Research based articles to help martial arts instructors coaching children in martial arts classes.
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 …
The problem We hear all the time that children are doing less sport and physical activity in schools. If they have a 60 minute slot for PE and the first 10 minutes is spent changing in to their PE gear and the last 10-15 minutes to get a shower and changed back, that leaves 35-40 …
Building Physical Literacy With Your Children’s Martial Arts Programme Read More »
The knowledge of the physical stages of development is a priority if you want to maximise the development of your martial arts students. Sometimes we may feel we are not very good at delivering sessions to the young children in our care. They don’t always listen and sometimes they ‘just don’t get it’. In other …
Physical stages of development for young children practicing martial arts Read More »
I often hear of coaches talking about fun martial arts games or karate games for kids. A common theme is when one coach talks about a drill they love and the other coach says ‘Yes, our students used to love that game but we haven’t played it for ages.’ This is often down to the …
Creating a system for categorising martial arts games for kids Read More »
When anyone mentions strength training for children some coaches will get a picture in their head of a young child trying to use the weights you would expect to find in an adult gym. This picture generally describes weight lifting rather than strength training but as these terms are often used interchangeable, it is easy …
