This is a common concern amongst parents. And it turns out, martial arts can in fact do the opposite. Children who train martial arts are less likely to be bullied and even less likely to become bullies. Here are five reasons why Kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu are good solution to help kids with bullying in schools and/or online.
What Is Bullying?
In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Education released the first federal definition of bullying. The definition includes three core elements:
- Unwanted aggressive behavior
- Observed or perceived power imbalance
- Repetition or high likelihood of repetition of bullying behaviors (stopbullying.org)
Unfortunately with the increasingly high presence and popularity of social media, bullying can be done in person and online. Children and parents have to find ways to combat both scenarios.
Bullying in school can cause low self-esteem, causing them to skip school and sometimes, in the worst cases, lead to suicide.
Bullying has evolved over the years. More than 77% of kids have been involved in a case of bullying or cyberbullying and while some kids cope okay with this, some need a little more help dealing with these strong emotions and what to do when it becomes physical.
Kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu have many strong qualities that can help children learn to come up with solutions with dealing with these bullies and why you shouldn’t become a bully and what to do when you see others being bullied.
Some signs and symptoms of bullying in children are:
- Sad, moody, and/or depressed feelings
- Excuses to miss school
- Loss of interest in school
- Sudden drop in grades and achievements
- Heightened anxiety
- Lowered self-esteem
- Problems sleeping
So how can martial arts help combat bullying?
- Emphasis on respect – Most children don’t understand the importance of respect for others and respect for oneself. In Kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu, having respect for your coach and other students shows a lot of self respect for oneself and makes the children better humans in the long run. They learn that by giving respect, you get respect. They learn to listen to their role models and mirror their behavior.
- Accountability – Bullying often happens when children don’t understand that actions and words can hurt. With martial arts, it teaches that protecting oneself can have an impact on those around them by teaching proper self defense, if it ever comes down to that. Jiu Jitsu teaches how and when to use it, how to defend, and the impact of self defense on others. In martial arts, children learn that they are able to control their emotions and reactions. They take accountability for what they do and don’t do.
- Sportsmanlike conduct – No matter the outcome of a match, children gain experience, knowledge, and wisdom. If children learn something, there is no sense of loss. Instead, victory can be found in the new knowledge. It helps to self regulate anger, frustration and what to learn for next time on how to play the game of martial arts. Competition is healthy and learning to deal with the the motions of wining and losing early on build stronger and more compassionate children.
- Body language – The is the process of communicating nonverbally through conscious or unconscious gestures and movements. A strong fight stance can show confidence and strength. Children taking Kickboxing will learn stance on their first class. Straight back, firm but light feet in the ground shoulders back chest up exudes confidence. In a bullying situation this posture will deflect the bully to continue and may help to stop the abuse if a child is self confident and self aware. Bullies often go after those that they feel will not stick up for themselves. By simply standing like this, the bully is likely to back down.
- Creating friendships – Martial arts create friendships and continue on well into adulthood by training at the same academy and building a friendship with your partner working together to get better. You may move on to a new academy and find new friends but you will always find something in common with your training partners.
Sports and activities of any kind helps children learn and grow. As parents, it is our responsibility to expose them to as many different things as possible. They can decode what they like or don’t like through trial and error but safe and supportive introductions ate important to providing the best opportunities for growth. Kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu helps children develop healthy relationships with coaches and other teammates to learn and grow thru the martial arts community and to have a community to grow with. By creating friendships with training partners, developing good listening skills for coaches, learning about respect for a sport. Teaching children to say something if they see something that isn’t respectful towards teachers and other students. Helping kids develop pride in themselves by developing these skills. Hopefully, martial arts will become part of your child life and maybe even part of your adult life. More importantly, hopefully the life skills your children learn while practicing martial arts translates to their everyday lives.
