Have you ever wondered how your children have so much energy all of the time? Has this gotten your child in trouble before? Maybe, they’re turning their energy into aggression and you don’t know what to do about it?
As a physical activity, martial arts are sometimes thought of as violent or aggressive but this is a misunderstanding. Here at Meridian Kung Fu we teach that outside of practice, physical contact is used only in situations where you cannot walk away or get help. The fundamental values of respect and control are taught alongside basic techniques, meaning that students understand and respect this.
An activity like Kung Fu can encourage good behaviour from an early age; we make the learning experience fun so that discipline and good behaviour develops as second nature for our students. Some of the key qualities we aim to instil in our students include being polite, well-mannered and respectful; this could come from something as simple as bowing or standing still when listening to instructions.
Kung Fu is unlike other sports that can promote an unhealthy sense of competition or even lower self confidence levels; it focuses on self-control and self-regulation to an extent that is not found in other sports, yet actively engages the children to keep them interested. The reason Kung Fu works so well in young kids is because they are taught to focus on a particular technique or skill, practising and repeating it until it becomes as natural as a reflex, meaning they are training themselves without considering the activity as hard work. We have found that this kind of training translates well into the school environment. Kids are more focused on work during school and become more disciplined when undertaking an activity that requires steady concentration such as longer homework projects.
A session at Meridian Kung Fu means engaged and focused children. Our sessions improve concentration levels as well as cognitive reasoning, which can help with behaviour, especially at school. Bullying is becoming harder than ever to tackle and sometimes as parents we are stuck in finding the best solution for our child. We work with the children to ensure they know how to avoid conflict but also so they understand why aggression is unhelpful and not an attribute they should have.
We believe that the skills learnt in class will help them not only at school and in the home environment, but also for the future when they enter the working world. In class, your children will learn good habits and listening skills at a young age meaning that they will be more than prepared for whatever the future throws at them.
So, book a trial class now, and watch your child’s behaviour and concentration change for the better!
You can find out about our age appropriate programmes here.