After work the other day, something very interesting happened to me. I walked out of the building I work in with a male co-worker, and as soon as we were out of the building he came at me in an attempt to tickle me. Here’s the interesting part- as soon as he lunged towards me, I immediately found myself in my Muay Thai stance; and my friend backed down! It wasn’t intentional because I didn’t feel seriously threatened, but as soon as my fists went up, the expression on my friend’s face dropped, and he admitted that he was actually intimidated by me. Pretty cool for a 5 ft. blonde girl. I also found it interesting that my reaction was so immediate.

Having self-defense skills is like any other sort of education. It can’t be taken away once you have it. It’s an investment. No matter what kind of situation I might find myself in, I know how to use my body to my advantage. The fact that I put off the right energy before my friend was even able to touch me- to make him back down- is pretty awesome.

As is often mentioned in class, strength is one thing, but coordination is another. I don’t have the body or muscle mass of most men, but I know techniques that a potential attacker might not.

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After six other students surrounded him at school, calling him names and threatening to beat him up, Young pulled the stun gun from his backpack. He raised it in the air, setting off an electric charge, and sending the group scurrying, Young said.

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If there is one question that the average martial arts instructor hears more than any other from a parent, it is has to be “What is the best martial art for my child?”. The truth is that it all depends on you and what you want for your child. Until you can answer the question of what you are looking for, you may have trouble finding which art is the absolute best fit for them.

Looking for Kids Martial Arts in Portland? -Click Here

To start out with you must to sit down with your child, decide what choices they have, and what the benefits may be for each of those choices. The best martial arts for children have to be centered on what they expect. Is your child interested in a competitive sport that will eventually lead to a black belt and a number of trophies? Is he or she more interested in learning self-defense moves that will help aid survival when they are out in the world on their own? The answers to these questions are of the utmost importance as they are going to have a profound effect on the outcome and influence the martial art will have on your kid.

In your quest for the best martial arts for children you need to be extremely clear on the results you expect long before you actually start out on your journey. As you may have already seen, this simple thought process applies to most of the important decisions we face in life, such as what type of career you choose, who you marry and so forth. Having said all of this, if you are going to enroll your child in martial arts classes you should seek out a professional trainer or coach.

If you are interested in finding the best martial arts for children, this is no time settle for some guy who has a black belt in the particular martial art your child wants to learn. Just because he may be able to teach the basic movements such as punches, kicks and so forth does not make him a qualified instructor for your child. The only way your child is going to become proficient is for you to invest the money needed for him to attend a reputable dojo or school, anything less is ultimately going to be a waste of money.

Keep in mind at all times why your child is getting involved in martial arts in the first place. If you want your child to learn the skills needed to defend himself against thugs and bullies, you need to find a professional instructor. Going the route of one of those discount bulk training courses is not likely to provide the attention and level of training that is required to reach this level of skill. In the end the decision as to which are the best martial arts for children depends entirely on what you hope your child is going to achieve with his or her chosen martial art. Never let your budget be the determining factor as this may not lead to the success your child deserves.

Learn More in “10 Vital Tips for choosing the best Martial Art for your Kid”

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Family Martial Arts Classes Can be Fun and Productive

Have you been looking for a family activity that is fun and healthy at the same time? Has one or more of your kids come to you and expressed an interest in martial arts? If this is the case or you are simply looking for one activity that your whole family can take part in, besides watching television, you should look around your local area and find out which of the different schools offer family martial arts classes. Depending where you live, there are likely to be several schools that welcome entire families and have coaches that specialize in working with mixed age groups.

There are several advantages to getting your whole family or at least the majority of them involved in martial arts classes. While you might be looking for a way to help everyone get involved in some form of exercise, which they will most certainly get, one of the biggest benefits many people realize is that these classes tend to bring them closer together. In our busy world the family unit seems to be drifting further and further apart, a sad fact of our busy lives.

Given the fact that your family spends more time off doing their own thing on any given day of the week, what you need is one activity that is going to prove interesting enough to bring you all together at the same time. Rather than picking out a martial art and then informing the members of your family that they will attend, you may find that your idea will meet with far more success if you call a meeting and talk to everyone about the different martial arts and come to a consensus of opinion.

While there are a large number of different martial arts to choose from, you need to spend time looking at the different schools in your area to find out which ones offer family martial arts classes. While there are many that do offer this type of class, you may find that not all classes in your area are suited to your whole family. Once you have found out which schools have these classes, you need to talk to the coaches and find out exactly what they have to offer.

Also keep in mind what you hope to get out of the classes as this is going to have a major impact on your choice of martial arts and schools. For example if you are interested in overall mental and physical fitness as well as self-defense, you might consider Tai Chi Classes as this martial art is considered to be one of the best forms of low impact aerobic exercises for the body and teaches you how to relax and clear your mind at the same time.

If you’re looking for something that is a little more energetic physically, you might find that taking kickboxing classes is more what you are looking for. Predominantly a defensive martial art, you will soon be leaping, grappling and kicking with the best of them. No matter which martial art you choose to take part in as a family, you will find that being committed to attend them can bring your family closer together while helping everyone to improve the physical and mental health.

 Check out our Youth Power Classes

Martial Arts Can Be a Good Way to Give a Kid the Confidence they Need

When it comes to being the average kid, confidence is something that must be developed at an early age. Only a very few kids seem to have a natural sense of self confidence that lets them face the challenges of life head on. You may have heard from a number of sources that the practice of any one of many martial arts can be a very good way to help build confidence in a kid, but what is it about them that has such an effect on the young psyche?

There are a number of different ways is which in you can give a kid the confidence he needs to do things like stand up in front of a class of his peers to give a speech or to deal with the bully who simply will not leave him alone. One of the best ways to begin instilling this sense of self-confidence in your child or for that matter any child is to enroll them in a martial arts class such as an MMA class, Tai Chi or kickboxing appropriate for their age group.

You will find that with any child, a sense of accomplishment or being able to successfully complete a simple task is the beginning step in developing their sense of self-confidence. For example in the average martial art, one of the first things any new student regardless of age is taught is how to perfect the attention stance. While this may be a very simple posture, the concept of being able to follow directions and achieve the stated goal allows the student to feel the success and pride that comes with doing so.

You find that even for a three year old kid, the confidence that comes from mastering such a simple task is worth its weight in gold. The attention stance is one of feet together, hands by their sides and head held high, by teaching a child to stand in such a confident posture, you will find that the mere stance alone can instill a sense of confidence that they may never have been able to achieve before. Scientific research shows that in many instances the position we hold our bodies in has a major impact on our emotions and that by standing in a confident manner; we all tend to act far more confidently.

Once the child in question has mastered this simple position, the next thing he is likely to learn is a defensive move. Being a little more complex in nature, these moves will take more time to master and as such will help the child to develop their level of confidence. A kid needs to know that they are good at something in life in order to develop that sense of self-worth and confidence that is going to carry them through the trials and tribulations of life.

Continued training and more complex moves in martial arts training can give a kid the confidence they have been missing out on. The goal of any martial arts program is not only to teach a student how to perform each form or movement, but to instill in them the sense of self-confidence needed to perform them well under any circumstances. This very valuable lesson can not only be applied to their choice of martial arts, but to every aspect of their lives.

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Martial Arts Can Help Build Self-Esteem for Kids

One of the biggest problems facing many kids today is a lack of self-esteem. Very few of us are born with a natural sense of self-esteem, it is something that must be nurtured and built up over our lives. With a true sense of self-worth, many kids tend to fall victim to being picked on when they are very young and eventually this can lead to being bullied. As a parent it falls on you to find ways to build self-esteem in kids that can help your child get off to a good start in life.

There are many different ways to build self-esteem in kids ranging from working with your child on your own to enrolling them in martial arts classes. Wait; did I just say martial arts classes? Most people are under the impression that the majority of martial arts are nothing but a form of fighting that can be used for competition or for self-defense. Both of these are true as these practices are indeed used for both, but there is far more to them than a series of orchestrated movements.

In order for your child to become proficient enough in a martial art to be competitive or to defend himself from a bully, he must master many different skills. Some -like standing at attention properly- are easier to master; others, such as the forms in Tai Chi can take years to master. However, you cannot look at them in such a simple manner. Since you’re looking for a way to build self-esteem in kids, you need to look at them in a different light.

What you need to realize is that every time your child masters, no matter how complex or simple it might be, it can boost his self-esteem. When his instructor praises him for finally standing at attention without moving, it adds a little more to his sense of self-worth. If you follow this up with praise of your own for a job well done, you only add to the effect.

Self-esteem for kids comes from a sense of accomplishment, something that enrolling your child is going to get plenty of every time they step into the dojo or gym. A good instructor will take the time to work with every child that comes to him or her for training to ensure that not only do they master the skills but that they learn to perform every step flawlessly as this is the only way that they are going to develop a true sense of self-confidence.

By practicing their chosen martial art, your child will become confident that they will be able to handle any situation -like a bully at school.  Building self-esteem in kids is perhaps one of the most important steps you and the instructor at your chosen school can take. It will give them the confidence needed to not only deal with bullies at school, but to go on to lead a successful life.

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Martial Arts for Kids Can Help Your Child Develop Character

According to the popular notion that is only amplified by numerous Hollywood movies, martial arts for kids do nothing more than teach a weaker child to overcome all obstacles and become skilled enough to beat the bully. As much as the movies glorify the fighting aspect of any martial art, the reality is that this is not the case. In fact, what you will find is that all forms of martial arts are more interested in helping to develop character in your child than in beating the daylights out of the local bully.

While many kids who have spent the better part of their young lives will see martial arts as a way to finally beat their adversary, whether they choose to take lessons in Tai Chi or Kickboxing, or any one of many other martial arts. Keep in mind that all of the different martial arts never teach a child that what they are learning should be used for revenge, this goes against the teachings of all martial arts. If you find an instructor that teaches otherwise, you need to find another school.

Teaching martial arts for kids is about helping them to learn important life skills such as self-control, discipline , respect for others, courtesy and self-esteem. All of these are very important character traits that must be developed and nurtured in any child. In fact you might be surprised to learn that the physical aspects including fighting stances are secondary in nature to the mental conditioning that is a major contributor to the development of character in a child.

If you take the time to talk to the parents of other children who are already enrolled in martial arts for kids, you might be surprised at what they have to say. What they are going to tell you is that shortly after their child began to take their classes, they began to notice differences in the behavior of their children. The most common changes noted are that their children are more relaxed and respectful than they were prior to attending classes.

There are even more advantages to having your child attend classes in martial arts for kids. Just as the instructor instills a sense of achievement in your child with every move or form that they master, this will cross over into their everyday life. This can mean better grades in school as your child is likely to carry this desire to succeed straight into the classroom.

Overall you will find that martial arts for kids are a very healthy activity that provide a wealth of side benefits that can help to build character in your child. Take the time to look at a number of different martial arts and let your child have a say in which of them he or she will choose to take part in. The martial art your child chooses can have a very profound effect on the rest of their life.

 Here is a video on how to deal with bullies

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It’s in the school…

Does Your Child Need to Learn How to Stand Up to Bullies?

Does it seem like your child keeps coming home from school having run into the local bullies and come out on the losing end of the ordeal far too often? Are you tired of buying him new backpacks, pants, school supplies because the bullies break or steal them? If this is the case, you need to teach your child how to stand up to bullies so they and you no longer have to deal with the problems that a bully can bring into their world.

As a parent, the last thing you want is for your child to have to deal with the trauma of being picked on, teased and finally physically bullied at school or on the way home. When your child lacks the skills necessary to stand up to bullies, it can deliver a serious blow to their self-esteem. Over time the more these attacks go on, the more damage they are going to do to your child’s psyche, it may even get to the point where you have to put them in counseling to help them come to terms with the situation.

If you do not take the time while they are young to teach them or have them taught how to stand up to bullies, you may be condemning them to a life where they never have the self-confidence reach for and achieve their goals. Since this is not what you want for your child, taking the time to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary tools and skills needed to help them overcome a bully is a very important task that you must accomplish.

The ability to stand up for yourself is a very important life skill, but for most of us it is not one that we are born with, rather it is one that we must be taught. With this in mind, your role as a parent is to take the right steps to ensure that you child is equipped with the skills necessary to help them stand up to bullies, rather than fall prey to them.

Given the dramatic increase in bullying that is occurring in schools today, many parents are turning to martial arts as a way to help their child learn to stand up to bullies.  Once you enroll your child in a martial arts class, they will learn the fine art of self-defense. In martial arts self-defense and the ability to deflect and deflate rage are taught before fighting skills are taught. It is not always necessary to strike attacking blows in order to defeat a bully; often by showing them that they cannot succeed in their bullying any more is sufficient to stop it in its tracks.

Here is a video  on how to help your child with bullies:

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Youth Martial Arts: Community

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You be able to get easy access to the schedule and class curricula.  There are also a few pointers for new members and much more to come soon.