Developing a Black Belt attitude: MARTIAL ARTS AND CHILDREN

At Arrow, we have a basic bottom line for the children: not to use your self-defence unless you feel that you are in danger. So the skills should not be used to attack in anyway, only defend.

Parents need to reinforce this message and also take into account their own thoughts and feelings on self-defence.

On the rare occasion, we may have a situation where a child starts kicking or punching their friends at kindy or school. This usually calls for sitting down with the child and reinforcing what is appropriate behaviour. It’s certainly not a time to remove the child from their classes, as it’s a great opportunity to remind them of the other lessons of martial arts such as self-control, self-discipline and respect for others.

If learning martial arts was just about learning self-defence, we would be spending a great deal of time and resources training for a situation that may never occur.

Learning martial arts that addresses the body/mind approach to life will inadvertently take care of the self-defence aspect.

By heightening your awareness and letting go of the need to be right, you suddenly make all conflict easier to resolve.

This is the true essence of the philosophy of the martial art that we teach at Arrow.

Have a great week and see you in the dojo.

Robin & Corinne