Martial Arts will help you to discover your body’s natural rhythm and the ways to make them much more effective. To achieve this, you will be taught body weight techniques.

Its that time of the year again. The cold of winter has made your body unfit and you do not like visiting the gym as they bore you to the bone. You are not alone. Many people happen to be in the same predicament. No wonder, so many people have been signing up for martial arts training. You see Martial Arts glorified in movies, but it is also energizing to practice in real life. If you are a nerd, and physical activity is furthest from your mind, then martial arts are perfect for you. These arts will teach you how to make speed your friend when faced with an opponent much bigger than you. Brain wins over brawn-every time!

Outwit, Outlast

You will be taught how to use speed to win in seemingly insurmountable situations. You will also get stronger with every passing day. Martial arts are ideal for underdogs. As an underdog, you will learn how to trump the big, bad guys. This is why Martial Arts is such a useful tool to learn for self defense and bully prevention. You will learn how to move and when to take action. Only the most effective attacks and also counter-attacks will be taught to you.

Speed Is More

According to popular lore, many Martial Arts were invented by women. This is the reason these movements are based on efficiency and speed- and not on brute strength. You simply need to memorize forms and practice them until they are perfect. Certain techniques of moving should be adhered to. Such actions need a high level of concentration- and this could actually be good for you. This is much better than punching on a dummy, an action needing minimal brain.

Maybe it is time you finally got yourself enrolled and started taking Martial Arts classes as well. The benefits are a great tools to have and will help you excel at your daily routines!

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Focusing only on the goal and not having a plan of action with each step chalked out in a major mistake most of us are guilty of. For example, if you decide that you want to lost a certain number of kilos by the end of Spring. The big problem with such a goal is that if we fail to achieve the desired target within the timeline, we think of ourselves as a failure. We give up entirely on our fitness goals, and go back to our usual way of life.

A more effective way to go about achieving your weight loss goal, would be to set more realistic expectations. For example, you say that you are going to work towards losing some weight by the end of Spring. And then you create a plan on how you can achieve your goal. Create a schedule and work according to it. It is a lot easier to work with smaller and more immediate goals, than an ultimate goal.

Instead of setting the final result as a desired goal, pay more attention to the process itself. The result will take care of itself. It means you do not have to set a goal of losing 10 kilograms within two months. Set up a regular exercise schedule instead. You will soon see your body get fitter as the fat gets exercised away. You will not only be more confident, but will also inculcate better fitness habits. At the end of it, you may not even lose 10 kilograms, but you have achieved what you have always wanted- a healthier and fitter you! Best of all, you will feel like a winner.

This tactic can be used in your professional life as well. Do not set unrealistic expectations. Take it a day at a time and try to increase your goals each day. In the end, you will not be disheartened, and your stress levels will also be low as you are working with a comfortable schedule.

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Managing Social Interaction

Many parents think that setting up as many ‘play dates’ (interaction with other kids) for their children as possible will naturally allow them to develop their social skills. However, such social gatherings have limits on the growth children can experience from them.

In order to build well-rounded social skills, parents need to strike a balance between social interaction and guidance. If a child is constantly around his or her peers, receiving little guidance regarding the things he sees, hears, does, and says, then self-image, self-respect, and strong values are difficult to achieve. Children often do not fully understand complex concepts like empathy, compassion, and even self-control. It is therefore the parents’ responsibility to educate their children on proper social etiquette, courtesy, and behavior. In order to achieve this, parents should ‘casually’ monitor their children when interacting with peers of the same age and give advice, praise, or mild correction when needed.

Guidance

Guiding a child is very different from reprimanding them. While it may be necessary to reprimand a child on certain occasions, what is most important for the parent is to put themselves in the place of the child. Seeing things through the eyes of a child can be quite difficult, but treating a child with care and compassion is extremely important in relation to social skill building. Moreover, as a child grows, his or her thoughts become increasingly complex. Unless they are encouraged to verbalize them, they will never truly be able to articulate them properly. Parents should practice putting thoughts and feelings into words with their children from time to time.

Risks of Low Social Interaction

At the other extreme, there is always the risk of too little exposure to peers. If a child or adolescent does not get enough chances to meet and play with kids his or her own age, he or she can easily lose or even fail to develop social perspective. He or she will not recognize cues on how to behave in social settings and relationships, sometimes leading to outbursts, missteps, and
misbehavior. Fortunately this is a handicap that can often be avoided by involvement in partner or group activities, clubs or groups, sports, free play, and so on. Failing to develop satisfactory social skills can lead to poor habits and reclusive tendencies, ultimately preventing success by various measures among other ill effects such as susceptibility to peer abuse (bullying).
In addition to regular academics, many parents rely on pre-school karate classes to help their children develop strong social skills at an early age.

Respect for people and things

Respect comes in a wide variety of forms. For example, children must be taught to be behave with respect for the possessions of other children. They must be taught a healthy respect for their elders and authorities. As a family, it is of paramount importance to develop a culture of mutual respect within the home itself. There are a number of great strategies that parents use at home for this purpose.

Perhaps the most effective way parents teach their children to behave respectfully is by being respectful themselves. Children typically mimic their parents’ behavior – good or bad, so being a role model and showing integrity, courtesy, and respect in their company are very powerful lessons. Whether it is simply being polite to strangers or being thoughtful and considerate of friends and family, with proper and consistent role models, most children gradually learn to deal with the people and environment around them in healthy, productive, and amicable ways.

Reinforcing respect

When a child displays respect, it is important for parents to acknowledge and commend him or her. Receiving praise and feeling gratified for performing a task correctly or behaving in the appropriate manner helps children of all ages develop self-esteem and self-respect, benefits they will seek to earn over and over. Highlighting appropriate behavior and good manners helps children internalize them. In some cases, a display of respect may even warrant a reward in some material form.

In some cases, it may be required to reprimand a child for inappropriate behavior. Choosing when to punish and when not to is extremely important for parents. Parents must understand that different children learn in different ways, and this may take time as well. Understanding how a child thinks and behaves is the first step toward choosing the specific ways and means of developing this fundamental and vital character trait.


Manners Teach Respect

At the root of courteous speech lives a sense of respect, comprehension of the ‘golden rule’. Making a habit of saying and doing polite things that show humility and gratitude naturally helps build respect for and from the people around you – and for yourself as well. Basic respect begins with acknowledging and accepting differences between people and knowing yourself as part of a community. A deeper understanding of respect is needed for maximum benefit, but the concept can be quite difficult to isolate and teach. Some lessons can be taught very well to small groups in the classroom or training facility, but genuine respect is something that each child ultimately learns through his or her experiences.

A well-mannered child, adolescent, or teen automatically implies a good upbringing – a person raised with the blessing of caring, respectable parents, perhaps a person who is trustworthy. But the benefits of good manners actually go far beyond that. Developing good manners in a child can go a long way toward ensuring a secure future for them. Good manners can make or break an opportunity, whether in their educational and career pursuits or important interpersonal relationships throughout their lives. Manners help formulate a positive outlook in children and adults that is often admired and reciprocated.

Manners and Society

While manners are certainly important to a child, a well-mannered child can have a significant impact on the reputation of the parents and family as well. Whether we like it or not, building a good reputation among your co-workers, peer groups, and society in general is vital to enjoying a healthy lifestyle with economic and social growth.

At the end of the day, all parents have a duty to educate their children on the importance and value of courtesy. For a child to begin to learn the value of good manners, he or she has to understand ‘why’ he or she is being instructed and reminded to say and do the mannerly things. Courtesy and discipline are often practiced in age-appropriate karate classes, which many parents find helps instill this valuable trait, behavior, and outlook in their children. Raising well-
mannered children helps them to become successful, honorable, and valued members of society in the future.

In many cases, development of these life skills happens quite naturally, particularly when consistently monitored and encouraged or corrected. To an adult, these skills and traits might seem mundane or trivial, but incremental development of them can have a profoundly positive impact on their futures.

What Skills To Build

Even ordinary tasks as simple as putting one’s clean clothes away carefully or washing their hands before eating a meal are hugely important. In some sense, these are the first steps that a child takes in educating himself or herself regarding concepts like organization, self-reliance, and hygiene. Pre-school children between the ages of three and five are usually not ready to study or work, but can readily learn these skills through structured interactive play and positive reinforcement.

How to Maximize Life Skill Building

In order to master these skills, children will not only need to observe adults doing them but also gain experience performing particular tasks themselves. Certain skills will come quicker than others, especially because no single child is the same as another. As such, pre-school teachers and parents should pay careful attention to which skills are being developed properly and which still require practice. In some cases, a child may need extra help in order to fully understand and learn certain skills. In addition to pre-school, toddlers participating in structured group activities such as pre-school karate frequently learn from an age-appropriate curriculum specifically designed to build life skills in addition to physical and mental skills.

Perhaps one of the most important life skills that must be presented to pre-school children is the ability to interact properly and cooperate with other children as well as adult authority figures. While independence is certainly important, building the social skills of a child begins at the youngest of ages. Social skills and cooperation can sometimes be difficult to measure, and more
often than not require intensive observation on the part of the pre-school teacher or parent. In order to fully allow a child to develop such skills, it is important for pre-school teachers and parents to clearly define their expectations of a child and put into place measures that maximize the capacity for a child to learn and adopt them.

Karate and self-esteem

Self-esteem is the idea or “picture” we have of ourselves – who we are, what we’re capable of, and what we can be. It is built over time as we get to know ourselves through experience and feedback. It needs to be nurtured from a very young age for a kid to be able to grow into an adult who believes in himself or herself. Parents should take steps to ensure their children develop a positive self-image and self-respect. One of the most fun and effective ways to help children – even pre-schoolers – to develop a healthy level of self-esteem is through challenge and achievement in a structured physical and mental activity such as martial arts.

Karate has levels or ranks represented by belts of various colors and other uniform insignia. Each rank typically has a number of moves that must be learned to proceed to the next level. Forms (movement patterns) challenge students to memorize a sequence of techniques, targets, and direction changes at each rank. Free sparring or controlled combat against similarly-sized training partners (as well as seniors and teachers) helps students to fine-tune motor skills, reflexes, and strategic thinking.

This process of learning, practicing, competing with, and showcasing karate skills – starting at an early age – can have a tremendously positive effect on the self-esteem of practitioners.

• Testing and advancing through ranks can be a memorable, confidence-boosting ‘personal victory’.
• Praise and attention from instructors helps them feel good about themselves and their abilities to learn and achieve.
• Not advancing in rank following an unsatisfactory testing performance (i.e. receiving a “no change”) encourages children to try harder and work to reach goals.
• Scoring points or winning a free sparring bout gives students a sense of security and self- protection.
• A properly executed form reinforces the self-esteem gained from incremental learning.

All this eventually leads to a better self-image and a positive attitude that endures throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood.

Other benefits of karate for pre-schoolers and older kids


Besides helping build self-esteem and self-defense skills, karate can help nurture “tiny tots” in a number of other ways to help them become healthy, self-reliant, and responsible young people. Martial arts practitioners are known to improve these traits and others:

• Discipline
• Confidence
• Physical fitness
• Teamwork
• Listening
• Respect

Despite the popular misconception and hype portrayed in popular cinema, the martial arts are not strictly about violence. In fact, most martial artists learn to restrain their tempers and refrain from unleashing their powerful physical skills. Rather, martial arts offer a treasure trove of life lessons and tangible benefits for most students that reach far beyond the training facility to improve the lives of those who train and the lives of those around them.

Karate to boost self-confidence

Self-confidence is the ability to trust yourself and your abilities. For that, you need to first know what you are capable of physically, mentally, and emotionally. To know this, it is essential that you push your limits on a regular basis to see how much you can take. Pushing yourself just a little bit more each workout is the key to extending and expanding your capabilities over time. Since karate and some related martial art forms are essentially about self-improvement of mind, body, and spirit, training is a natural, reliable, and enjoyable way to gain self-confidence.

You can train your kids to practice pushing their limits from a young age, so they learn to give their best in every life situation. Get them started young, in their pre-school years if possible, to reap maximum benefits of karate. These early, formative years are important times for developing bodies and minds. Parents appreciate the physical fitness, good manners, and new friendships formed by their children being in karate.

Karate involves progression from one level to the next, each level corresponding to various
belt colors going from white to black. Each successive rank includes a number of simple and complex moves that must be learned and properly performed, with tests to be passed, to be graduated in rank and belt color. Classes also include free sparring in protective safety gear with peers and seniors to develop students’ self-defense skills.

Karate classes can help children know themselves better and build their self-confidence in many ways.

• Passing a skill test gives a sense of accomplishment.
• Sparring develops and tests strategy, speed, agility, and endurance.
• Praise and positive feedback – and continual progress in the martial arts skills, visible in
  each student’s moves and techniques over time – are motivating results!
• Getting to the next level and belt color can be a major milestone.
• It can be a major tool against bullying, helping your kids defend themselves and be safe.

Knowing themselves and improving their abilities give your children the priceless gifts of self- confidence and self-reliance. They learn to have positive attitudes, goals, patience, and other virtues that are especially helpful when trying new things, dealing with problems and setbacks, and facing life’s challenges head-on.


Other benefits of learning karate

The fun practice of karate offers even more benefits to both children and adults who participate regularly. It can teach them many skills and instill leadership traits, in addition to improving their self-confidence.

• Discipline
• Physical fitness
• Social skills
• Respect
• Listening
• Self-esteem

Giving kids the opportunity to learn karate, or any martial arts form, might be the most formative, beneficial, and enduring gift you can give your child besides your love and care. Training, learning, winning, losing, and trying again through the interesting and motivating practice of karate will help them develop good habits and self-confidence. This often results in young people becoming positive, strong, responsible, and confident adults who are ready to take on life as leaders.

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.