Facts about martial arts for children (Part 5)
“Will my child become more violent by learning karate, jujitsu, or another martial art?”
In a word, “No.” Children learn self-control by practicing martial arts; and the code of conduct that is enforced, inside the studio, is carried outside into everyday life. The average martial arts school works with parents and academic teachers toward the goal of optimal student success.
When you see a karate demonstration team perform, that is not an indicator of the life skills taught within the karate class. It is the “flashiest” component of karate training, presented to capture the public’s attention. Ten minutes of kids using old weapons, breaking and working in synchronized choreography, is more interesting for the public than a lecture from me on how to deal with bullies without violence.
However, let’s take a closer look at the ten minute flash. The next time you see a martial arts demonstration team, remember that kids have to practice those techniques over and over again. This requires self-discipline, goal setting, perseverance, and every child being a team player.
There is no place for a “one-way” personality on any martial arts demonstration team. Such a personality would go against a good public performance. In a typical Karate class, you learn all of the above life skills and much more.
Children learn much more about violence on television, playing video games, and dealing with daily life than they will in a karate class. Even if a karate teacher was the classic “evil sensei,” which you may have seen in the movie Karate Kid or at the Kung Fu Theater, most kids can think of much worse violence.
All you have to do is watch the news, cartoons, listen to the radio or read a newspaper, to see worse than unsupervised hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, the self-defense methods taught to children actually pale in comparison to school shootings, bombings, wars, and drive-by shootings.
Karate was created by unarmed civilians on the island of Okinawa and was secretly taught among family members for their personal protection. The philosophy, within a martial arts school, will not always be the same, but the seeds of violence are not sown within a martial arts environment.
All you have to do is look around you to see more, and far worse, violence than learning self-defense, integrated with constructive life skills. The fact is that a martial artist is not a “street fighter.” If that was a requirement, we’d recruit the toughest kids in North Providence.
As I explain to kids in my Karate and Jujitsu classes, “Never forget the word ‘artist’ which means to be creative, to be an innovator, and to think for yourself.” Children who learn martial arts are more likely to adapt and defuse a potentially violent situation.
On top of that, most kids who study karate, or any other martial art, won’t be “troublesome.” The children we teach from the Greater Providence, Rhode Island area have learned enough about leadership in our Karate and Jujitsu classes to think for themselves.
For parents, the gift of martial arts training to their children has many rewards, now and in the future.