The advantages of martial arts camp other than the obvious is….your kids will be watching less TV during those long summer days, they will be actively participating in sports and fitness activities, they will be learning about health, fitness and diet (in general) and your child will learn how to respect people….. but more importantly, training in martial arts should lead to acquiring skills on how to resolve conflicts.

 Ancient martial artists/philosophers believed that the body is the temple that houses the mind and that if the body is not healthy and strong, than neither is the mind.  The purpose of martial arts is to train the student to be able to deal with life situations which could be anything from learning to share and communicate with friends and family... to defending oneself against an attacker (God forbid). 

Also, most camps are situated in a more natural setting which is very conducive to the spirituality of martial arts.  This is great for kids!

Most martial arts programs work on developing practical skills to help children and teens learn to live at peace with their surroundings.  To be able to accept responsibility for things they do in this world.  To promote enough personal growth and confidence to be able to make healthy choices with respect to lifestyle and personal habits.

But you may be asking….Is my child ready for such rigid training?  Well, let's discuss this a little bit.  Martial arts training is not exactly what you think.  Your child will not be smashing, crashing and flying in the air.  Forget the Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies that you have seen. Martial arts for kids is not like that.  Safety is of the utmost concern to everybody involved besides the fact that the sensei stresses from the first moment your child steps foot into a class….that they can't use what they learn in karate school…outside of karate school!!

The other thing you should be aware of is to make sure you choose the martial arts that would be good for your child.  There are many to pick from suiting every type of child but choosing the correct one could mean your child loving or hating martial arts altogether.

There are questions you may have….will your child be kicking at bags (or kids?), will they be learning to use weapons (wooden versions of), working with partners or doing strength exercises to compliment themartial arts training ad of course....has anyone been injured in class? (you might want to steer away from martial arts that allows children to break boards with their hands and feet).

So after you've done all your research and decided on the martial arts camp that will be good for your child…relax…they're going to have a smashing time….(just joking!!)