Where is a good place to start if your kids are sedentary, or don’t seem to be interested in sports at school? Many parents are finding that kickboxing can be an alternative. This workout not only helps children stay physically fit, but offers a considerable range of other benefits.
1. Lifetime of Injury-Prevention Skills
Because trained professionals supervise and teach kickboxing classes, children will learn how to build strength and endurance while minimizing the risk of injury. That will be hugely valuable if they decide to try other sports.
Classes emphasize a number of different muscle movements that incorporate full body workouts including arm strength and greater range of motion. The result is that students avoid the kind of injury that comes from repetitive movements seen in other kinds of sport; like pitcher’s throwing arm, for example, or a soccer player’s kicking leg. That means that whatever sport a child pursues, he or she will have a better chance of preventing problems.
2. Greater Sense of Respect
Like any martial art, kickboxing emphasizes respect for other students. Even in matches, students aren’t taught to battle aggressively and recklessly, but rather to use leverage, conditioning, and strategy to outmatch an opponent. There’s acknowledgement that fellow students and the teacher deserve to be respected.
Equally valuable is that students learn to respect themselves. A valuable skill that can give them confidence, competence, and enthusiasm for whatever comes their way in life.
3. Ability to Be Part of a Team
In some ways, kids kickboxing can be a solo endeavor, in which each student is focusing on skill-building at his or her own level. The sense of friendly competition and support in every class makes a student feel like a team and part of a family.
When a child learns teamwork, the result can be amazing, from a greater sense of empathy to stronger social connections to better emotional control. He or she can problem-solve on a different level and have a collaborative attitude toward others.
4. Truly Have Fun
While it’s true that kids will be gaining strength and learning important skills in kickboxing, they’ll also be having a great time. It teaches them that hard work doesn’t have to be a miserable experience but that it’s worth the time and effort to put into the process.
If you want your child or teen to tap into these benefits, consider signing him or her up for a youth kickboxing class, with a free trial lesson with Danny Savery Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!