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Welcome to the topic “Why Your Child Should Start Mixed Martial Arts?”

When we think of physical exercise for our kids, mixed martial arts isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind. While soccer or basketball seems like a more conventional way to get your child into exercising, self-defense practices such as Judo, Karate, and Taekwondo are a really good substitute for sports and other physical exercises. Apart from helping them feel more confident, the activities are sure to ensure that they will have all the benefits of physical activity they need while also being able to defend themselves should the need arise. I’m sharing with you all the positive reasons why your child should start mixed martial arts today.

Individual Growth

While most sports focus on a teamwork aspect, which is an excellent skill to have in its own right, individual growth is also a crucial part of a child growing up. While teamwork is nice, it can often put a lot of pressure on children to compete and perform well relative to their peers. This is not the case in martial arts, where they are guided to only focus on self-improvement and do not have to worry about letting anyone down.

Achieve Specific Goals

Sometimes, especially in team sports, it can be hard to feel a sense of accomplishment for children unless they win something as a team. While this isn’t impossible, it is significantly more difficult than in martial arts, where to signify their progress and skill level, they would get different colored belts. This also acts as a great motivator for them and boosts their self-esteem to help them feel more confident in themselves and their abilities.

Concentration and Self-control

Martial arts are often very demanding in terms of the concentration and attention levels required to learn some of the movements and techniques taught. This is usually not focused on team sports, where individual members may sometimes go off on their own or not be entirely focused on the game itself. In martial arts, the instructor would call the students’ attention by getting in the ready-pose to prepare them for the next activity.

Help Develop Coordination Skills

While team sports are also an excellent way for kids to develop good coordination skills, doing martial arts helps in an individualistic manner. The child would be focusing on coordinating only their body and its various parts. By removing the aspect of teamwork, they would be able to focus solely on improving their motor skills and understanding how they can use the power of their mind over their body.

Enforce Good Structure and Discipline

As you may have observed, if you’ve ever seen anything martial arts-related, their composure and structure are always impeccable and highlight the strong focus on discipline enforced by the art. For your child, this structured development would come from a good instructor who would define clear rules and behaviors and reinforce them throughout the class. In this way, the children develop good habits not only at the lessons but outside as well, at places such as school and home. Some instructors may also consider assigning these behavior guides as homework where they can coordinate with the parents to reinforce them!

I’m sharing with you a few pics of Nate getting his tips on his white belt and a video of him getting his yellow belt. It is a big deal for kids and such a huge accomplishment.