teach our children is discipline and responsibility. After all, individuals must be self-disciplined and responsible for their actions. The earlier we learn this, the better. Give your child a sense of accountability by getting them on a martial arts course.

In real life, not everything goes the way you want it. There are often challenges and obstacles — roadblocks that stop you progressing. It's how we choose to deal with these issues that determines whether we succeed or fail. Martial arts teach our children to take the knocks and, no matter how hard or how far they've fallen, to get up, dust themselves off and carry on.

Empowerment

 Bullying is understandably every parent’s nightmare. We hear so much about it happening, and we dread the day we find out that our child is being bullied (or is a bully).

 Despite schools making considerable efforts to stop bullying, sadly it still exists today and is somehow as big a problem as it has ever been. Now, while we have the power to end bullying by developing our children’s social skills, any given child can be a target. One way to develop our children’s social skills and give them protection is through the practice of martial arts that will enable a child to develop self-confidence, self-discipline and self-respect, as well as respect for others. Empower your children with martial arts and see the immediate positive effect it has on their lives. Because the change will come from within themselves, acquiring these essential personality traits will help stop the bullying, hopefully forever.

Values and principles

 Through overcoming obstacles and allowing us to have a deep look inside our own capabilities, martial arts make sure we learn many of life’s most important lessons, as well as instilling a lot of important values and principles. These include integrity, humility, honour, respect, courage and discipline. Another important principle is the significance and acknowledgment of failure. All through life, people are bound to fail, but martial arts teach us to embrace failure and see it as an opportunity to improve ourselves.

Serenity

 Finally, a huge part of learning martial arts is the path to serenity — physical, mental and spiritual. Through martial arts, you'll be able to equip your child with the proper values they need to become good members of society. Additionally having a fun activity to go to occasionally is enjoyable and healthy for your child.