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Maybe you’re interested in combat sports for your child. Maybe you’re interested in combat sports for yourself. Either way, combat sports can be a great way to improve your focus, confidence, and health. More engaging than a gym membership, and more of a self-esteem boost than gym class, a combat sport could be just what you or your child’s life is missing. Consider these 8 reasons for learning a combat sport.
Improved Focus
Any sport requires focus, but activities like ballet or martial arts require even more. Since balancing, concentration, and memorization of techniques comes into play, a study of combat sports can be a great way for you or your child to improve your focus.
Conflict Resolution Skills
When we say that combat sports improve conflict resolution skills, we don’t mean resolution in the form of a punch to the face. In fact, martial arts, while exploring combat techniques, also teach inner peace and respect, so training in a martial art can give you the necessary confidence to properly negotiate a dispute.
Physical Activity
No sport is about sitting around doing nothing. Whether it’s boxing or Taekwondo, a combat sport gets you on your feet and moving. Improved muscle tone and a weekly cardio work out are only some of the physical advantages of combat sports. Instead of a treadmill, visit The Arena instead and get a more engaging form of physical activity.
Self Defense Skills
Unless you’re 6’4” and 200 pounds, you probably won’t be able to get through life on brawn alone. When it comes to dangerous situations, having some self-defense moves up your sleeve will help inspire confidence. Plus, for kids, knowing some self-defense skills will help keep them feeling protected and confident.
Respect
A key part of martial arts is the respect extended to the teacher, fellow students, and oneself. A martial arts class will help foster respect in your child, and if you, as an adult, are looking at a class, it might be a refreshing reminder of the importance of courtesy.
Improved Social Skills
Less of a concern for you at this point, a combat sport could improve the social skills of your child. School can be intimidating, and rather than instilling a sense of belonging, school can make your child feel like an outsider. When learning a combat sport, students feel a sense of belonging and teamwork, and that positive social experience can help improve your child’s social skills.
Perseverance
A combat sport takes a lot of hard work. In order to move up, one belt at a time, you or your child will have to engage, again and again, in practice. Since the system rewards hard work and dedication, perseverance gets positive reinforcement.
Confidence
Perhaps the biggest benefit of all, a combat sport helps instill confidence. When you or your child is trained in a combat sport, you’ll feel a sense of power, skill, and accomplishment that you didn’t have before. That sense of confidence will extend to other areas of your life, including work, school, and relationships.
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This is a featured post by site supporter Claire Peters
Photo: Getty Images