The martial arts have overall given many kids a great outlet for unspent energy as well as helped give them more self-control and discipline.  The martial arts originates as an unarmed way to do combat that comes from the Asian countries such as Korea, China and Japan.  Great pride is taken by those who reach high levels of “belts” in the martial arts.  There are over 40 million people in approximately 140 countries who study and practice the martial arts.  This is one of the most popular worldwide sports. 

With the martial arts, many students will never enter a competition.  The martial art forms all tend to emphasize mastery of the body, integrity, self-defense, concentration, and self-confidence.  Most children’s classes focus on avoiding conflict, while some combat styles do focus on the aggressive fighting techniques, offer weapons training, and allow physical contact in sparring exercises. 

Many students who are aggressive tend to respond positively to the martial arts training since it teaches such self-discipline.  Very rarely will you find a martial art student who is the schoolyard bully; instead, the arts tend to rehabilitate the schoolyard bully.  Martial arts is able to provide numerous benefits to the student, ranging from the discipline, respect, and perseverance they learn.  They also learn respect for their instructor, classmates and opponents.

Many shy students’ blossom in the arts, open their shell, and become more outgoing.  Children with self-discipline issues tend to greatly improve their anger management skills.  The martial arts also tend to help children develop longer attention spans and improve their concentration skills.  Other benefits are the improved physical conditioning, strength, body control, coordination, balance, and even flexibility.  The arts provide a wonderful method of aerobic exercise as well which helps children stay in shape. 

While the majority of the students will not be found attacking people randomly, they are given the tools they need to help protect themselves if they are attacked.  This is great to help children who are the favorite child the schoolyard bully likes to find.  One of the biggest attractions to the martial arts is that children progress at their own pace; they can change levels slowly or quickly depending upon how well they personally progress.  It does not take a specific amount of time to move up a level, which makes competitive children more likely to quickly more up the belt levels. 

Children can start the martial arts as early as 3 years old, however the maturity of the child as well as their ability to focus has more to do with their success rate than their actual age.  As long as your child has the muscle control necessary to kick, punch, and turn safely, they should be fine physically studying the martial arts.  There is no reason to start children young though, as older children are able to start and be quite successful. 

Boys and girls are both able to excel and obtain a black belt in the martial arts with some work and dedication to improvement.  The martial arts has also gained great notary for its ability to help children that are ADHD and ADD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention-deficit disorder) calm down and learn some focus as well as self-discipline.  If your child is ADD or ADHD, then try to look for an instructor that has experience working with special needs children. 

When you are considering signing your child up for martial arts classes, you should select carefully a class style that will fit your child’s needs and best help your child.  If one form of the arts does not work, then another form can be the perfect fit.  You should visit several schools to find an instructor and school where your child feels comfortable.  You should ask the instructor about the class sizes, the belt levels taught, when classes are offered, how long classes are, you should also ask about the student/teacher ratio. 

When you select a master, you want someone who is a black belt in the art form, as well as has at least 4 years minimum experience.  Look for instructors who will require your child to pass a test and earn their next belt rather than just giving them the next belt since they have been taking classes for a certain period of time. 

There are several forms of martial arts to choose from they include: aikido, hapkido, judo, jujitsu, karate, kendo, kenpo/kempo, kung fu, ninjitsu, shotokan karate, tae kwon do, tai chi, wing-chun and wing-chun.  You should realize that it is never a good idea to take more than one type of martial art until the basics of the first style has been mastered.  There are several distinct differences between each style. 

The price ranges for classes range greatly from area to area.  There are also uniforms and belts that need to be purchased.  The prices for uniforms typically range from $40 to as much as $120 for each size.  Many times if your child takes lessons for years, they will go through several different uniforms before they stop growing.  If the master will encourage students to participate in tournaments then those fees usually range from $15 to as much as $50 per tournament.