Is Karate Right For Kids?
Finding a hobby or activity to do with and for your child can be a complex process. You can do many different types of activities, from sports, martial arts, music, dance, gymnastics, etc. Some believe a controlled physical activity setting is better for a child’s development than playing sports, such as martial arts. Karate is faced with many concerns that it develops bullies or aggressive children ready to hurt others. But, Karate is a great sport for kids to pick up and learn and here’s why.
When properly trained in Karate, a student develops discipline, focus, clarity, social skills, confidence and more valuable life skills – more than just physical fitness.
How Karate Benefits Kids
The benefits of Karate are almost limitless. So, in this article, we will focus on a select few that are sure to provide the most benefits to young children and their development.
Confidence
Karate imparts to its students a high self-confidence level. You can see it in the way successful Karate students hold themselves. Karate helps build physical fitness for the whole body through a variety of exercises and stretching. While bodybuilding develops giant muscles, Karate focuses on tailoring muscles to do their functions at their highest level – such as striking a powerful punch.
Physical Health
Karate training is made up of techniques of course, but also a combination of exercises and stretching that promotes a healthy body. Through pushups, situps, squats, acrobatic techniques and more, students develop an improved fitness level, better cardiovascular health, and stronger lung capacity.
The Mind
Karate is proven to provide many mental and psychological benefits of well. The general fitness of Karate training helps increase blood flow to the brain, which improves mental clarity, development, focus, and emotional regulation.
Karate also helps your body produce more feel-good hormones and burn off cortisol, the stress hormone so that you feel better overall. This, in turn, lowers your stress, improves blood pressure and more feel more healthy.
Karate students also develop hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and spatial awareness, through repetition and ongoing training in Karate techniques.
Self Defense
The main benefit students choose Karate for, is self-defence. Karate is a self-defence-based martial art built upon strikes, blocks, punches and kicks. Successful Karate students will be able to defend themselves in a dangerous situation or if the need ever arises. Through this development, students will build confidence, self-esteem and be assertive.
When To Start Karate?
While many believe the best age to start learning Karate is 6, you can begin Karate at any age. For toddlers, it may not reap the most benefits as they are still learning a lot in their own development, but don’t let that stop you from getting your toddler started on the Karate journey.
By 6, children are more developed in their motor skills, focus, and attention, which will help them better grasp training techniques. While training in Karate takes a few years to master, starting young is a great way for kids to grow and build valuable life skills.
The Powerhouse Academy provides age-specific training in Karate for children of all ages in Vancouver. We pride ourselves in providing fun and engaging lessons for younger ages and work up towards more basic and advanced karate techniques as they grow in their skills and age.
Book now for our two-week trial, now 50% off and includes a free uniform.
