Research based articles to help martial arts instructors coaching children in martial arts classes.
Have you ever had an anxious child attend your class and refuse to join in? You book a new starter in for a trial class on your young children’s martial arts programme. You email / text / message to remind the parent about the trial class and they tell you the child has been talking …
3 reasons anxious children may not join in your martial arts classes Read More »
Building congruency in your coaching is all about building alignment between the values you promote and the actions you take. We are all human and as such, at least some of our values will be aspirational. By this, I mean that most martial arts coaches will at least make a solid attempt to ‘walk their …
Do as I say, not as I do: How a lack of congruency in your coaching can cost you members Read More »
Ryan and Deci’s Self Determination Theory has been the subject of study in sports contexts for decades. Centred around building intrinsic motivation, it’s surprising that it hasn’t been the focus of attention for martial arts clubs and organisations looking to grow their memberships. If we can understand the motivation of our members and create a …
Your coaching philosophy isn’t just a set of aspirational statements that you would like to adhere to, but guiding principles that you do your best to implement in every martial arts class you teach. Defining and documenting your own coaching philosophy will give you clarity when dealing with different situations that may arise over the …
Coaching Philosophy: What is It and How to Develop Your Own Read More »
The benefits of developing self-control Who would have thought that having the self-control to not eat one marshmallow in order to receive a second could have such a profound effect on someone’s life? The results of the marshmallow test turned out to predict much about the participant’s future lives. The more seconds they were able …
If you teach martial arts to young children, understanding the psychological stages of development is a must. Taking a ‘participant centred’ approach to our coaching translates as meeting our students where they are. Before we can do that we actually need to know ‘where they are’ cognitively, emotionally and socially. This article will look at …
Psychological Stages Of Development For Young Children Practicing Martial Arts Read More »
Henry Ford is reported to have said “Whether you think you can or you can’t you’re right”. This short quote highlights that your mindset can have a big impact on your actions. Your ability to learn and develop is dependent on you believing that with hard work, you can achieve. This is the difference between …
10 benefits of cultivating a Growth Mindset in your martial arts students Read More »
Most martial arts clubs promote character development in their martial arts training. Indeed, if you look at any social media post advertising taekwondo, karate or ju jitsu (or any other martial arts) classes, you would be forgiven for thinking that stepping on the mats and kicking and punching each other would automatically lead to overnight …
Character development through children’s martial arts Read More »
Although Functional Movements Patterns (FMP) have appeared in many different adult strength based systems over the last couple of decades, they were initially discovered through the observation of infant’s growth and motor skill development. (Wu et al., 2020). If you watch the way a young child performs a deep squat to pick up a toy …
8 functional movement Patterns for your kids martial arts programme Read More »
This is where the rubber hits the road and you take the standalone Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) and Functional Movement Patterns (FMP) and incorporate them into drills and activities that include the use of the student’s senses. Perceptual motor skills can be broken down in to two parts. The first is the ability to gather …
