It’s no secret that martial arts classes for kids are insanely popular. Especially out in the ‘burbs where we live, there seems to be at least one martial arts school in every other shopping center.
Who wouldn’t want to raise a little ninja, right?
Plus, the benefits of a martial arts program are endless. Kids will learn important life lessons that they will carry with them into adulthood. From building confidence to learning respect for yourself and others to developing self-reliance – there’s no team in martial arts, you need to depend on yourself.
The reason Marvel got started in her martial arts classes was due to my encouragement. I had something to do with it (a lot to do with it).
I love kickboxing and boxing, so naturally, I have a circle of friends who are really into it too. Once my girls saw us being bad asses on the heavy bag, they wanted to try it out too.
We went through a couple schools before we found “the one.” Here’s what I learned through my experience:
Choosing the right martial arts school for your child is difficult. What do you look for?
- Do your research on the type of martial arts and narrow down to which discipline(s) to take a closer look at. The most popular ones with children’s programs tend to be karate, taekwondo, and jiu jitsu.
- Test out at least 2-3 schools before committing to one.
- Observe how the instructors interact with the students. Are they firm, yet engaging?
- What is the instructor to student ratio? Some schools have 10 students per instructor… I prefer at most 4-5 students per instructor.
- Ask: how quickly do students move up in belts? Are yo ujust paying for a new belt color or is the student actually learning the skills?
