When you think about martial arts, the first person that comes in to the mind is Bruce Lee, the legend of martial arts who made Karate and self defence very popular world wide. When you see a martial art movie and see the cool step, you think “wow I should learn that”. Learning martial arts is good both for self defense and self confidence. While there are many martial arts exist, choosing the right one for you is sometimes daunting.

Thousands of parents enroll their children is some kind of martial art classes every year for different reasons, ranging from self defence, improved self esteem, the ability to defend themselves if needed and physical fitness. As martial arts are a fun way to physical fitness, more parents have to enroll their children in Martial Arts Courses. Because the modern society and the education system puts enormous pressure on the children, it essential that they have to undergo some kinds of physical and mental stimuli for overall wellness.

There are many martial arts that the kids can learn and each of which provide different benefits. Parents can enroll the kids in Krav Maga, kickboxing classes , karate, boxing classes and other martial arts self defense courses. Sports is good but martial arts courses are the sure way of physical fitness as well as self discipline. Parents should choose the right martial arts class in order to achieve the optimal benefits of self defense.

Well said Patrick.

In research conducted in the states, the traditional martial arts model (suits, katas and bowing) was found to be more effective than psychotherapy in dealing with 'troubled' teenagers. They also found the subjects developed better impulse control, better social skills and higher self esteem.

Interestingly, subjects doing MMA, boxing or kick boxing in a competitive format do not do anyone near so well. It appears to be the whole traditional framework and the emphasis on discipline, self control and regular gradings that helped. Researchers proposed that the reason for this could be that they were more comfortable in a highly structured environment when their home lives were often irratic and uncontrolled. They also felt that the fact they were able to succeed at the gradings and that their performance was not competitive bolstered self esteem in kids who were generally failing in mainstream education.

All very interesting...

Sounds great - you don't happen to have a link to information about the research in question?

No I am sorry I dont - it was released by either NAPMA or MATA (John Graden) have not seen it recently. I recall as I was writing a program for kids at the time.