Effects of Technology

Some experts have concluded that the reason why many children today have trouble focusing on tasks for long periods is due to a ‘glancing culture’ that has proliferated as technology
has advanced. The ways in which they interact with digital media have by and large reduced their ability to focus on ordinary or repetitive tasks, and to persevere through less stimulating activities like studying. Video games and social media like Facebook and Twitter can be entertaining and educational, but aside from specific applications, they generally do not assist with cognitive development in a child. In the past, children were encouraged to play games that build cognition among other skills, but that trend has diminished across the United States.

The ability to focus on a particular task, project, or lesson has a direct bearing on the amount of information a growing child can retain and later apply. The capacity to filter out irrelevant distraction and tune oneself to a particular project helps develop self-control in a child as well.

(Good and Consistent) Practice Makes Perfect

Developing a child’s focus is like developing any kind of muscle in the body. More than anything, it takes a whole lot of practice! Parents and pre-school teachers are advised to schedule tasks and activities that help develop a child’s mental faculties. In certain cases, this may be as simple as scheduling time slots where children are required to play particular cognition-building games such as puzzles, riddles, brainteasers, and so on. Some experts believe that even a few moments of silent meditation can do wonders for developing a child’s ability to focus.

While it is extremely important to ensure that children are integrating skills that allow them to focus, one should also keep in mind that they may get exhausted from time to time as well. As a parent or a pre-school teacher, one should regularly schedule breaks where children can relax and rejuvenate both body and mind between tasks.

Even from the youngest age, a child will naturally try to gain some form of independence. Independence traits in a child may be exhibited in small ways, such as insisting on choosing their own clothes, pouring their own beverages, or even going to the bathroom unaccompanied. As a parent, it is crucial that you encourage the choices that your child makes (when appropriate) rather than continually questioning or discouraging them.

Different kinds of independence

Developing self-reliant children can occur in a variety of ways. In many households, children are required to perform tasks on their own just as a matter of circumstance or style of living. In these cases, independence becomes quite a natural trait, leading to children becoming intrinsically motivated. Professionally-supervised activities that focus on self-improvement, such as karate training, are proven to give children a sense of independence and individual accomplishment.

In other cases, developing a child’s sense of independence may require parents to provide some kind of incentive or reward, like a trip to the park or arcade, an extra hour of TV time, or similar. Parents need to be careful in choosing the rewards, though: over-rewarding can be as detrimental to his or her developmental processes as neglecting to offer praise and feedback at all.

Balancing love and practicality

Ultimately, developing a sense of independence in your child means striking a keen balance between supporting them 100% and giving them the freedom to win or lose on their own occasionally. These two sides of the parenting coin are not mutually exclusive. Understanding the cognitive development level of your child at each age is also important, especially when it comes to choosing which tasks you would like your child to perform independently and which tasks he or she will still require some assistance with. As a child grows and becomes familiar with performing certain tasks on his or her own, you can then encourage them to get involved with more complex tasks to further build their independence quotient.

For a better future

Teaching children how to have a positive attitude for approaching life situations at the earliest ages will do wonders for their growth in the future. Fortunately there are some simple ways that parents can help their children realize the true worth of having a positive attitude – and sticking by it – especially when the chips are down.

Some experts have suggested that one of the best ways that children learn about positive attitudes is simply observing and discussing behaviors of positive people around them. As a parent, you may want to periodically encourage your child to to think about how certain ‘optimistic’ or ‘positive’ people in their lives are similar. In doing so, a child may come to realize a number of similarities and choose to develop those positive traits in themselves.

Keeping track

Another important technique that parents use is encouraging their children to keep track of their attitudes from day to day. Does a child behave differently on different days? Which attitude makes them happier? Moreover, when facing a difficulty, is there something a child can do to turn his or her attitude around? Can they influence the attitudes of their teammates or opponents? Over time, children will be able to better answer these questions to the point where the lessons become internalized. Taking up classes like music or karate will help boost the spirit, language, and environment of positivity in your child.

Finally, having a positive attitude also means taking responsibility for the particular situation that one is in. A parent should encourage his or her child to think about the ways in which an obstacle can be conquered, rather than just telling him or her what to do. Children must learn to view difficulties as challenges rather than anchors in their lives, and tackle them head on. It is the most gratifying thing to have conquered hardships on one’s own.

As a resident in one of the many cities in the United States, it is unlikely that carjacking is something you think about on a daily basis. However, the reality is that like most crimes carjacking occurs quite frequently. Being prepared for a carjacking is absolutely crucial. Fortunately there are some simple ways to prepare yourself for such a frightening situation.

Staying calm

The first thing to remember during a potential carjacking scenario is to keep your wits about you. There are a number of techniques that carjackers use to lure you out and away from your vehicle. A carjacker might bump into the rear of your vehicle, encouraging you to get out. Alternatively, they might have accomplices who request you to leave your vehicle and provide them with help in the form of a small favor like carrying a heavy item.

These instincts for detecting criminal intent do not come naturally to most people. In such cases, it may be wise to undertake some degree of self-defense training to sharpen awareness and rehearse your response. Self-defense training and martial arts will help you keep track of your surroundings, and place yourself in positions where you cannot easily be taken advantage of. You will learn to evaluate your environment especially with regard to the people around you.

Knowing your objective

Perhaps one of the most important things to remember during a carjacking situation is not to be a hero. If you have identified a carjacking taking place, any self-defense trainer will explain to you that you should do as little as possible in the way of confrontation before making an escape. It is extremely difficult to predict what a criminal might do, especially if there are firearms or other weapons involved. If you do find yourself involved in a carjacking, assess the situation and determine whether you can perform a simple self-defense technique before escaping. Remember that your first priority should be the safety of you and your loved ones.

Steps to make your child feel secure and confident

• The most basic step is to appreciate and praise your child when he or she does something good or completes a given task. Giving him or her the required attention can boost his or her sense of security and self-confidence.
• Listening is an art form in which most of us fail miserably! But you can’t afford to fail at it when it comes to children. When you listen to your children you’re basically opening the doorway to fruitful communication and trust with them. It not only shows that you care but also provides you with an opportunity to explain things to them.
• Correct yourself in front of your children when you make a mistake. This will provide
  them with a positive frame of reference that teaches them to learn from their failures, correct mistakes, and make amends for their wrongdoings.
• Build a bond with your child. Share and engage in activities with them. This will help your child trust you and feel secure around you knowing that you’re always there for them.
• Express your love physically. As they are too young to understand complex human emotions, children rely on physical touch to express their love and affection. So hugging, kissing, and high-fiving your child is a good way to reciprocate their affection.

Karate builds security and confidence

You might ask how karate can help your child feel secure and confident. Karate is an art form founded on the values of discipline, hard work, motivation, and goal-setting. Learning karate allows your children to develop a sense of accomplishment through goal-setting, achievement, reward, and growth of knowledge, ability, and self-reliance. Your child will learn to compete in a positive environment with other children, which will not only boost
his or her confidence but also teach him or her to handle defeat constructively and with good sportsmanship. With intense training and hard work, karate will instill in them a sense of confidence and security that will last a long, healthy, and successful lifetime.

Maybe you started working out at a conventional gym a couple of years ago. Like many others, you probably got great, motivating results – at first. And perhaps not unlike them, you eventually “reached a plateau” somewhere – seeing fewer returns from your effort and resources. If this sounds familiar, training at a reputable Martial Arts school could be just the thing to get your fitness progress back in gear.

Training in a quality program provides students a well-rounded, comprehensive program for complete fitness. By practicing Martial Arts, you become faster, stronger, leaner, and more flexible while simultaneously reducing stress and increasing your level of cardiovascular fitness. Training in Martial Arts allows you to feel more “in tune” with your body than ever before. Martial Arts are a holistic practice. Along this bodily accord comes a new sense of mental and spiritual calm, paradoxically giving you the capacity for explosive power. Many students find this mental, physical, and spiritual clarity carries over into every aspect of their lives.

Friendly, experienced instructors work with students individually and as groups to achieve their personal fitness goals at your own preferred pace. People are different. A trained instructor will understand that what works for one student may not work as well for another. Fortunately, the Martial Arts provide effective, enjoyable exercise for all fitness levels, goals, and schedules.

If you’re bored lifting weights, spinning, or climbing stairs for hours on end, or feel frustrated by a lack of discernible results, Martial Arts training could be the ideal solution. Martial Arts classes offer students an excellent means of achieving the best physical fitness of their lives while simultaneously providing them with the tools not only to defend themselves, but also to grow as individuals.

Training in Martial Arts is far more holistic than merely going to a gym three times a week to run on a treadmill or lift weights. The martial arts demand mental, physical and even spiritual fitness. Mastering Martial Arts techniques can have a very uplifting effect on your attitude and, to some degree, even reshape your view of the world around you.

At top quality Martial Arts facilities, there is little room for negativity. Students are encouraged to check their problems at the door. Though classes are about learning fighting and self-defense techniques, to a high degree they are also about generating positivity and uplifting student’s attitudes.

Martial Arts require that students push back the limits of their own boundaries and grow in ways they may have never thought possible. Along with this personal growth comes a re-evaluation of views of ourselves. Many students find that, over time, they are much more stronger, more capable and more flexible (both mentally and physically) than they previously imagined. Achieving this revised view of one’s self image through Martial Arts can have an enormously positive effect on self-perceptions and outward attitudes.

As students continue to study, learn and grow Martial Arts, they train their minds to see the world in new and different ways, sometimes out-growing old attitudes and adapting new ones. Bruce Lee was fond of saying that in Martial Arts the students efforts are not directed towards some imaginary opponent but rather to an outdated version of themselves. Consider Martial Arts as a trial by fire. By training hard, students throw themselves into that fire and forge stronger bodies, improved attitudes, and new views of the world around them – and their roles in it!

Thankfully most students will never be called upon to use the Martial Arts they learn in street fights or self-defense scenarios. It’s clear that self-defense alone isn’t the reason most people stay in the Martial Arts for years and years. The obesity-busting, whole body fitness that comes from training. The reliable, stress-relieving fun with nice friends with similar goals. The uplifts to their attitudes, with courtesy, support, positivity, and fellowship. The steady application of goal-setting and achieving skills in academic and career pursuits with winning results.

The list goes on and so does the intensely fun, uplifting, motivating, and rewarding practice at your local Martial Arts schools! By learning to appreciate one’s own physical and mental struggles in training, a sense of respect for the struggles faced by others starts to develop, leading to more considerate behavior.

Students inevitably find out that there is always someone “better” than them – at free sparring, board breaking, performing moves, etc. and to always either win or learn. They learn to appreciate their teachers, parents, peers, and other people and things. This new framework for viewing and acting often leads Martial Artists to stand out as leaders and contributors in their social circles, classes, workplaces, families, and communities.

Martial Arts and Respect

There are a number of key principles that underlie and unify traditional Martial Arts training programs. Most systems promote a culture of courtesy and self-discipline, and invariably deliver to committed students greater self-esteem and improved self-confidence. However, there is one main principle that is fundamental and integral to all the others: respect – showing it and earning it.

Respect is a philosophical cornerstone of most reputable, traditional Martial Art training facilities.
In concept and practice, respect is key to how martial arts can help improve people’s lives. This is particularly true with regard to children and teen students, whose perceptions, attitudes, and interpersonal skills are being influenced and developed.

Traditional styles of Martial Arts generally offer programs for kids and teens designed to promote positive behavior both on and off the training mat. The considerate, self-controlled, active-listening, respectful manner in which instructors, staff, and students conduct training and interactions usually has a powerful effect on a students’ outlooks and other aspects of their lives.

In quality Martial Arts classes for children and adults, students experience and contribute to an environment of mutual respect and self-respect. Seeing the behavior modeled in class is useful, but
the lessons are reinforced when parents demonstrate self-respect and courtesy for others in their daily interactions. Because kids usually do what they see, we must be mindful to make showing respect for all a natural habit.

Martial Arts, Discipline, and Respect

Just as in most other educational, career and personal pursuits, when practicing and studying Martial Arts the maxim “you get out of it what you put into it” applies. Martial Arts offer so much more in terms of power and growth than simply learning how to kick or punch someone. Martial Arts challenge individuals to push their own personal boundaries and go beyond them. Reaching any ambitious goal such as earning a Black Belt requires hard work, discipline, and perseverance. Fulfilling these requirements to improve ourselves as Martial Artists is invaluable experience that develops a work ethic, confidence, and sense of determination that serves us well in all aspects and stages of life. The respect that students develop for their teachers, fellow students, and their own abilities is projected, shared, and applied to our interpersonal relationships at work, home, school, and in the community. The practice of showing and earning respect for others leads most Martial Arts students to become better citizens, better leaders, and better people overall.

Change your schedule

If you usually exercise in the evening, set your alarm thirty minutes early and get your exercise session out of the way before your day begins. An early morning exercise session will help energize and motivate you for the rest of the day. Plus, you can look forward to a relaxing evening knowing you’ve accomplished your goal. This can be a simple solution to the problem of being too tired to work out.

Sometimes the best cure for sluggishness or fatigue is a vigorous exercise session. Have you ever noticed how you can walk into your Martial Arts class (Taekwondo, Krav Maga, Karate, etc.) hopelessly exhausted, but after thirty minutes, you feel energized and invigorated? Exercise gets your blood flowing and zaps fatigue. Classes are designed to be both mentally and physically challenging. If you need motivation to lure yourself to class, promise yourself a small reward after you finish, like a long, relaxing bath or 20 minutes with your favorite book; just make sure it’s not a hot fudge sundae!

If it is only occasionally that you find yourself too tired to work out, go ahead and work out, but less vigorously. To help you to take the first step, tell yourself you’ll only exercise for ten minutes. Chances are you won’t notice when the ten minutes have passed; you’ll feel so invigorated that you’ll want to keep going.

You can always change your routine temporarily to get rid of the boredom by substituting something fun. Go outside for a brisk walk. Shoot hoops in the driveway. Ride your bike to the local store. You can get back on schedule the next time you exercise and the variety will be good for you both physically and mentally.

If you still find yourself “too tired,” talk to your instructor about ways to exercise outside of class that will also benefit your Martial Arts skills. Give these tips a try and soon you’ll no longer need the old excuse of being too tired to work out. Plus, you’ll look and feel like a new person.

Childhood obesity is be a complex and multi-faceted problem. Martial Arts, contrary to what many people believe, have less to do with violence and more to do with self-improvement.

It may sound cliché, but once embraced, Martial Arts for many become an overwhelmingly positive “way of life!” The physical practice of martial arts incorporates many aspects leading to fitness and well-being, including strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, and becoming more agile, energetic, and in control of the body. Together, these elements of Martial Arts training are a very powerful tool in combating childhood obesity.

A reputable Martial Arts school will have qualified staff who diligently commit to each and every student to help him or her reach the top of his or her potential, not just on the mats and in the ring, but in all walks of life. In quality kids, teen, and adult Martial Arts programs, instructors work with individuals to help them derive from Martial Arts the benefits most crucial to leading healthy, happy, and productive lives.

When it comes to combating childhood obesity, great role models and trusted teachers encourage behaviors within the walls of the Martial Arts studio that are typically carried over into every aspect of students’ lives. Martial Arts training is even more beneficial with instruction and practice of virtues like self-control, self-discipline, and self-respect. Instructors typically also promote constructive behavior, temptation resistance, and moderation of consumption.

Childhood obesity is a very serious problem but it can be subdued and conquered. Addressing it is the responsibility not just of parents and kids themselves, but of the whole community. We must set a good example and provide an atmosphere that encourages healthy development and lifestyle choices. Martial Arts are among the most powerful tools at our disposal to halt and reverse this harmful, ongoing trend.