Confidence and Martial Arts

Were you confident as a kid? If not, then you most likely understand the struggle of having to always doubt and question yourself even when there is no reason to. If you were lucky to be a confident kid, then you definitely want the same for your kids. After all, self-confidence can lead to self-belief and self-compassion. All of these are important traits if you want your kid to progress in life. 
One way to boost a kid’s confidence is to enroll them for martial arts. Besides helping them to stay physically active, it can help to boost their confidence amongst other things. Here are some of the ways that martial arts can be helpful to a young kid. 

It Helps to Boost Focus

Focus leads to voluntary, organized, and independent actions. However, a kid that does not have focus will find it hard to make it in life. 
Various studies found engaging in a sports activity such as karate can help to improve focus. In karate especially, kids are presented with various physical puzzles, which they must solve in seconds. With time, this will teach them to make independent decisions, thus improving their focus and success throughout their life. 

Your Kid Will Lean That Life is About Progression

In karate, one moves from a novice until they one day hopefully achieve the highest level. This ranking system gives kids a sense of accomplishment. They learn that they have limits but with hard work and practice, these limits can be overcome. When this happens, it will help to boost their confidence. They will understand that even though they are low right now, it will not always be like that. In the future, through hard work and persistence, they can achieve the highest goal possible. 

They Learn to Embrace Failure

In Karate or Judo, failure is part of the learning process. However, when a kid faces failure in class or the school gym, it can make them disheartened. In future, they will not be as confident when trying something new. They can be withdrawn and refuse to engage in anything competitive. 
However, karate will teach a kid that failing is part of learning. If they never fail, they will never know that they made a mistake. Instead of fearing failure, they will learn to embrace it since there is always a chance to try again tomorrow. This can make them confident since they now have a positive view of failing. 

They Will Learn that They Can Stand Up for Themselves

In the school system, bullying has become a huge problem. As much as every parent would wish it did not exist, the hard truth is that one in five kids is bullied. While you cannot stop bullying, you have the power to bully-proof your kid. This can be done by teaching them judo or karate. 
Through this physical training, they will learn how to respect their peers and instructors. This will be in spite of age, rank, size, or gender. As such, they themselves will never become bullies. They will also gain the courage to ask questions and have the social skills to interact with classmates. As such, they will know how to respond to bullies and walk away when things get bad. However, they will also have the skills to neutralize any physical attack if it ever gets to that. 

It shows that Size and Gender Does Not Matter

While men dominate karate and related sports, girls can also pick up the skills and succeed. However, in these sports, girls learn that size is not important in hand-to-hand combat. It can help them to stop being intimidated by the size of others. For instance, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teaches one to use their small size to overcome larger opponents. 
When a young girl especially understands this, she will be confident enough to face any challenge in future, despite her gender. She will be confident enough to make meaningful contributions in her career, without feeling intimidated by the size. 

It Helps them Become Tough Mentally and Physically

No doubt, any sport that involves hand-to-hand combat will require strength physically and mentally. Sometimes, it takes everything for one to push through the pain and achieve their goals. The sport will take your kid out of their comfort zone, which will help to toughen them up. Unfortunately, the world is a tough place filled with mean people. However, these sports can turn them as tough as the world while at the same time ensuring they maintain discipline. 

The Kid Gains Structure and Clear Expectations for their Behavior

A kid who goes for karate or judo lesson will gain structure and learn that behavior has consequences. Good instructors will have clear rules and these rules are often reinforced. Besides that, most instructors encourage good behavior inside and outside the dojo. As a result, this can help to keep a kid out of trouble with the police. In the current world, it is easy for a kid to fall wayward when they do not have structure. They will thus learn to control their behavior. 

They Learn Self Control

Kids learn concentration and self-control. In these sports, attention is central to the training. Kids will need to stay focused if they hope to improve their skills. If an instructor notices your kid is drifting, he will ask them to take a ready stance. This helps them to reset their mind and expect whatever they are told next. 
In life, no one can always get what he or she wants. However, it can lead to poor decisions where self-control does not exist. For instance, a kid might decide to play video games instead of study. In essence, kids will learn to have discipline even in their personal lives. 

Summary

Life is a journey and one of the best gifts you can give a kid is to give them the ability to be independent. A good way to do this is to enroll them for karate classes.