A Parent’s Duty in Taekwondo

You did it. You took the first step in setting your child up for a happy life and successful future by getting them enrolled in Martial Arts. Or maybe you have been involved for a long time, taking them to and from class, bringing them to tournaments. Though your child may be the one actually taking taekwondo classes, your job isn’t done. You play a huge role in their success.

Accountability:

Many parents come to karate because their children have been acting up and they want help teaching them discipline. Or they have been bullied and lack confidence, and their parents want them to learn self defense and to believe in themselves. We teach the foundations of those skills in taekwondo- respect, discipline, confidence, goals, perseverance, attitude, focus, and integrity. But it is the parent’s job to make sure that those skills carry over at home. They need to reinforce the things they learn in class, and not let bad behaviors slip through the cracks.

Discipline: 

We live in a world where we can get anything we want at the touch of a button and only have to focus for short periods of time. This makes our attention span extremely limited, especially for kids who are learning their most basic thought and behavior patterns during this time. Let’s face it, when we do something enough times, we are bound to get bored with it. The same can be true with Martial Arts training. At that moment, it is critical that the parent steps up. Parents should teach their child to follow through on their commitments with a disciplined mind. That means to keep going to class even if they sometimes don’t want to, and to try new things so that they are always challenged. There is always something new to learn, and by not giving up parents work with instructors to teach a valuable life lesson. 

Overcoming Challenges:

Life is full of ups and downs and hardships that will challenge us. Those challenges often make us into the people that we are meant to be. However, we can never be prepared for life’s challenges unless we face some when we are kids. In taekwondo, children will be challenged both mentally and physically. They will have setbacks and failures that will teach them to keep going and never give up. They may want to quit because they think it’s too hard or they experience a let down. It’s at that time when parents need to step up and push them to keep going because once they become successful they will be that much more proud and grateful.

Parents and instructors need to work hand in hand to make sure that their children are getting the most out of Martial Arts training. Together they can make it not only fun, but a life changing and enriching experience that will set them up for a bright and amazing future. At Mueller’s Martial Arts, we give out “parent stripes” before testing to ensure that the lessons taught in class are being carried over to home. To learn more about our program, click here.