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How can learning Taekwondo help my children?
Children learn to control themselves by learning increased control of their bodies and learning to respect themselves and others. This results in a greater self-esteem which is known to be a major factor in promoting things such as higher grades, improved behavior and a healthy respect for others. Through training children learn courtesy, how to persevere and how to set high goals and to achieve these goals. How long will I have to study Taekwondo before I can use what I have learned to defend myself?
Generally, you learn the basics of self defense in your first couple of classes. These will assist you should you need to defend yourself, but the more you practice the better prepared you will be. Many studies of shown that it will require between 100 and 150 hours of good training to make what you practice a learned, disciplined reaction. This means that generally speaking within six months (of dedicated practice) to a year you should be better equipped and more confident to defend yourself because of the techniques that you have learned will be second nature |
Taekwondo has what parents WANT!
Self Discipline
Increased Focus Greater Self Confidence A Better Working Body Who wouldn’t want these things for their children or themselves? Practicing taekwondo at Southern Dragon Taekwondo is about physical fitness, character development (courtesy (Ye Ui), integrity (Yom Chi), perseverance (In Nae), self-control (Guk Gi), indomitable spirit (Baekjul Boolgool) ) and self defense, not just kicking and punching. Many people think that training in the marital arts will make them better fighters, while it will definitely train them to defend and protect themselves, it is much more than that. At Southern Dragon Taekwondo, we focus on personal development of each student. Almost half of the 6 million participants in martial arts are children ages 6-17, according to statistics from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. And it’s not unusual for the whole family to get involved — about one-third of the students are adults. Universal Benefits of Martial Arts Improved physical fitness: Make no mistake. Martial arts is a great workout! It is a total body workout — your stamina, muscle tone, flexibility, balance and strength will all show signs of improvement. Enhanced self-esteem: By learning these skills and improving your physical condition, you become more comfortable in all situations — whether you’re in danger or simply doing a task that takes you beyond your comfort zone. Kids have a new sense of self confidence, making them virtually “bully proof.” Increased focus and concentration: From the very first day of class, students are challenged to think as much as they act. Learning the forms and movements reinforces working memory. That’s why the Mayo Clinic specifically counts the marital arts of karate and taekwondo among the effective therapies for ADD and ADHD. Increased social skills: Martial arts strongly emphasize self discipline and self control as a core component of its teachings. Self leadership and the ability to deal with others in a mature way is the result. Stress relief: Kicking, punching and screaming are a great release, no matter what your age. Respect for values: Courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit are some curriculum areas of focus. These qualities help both children and adults become great leaders. Our mission at Southern Dragon is to to build strong minds, bodies and help build future leaders. |
Why the Martial Arts?
There is a reason why Oprah, Dr Phil, Dr Laura Schlesinger, Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser), Tony Robbins, pediatricians, child physiologists, and educators the world over all have alluded to the fact that Martial Arts is one of the most valuable things you can involve your child in.
It goes way beyond self defense and can help a child in nearly every aspect of their life. Improved health and fitness, athletic enhancement, increased confidence, better concentration, better behavior, more courteous and respectful; martial arts can help in all these areas. Does this sound too good to be true? It’s not. As a matter of fact, many experts agree that in this day and age of escalating childhood obesity, increased playground violence and deteriorating family structure, if you do nothing else for your child, you should make sure that they learn how to swim and they learn martial arts. Here's Why!! Self Defense – “Practice the fight so that you don’t have to” is a phrase that is often used to describe the self defense benefits of martial arts training. It refers to the fact that as a child becomes more confident in their ability to defend themselves thru martial arts training. The need to defend themselves automatically decreases because they unconsciously begin to carry themselves in a more confident manner and that confidence is projected to those around them, making them less vulnerable to predatory behavior. On top of that, martial arts’ training includes strategic self defense as well as actual self defense. Children are taught how to recognize a potentially dangerous situation and how to avoid confrontations. Athletic Enhancement – It is amazingly effective in enhancing general coordination because it uses every part of the body in a balanced way. Upper body, lower body, right side, left side, forward movement, lateral movement, rotational movement, it’s all included in martial arts training. Fitness - The three pieces of the fitness puzzle are strength, flexibility and endurance. Martial arts training demand a balance between the three. Therefore, a child who trains in martial arts will find their deficiencies greatly enhanced. Also, because of the balance in the three pieces of the fitness puzzle, they are less likely to injure themselves while participating in other athletic endeavors. Health - Martial arts training is a proven link to better health for people of all ages, but especially children for several reasons. First off, it is great exercise. But because it is fun, kids don’t mind doing it. Discussing diet and lifestyle habits with students is a part of martial arts training, so children who grow up training develop healthy habits that will stick with them for life. Concentration - Very few activities engage the mind, body and spirit more than martial arts. Because of this, a child’s ability to concentrate is greatly enhanced by their martial arts training and this concentration tends to be easily transferable to other activities. Respect and Courtesy – Due to the fact that martial arts teaches techniques that could be harmful to others if applied, martial arts instructors are obliged to stress the importance of respect, courtesy, and restraint. It has been proven time and again that children who are skilled in martial arts tend to be extremely respectful, considerate and composed. Confidence - Martial arts virtually always lends to increased confidence in children for a couple of specific reasons. First off, there are no bench sitters, every child participates and is judged not against others but more importantly, against their own potential. Secondly, the structure of martial arts is built on the concept of setting children up for success by giving them a series of realistic, short term goals that they can attain quickly while keeping them focused on an exciting, long term goal. Each time they experience success, their confidence improves until they tend to believe that with hard work and dedication, they can accomplish just about anything. |