When most parents look to get there children involved in Martial Arts, it is normally from a self-defense mindset and with Judo it’s no different. Learning how to control a person and/or a situation is a vital skill.
The last time I personally had to use Judo in a self-defense situation was in 2015 when someone threatened a co-worker and then charged at me. I was able to take them down and restrain them without even thinking about what I had done in a matter of seconds and thankfully do so without causing any real harm to my attacker.
However that was one situation over 25 years so while it was good that I was able to deal with the scenario happily, the things I’ve learnt on the mat have helped me off the mat in more ways than just self-defense
1. Confidence
Without a doubt the greatest thing anyone can learn from training is self-confidence. By putting your body through physical training and competing with your peers you learn self-belief in your abilities. In our classes we place a very high emphasis on positivity and focus on developing people to achieve excellence of the mat as well.
2. Goal Setting
As Judo is a grade based martial art, you must ‘earn’ your ranks and can only do this by putting in the required work. The great thing with gradings is they provide ‘external motivation’ however in order to achieve them you must be internally motivated which is great for children to learn about achieving personal goals.
3. Physical Skills
It is believed that 90% of a persons co-ordination and athletic potential is developed by the age of 12. Because of this it is important to expose children to all the different physical attributes and as much variety to their movements as possible. The great thing about Judo is that it covers so many of these characteristics (strength, speed, agility and mobility to name a few) and it means that children who are trained in Judo have a great base no matter what sport or activity they go on to compete in. In fact you’ll find a number of top level athletes have a base of Judo in their childhood
4. Discipline
When we say discipline we don’t mean it in the sense of ‘punishing’ kids if they do something wrong. We offer the children choices and encourage them to take the right choice which leads to the better consequence. Through this children develop the decision making ability to choose the right actions knowing the reward that they’ll be provided with for doing so. It is often commented about how well behaved the children become throughtout the week after doing Judo and we feel this is one of the reasons why.
5. FUN
Above all else we like to have lots of fun in our sessions. We want the kids to enjoy what they are doing and through that they will have the passion to succeed!
0 Comments