One of the best things you can do for your child is to start them in a Martial Arts class. Training in Muay Thai or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will give the the same benefits as many other kids activities but also several that are unique to Martial Arts.
Discipline
We expect every child who trains with use to have a very high standard of behaviour, the Martial Arts we teach are very effective so we will not tolerate any type of bad behaviour. My own son started training at my gym after his behaviour at school deteriorated and it completely transformed him.
Fitness
More and more kids are now classed as obese, various factors influence your child’s health such as the amount of sugary processed food you give them and their activity levels. Let’s be honest they don’t get enough P.E in school any more so you need to get them doing physical activities outside of school hours and Muay Thai or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are excellent choices.
Concentration
Martial Arts training encourages your child to focus, our coaches are constantly questioning the kids during the class to make sure they’ve retained the information and are focusing on the activities they’re performing rather then thinking about Lego or Pokemon.
Goal Setting
Muay Thai has a coloured arm band system similar to the traditional martial arts belt system as found in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The Children earn their arm bands and belts through quarterly gradings where they have to demonstrate their skill level in front of our chief instructors.
Friendship
Many of the Children at the AGOGE make great friendships with other children who they may have not previously met at their school or Children from other schools. Having a shared interest that isn’t common compared to football for example builds a strong bond.
Self Defence
Bullying is on the rise and every day we hear more stories of Children being abused by sexual predators. Let’s teach our Children how to be aware when they’re walking about, let’s teach them techniques so they at least have a fighting chance should the worst happen. A confident Child is very difficult to bully.
It doesn’t involve a ball
Some Children suck at the standard school sports such as football, tennis, cricket etc. I know this as I was one of them. I was only good at rugby and Martial Arts, then the other Children caught up with me size wise and it turned out I wasn’t any good at rugby either!
Martial Arts gives your child a way to learn to love sport and physical activity that they won’t get at school if they don’t fit into one of the mainstream sports.
Confidence
Martial Arts training makes confident children, there’s something about a solo sport that makes a child more more confident and resilient than a team sport. Maybe it’s that you can’t use anybody else as an excuse for poor performance or maybe it’s because you’re treated as an individual rather then a position but the Children gain confident quickly.
Competition
May Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu offers children the chance to compete in a light contact competition, it’s not something we massively promote at the AGOGE but the option is there if any of the Children want to test their training in a safe controlled format.
Its Fun!
Children sit in a classroom for most of the day, they need a place to let off steam in a controlled way. They love to hit pads and punch bags, they love to run around in skill based games, hold pads for their friends and some of the stranger ones even enjoy the workouts!