Preschooler Martial Arts Classes

By Elsie McDonald

Putting your child into a preschool martial arts program has many benefits. More importantly, putting your child in Colorado Taekwondo Institute’s (CTI), Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo Martial Arts program, has even more. CTI has programs for children as young as 2 years old (sometimes even younger!), with highly trained instructors, making it available for very young children to learn self control and discipline. 

At CTI, the children under the age of  5 years old are called tiger belts. Tiger classes are a great way for a child to burn off some energy. The classes offered to preschoolers are half an hour long and can be any of the days from Monday to Thursday, excluding holidays. In these classes, they will start with some jumping jacks, other warm ups, and stretches. They will then be guided through the basic kicks, blocks, and strikes that taekwondo is based around and allow the student to progress forward. They will learn poomse, which are patterns of movements, that can help build your preschoolers memorization and coordination skills. Other skills that can be enhanced by putting your child in taekwondo, include focus and impulse control. Besides being good for the focus of your preschooler, they are also fun classes that a child would enjoy. They usually have a game or some kind of fun activity at the end of class, if kids are well behaved throughout.

Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo is centered around our Korean founder, Lee H. Park, and his creation of the model concept. This concept shows that as the student gets older and increases in belt level, the techniques and moves they learn will become more complex and difficult. So once your child is no longer a preschooler, they can become a junior belt. Junior classes are 30 minutes longer, and they go more into depth with form and self-discipline. 

There are lots of benefits to preschooler martial arts, rather than starting later in life. The first junior belt that a child will earn after being a tiger, is a junior yellow belt. For example, a yellow belt that was a tiger beforehand, has more experience than a yellow belt who started when they were 6 years old or so. This means the yellow belt with tiger experience will most likely reach the next belt level quicker, already knowing self control and the basics of CTI. 

There are also events that your children and family can attend, such as tournaments, Friday fun nights, day camps, and our summer expo. All of the activities at these events are age appropriate for preschoolers and elementary schoolers, and vary from competition to fun classes and games. Some activities, the parents can come along also (tournaments and expos) while some others are well supervised by trained adult black belts (Friday fun nights and day camps). CTI offers age appropriate involvement for children and adults of any age. Check them out if you are looking into preschooler martial arts!

Leadership

By Peyton Brauch, 4th dan

What is a leader? A leader is a person who helps inspire their peers and helps them reach their goals. A person with good leadership qualities will be able to give others support and motivation as they are working on achieving their visions. This quality is an integral part of Moo Sul Kwan students. As MSK students, we should be practicing leadership inside and outside of Taekwondo classes. A good leader should express passion, resilience, trustworthiness, empathy, and much more.

A leader should be passionate about the goals that they are striving to achieve as well as the goals of the people around them. Passion comes from the dedication one has towards their goal. If you are working towards your black belt in MSK Taekwondo, there is going to be a passion behind that goal. You have dedicated yourself to this art and your passion is inspiring to others around you. If you are working hard and setting a good example in class, due to your passion for Taekwondo, other students will see your dedication and match it.

As leaders, we must show resilience in the face of hardship. Though it is hard to believe, your instructor has struggled with things in their training in similar ways that you might have. It was through perseverance and resilience that they were able to get through those barriers and get to where they are today. This is also true for our lives outside of class. As students of MSK Taekwondo, we must persevere through tough times in order to inspire others to do the same. It is our job as leaders to show the people around us that anything is possible if you try your best.

People with good leadership qualities should also be trustworthy and respectful. As instructors, assistant instructors, and upper belts, we have to show these traits to our students and peers at all times. Being trustworthy is similar to being reliable. If we say we are going to do something, we will do it. Good leaders follow through on their plans and they will always complete their projects. By being trustworthy, we are also showing respect to the people around us. If you are asked to complete a task and you agree to do it, the task should be completed. If it isn’t finished, then it is not respectful to the person that asked you to complete that task. Respect can be shown by trying your best consistently and following through with your promises. 

Empathy is another very important trait of a leader. One of the most important aspects of being a leader is being able to help people find attainable goals. This includes a great deal of empathy. Leadership is being able to understand people’s strengths and weaknesses and adjusting goals in a way that suits their needs best. Another part of this is recognizing that everyone is different and will need different strategies when it comes to meeting their goals. This part of leadership is the part that helps our students and peers grow and become successful in their goals. The success of our students and peers is the reason we push ourselves to be better leaders. 

As students pursuing their MSK Taekwondo black belt, we should all strive to be leaders. MSK students should set good examples at all times, show their passion for their goals and others’ goals, express resilience, display trustworthiness and respect, and use empathy to help your students and peers find appropriate goals. By utilizing these traits, we can be leaders in our lives. Even when we aren’t in a position of power, such as being the teacher or boss, we can still use these traits to set good examples for those around us. These traits, and many more, are all a part of a good leader. As MSK martial artists, we should strive to always express these traits in order to be the best leaders that we can be.