Benefits of Martial Arts for Teens

By Katie Minden, 2nd dan

Martial arts for teens offers extensive benefits in areas including exercise, memory, and learning. Martial arts such as Taekwondo, Jujitsu, Karate, etc. are able to challenge and satisfy teenagers in a way that assists in the common struggles teens often experience. Organizations such as the Colorado Taekwondo Institute (CTI) are perfect to engage restless teens in a fulfilling and challenging activity to stimulate their bodies and minds. Martial arts can aid in stress, boredom, mental illness, and the general need for gratification that one can acquire by becoming involved in a sport. 

To begin, the most obvious benefit of martial arts for teenagers is the physical aspect. Many teens now are often pinned down with the burden of heavy school work or jobs, and even when enough free time rolls around, teens may take the time to rest or spend time on their phone. This rest is most definitely needed and deserved, but it can get to a point where instead of using down-time constructively to rest and restore, teens may fall into laziness and boredom. The assumption may be that adding on another task such as practicing martial arts into a weekly routine would add more burden to a teen’s already busy life, but martial arts can often be a time to relieve built up stress while also physically challenging oneself. A twice weekly class is enough to cultivate a teenager’s body into a strong, healthy vessel, which will translate into benefits at school and in life. At the CTI, our instructors are completely aware of the hectic lives teens live, but they also firsthand have either seen or have personally experienced the benefits of doing martial arts for teens. A workout routine is perfect to realign a teen’s mind through physical activity, and by combining the physical and mental aspects used in every martial arts practice, teens can clear clutter in their mind while challenging it simultaneously. 

Martial arts for teens is easily one of the most creative outlets that one can utilize. Often, with school and other activities, everyday life becomes completely objective, but at the CTI, we encourage each student to come to class with their ideas, questions, and learning developments they experience while practicing Taekwondo. While each martial arts program contains their specific aspects that the student must learn, oftentimes there is room for teens to explore why and how they can move their body in each form. This also adds to the physical aspect of understanding the connections of the body, from the hands to the feet and more, as well as the mental connection of practicing mind to muscle connection in every move performed. The CTI also strives to harbor reflexive thinking skills with martial arts aspects like free-sparring, a way to practice unchoreographed moves in a quick and high intensity manner while still remaining in a controlled and safe environment. In this way, martial arts for teens cultivates the free-thinking aspect as well as still requiring after and fore-thought about why the moves they practiced either did or did not prove successful. 

With the numerous distractions that happen every second of a teenagers life, oftentimes it is easy to become disconnected from the surrounding world and difficult to stay focused on any task necessary. Martial arts for teens serves as a stellar outlet to both improve focus for teens, while cultivating a grounded attitude in high-stress situations. The beginning steps of the program offered at the CTI always include establishing the expectation that to achieve the most out of every class, a student must focus their attention on their instructor. This concept often requires much more attention when applied to younger children, but teens are at a perfect developmental stage to understand that if they focus their attention on what they are being taught, they will understand the material quicker, allowing for a quicker progression. Along with providing a more enjoyable experience for a teenager, it also provides incentive to focus because the feeling of moving up and learning more becomes exciting. 

Martial arts may seem daunting especially considering the multifaceted nature of the physical and mental ways of learning required to understand martial arts. However, the Colorado Taekwondo Institute thrives to both challenge all students that walk in our doors and especially the teenagers which have some of the greatest potential to take what can be learned in martial arts and apply it to their everyday lives. The critical thinking and evaluation skills attached to the learning and memorization of different skills benefit teenagers in their school, work, and home lives. The physical outlet to relieve stress allows teenagers to constructively use their time not only to break away from the ever-constant homework, but to focus on something that targets and stimulates satisfactory parts of the brain which teens need so as not to become too bogged down. Martial arts for teens offers a range of benefits in a variety of ways which both provide the teenager with a more expansive outlook and allow for these new perspectives to permeate into the hectic lives of teenagers and offer some guidance. 

How Taekwondo Teaches Courtesy

By Kayla Albrechtson, 1st dan

Taekwondo classes can teach students many life lessons beyond self-defense and physical fitness. Each student is expected to learn and demonstrate the tenets of Taekwondo within their training. These tenets are courtesy, integrity, indomitable spirit, perseverance, and self-control. Each of these tenets plays a critical role in a taekwondo student’s training, but the tenet of courtesy may be overlooked the most, especially when considering competitions. However, it is during taekwondo competitions that courtesy is needed the most.

Courtesy is about more than good manners; it is actually an act of respect, which is expected of every taekwondo student at all times. In the Moo Sul Kwan taekwondo class, students must follow class rules and respect their fellow students and instructors. An example of the courtesy students learn in the taekwondo classroom would be using ‘ma’am’ or ‘sir’ to address a black belt. However, acts of courtesy towards your fellow classmates and the lower belts are just as crucial because they foster a classroom environment that is calm, polite, and more conducive to learning. An excellent example of one student showing courtesy to another would be raising your hand before you talk to avoid talking over another student. By raising your hand to speak, all students can participate in class, even if they have a softer voice or may be shy.

Since taekwondo is a competitive sport, courtesy during tournaments is critical to foster an appropriate and fun competitive environment that helps students learn and grow in taekwondo. A great example of this would be during a free sparring match. Before the match, competitors will bow to each other as a sign of respect and are expected to adhere to the rules of the free sparring match. This is an act of courtesy because not only are the competitors respecting the opponent, but they are also respecting the sport of taekwondo itself. By doing so, students create a fun competition that becomes a great learning opportunity.

The courtesy students learn in the Moo Sul Kwan taekwondo classroom can be used in their everyday lives at school, work, or social situations. Since courtesy is essentially an act of respect towards another person, using courtesy in the school or workplace can lead to better opportunities. People are more likely to want to work with someone who displays courtesy at all times and in all situations. Because someone becomes more pleasant to work or study with, their teachers, fellow students, or coworkers begin to look to them in more challenging situations when a calmer head is needed. This is especially true for people who work in customer service jobs or any other job requiring someone to deal with the public, clients, or others. People who demonstrate courtesy even in tricky social interactions are more likely to calm charged situations and receive more positive outcomes from that situation. 

Displaying courtesy in the taekwondo class is a great way to practice this tenet for use in the real world. As with any skill, consistent practice is vital to being courteous in a student’s everyday life.