Martial Arts for Classes for Families

By Lydia Willis, 3rd dan

Are you interested in martial arts lessons for yourself or a family member? Why not everyone! The Colorado Taekwondo Institute offers a unique opportunity for families to participate in the same sport, while still having their individual needs met. We have 5 different campuses located in the Denver-Metro area, each offering a variety of classes for all age ranges. This allows families to enroll not only younger children, but teens and parents as well! By participating in family martial arts, you are all learning the same discipline, emotional, and physical skills, taught at age appropriate levels. At the Colorado Taekwondo institute, we have many families who are all taking classes and are enjoying these benefits.

I started at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute when I was just four years old because my younger sister was taking classes at the time, and it piqued my interest. When we started, she was 2 years old, and I was 4 years old. We began in the same class, ages 2-4, learning the basic movements of martial arts and ideas of discipline. I loved being in the same sport as my little sister, we got to spend more time together in a structured manner, meaning we weren’t getting into little sibling arguments. Another benefit of having my younger sister in class was being encouraged to practice more at home. It’s important to practice Taekwondo skills at home as it helps to solidify the complex movements that are learned in class, but also to build up physical endurance. Being in classes with my younger sister, we were motivated to go home afterwards and practice together, or even put on little performances for our parents in the living room. As we got older, I moved out of the “tigers” class, but having the opportunity to be able to train with her at home helped us both to continue working on those discipline skills. The more motivated one of us got to practice and learn new moves, the more the other one also felt motivated. We had learned to be disciplined and spend time learning together at home, which meant it was easy for us to learn to get home and get our homework done right away, or to practice our instruments for music lessons. Family martial arts was an essential part in developing who we are as people.

Along with pushing each other to become better martial artists and more disciplined, having a family member in class helps to create a sense of competition that pushes training to a higher level. Healthy levels of competition are incredibly helpful in creating improvement in martial artists, each member of the family has a small part of them that wants to be “better” than everyone else, and that helps to push everyone further. It creates a higher interest in participating in events like tournaments, expos, and symposiums, as well as attending extra classes and events. This healthy competition also teaches family members important emotional skills like self-control and sportsmanship. It’s easier to make a mistake with a family member than it is to make a mistake once you’re in the real world, so having healthy competition with family makes it easier to learn those skills. It provides an opportunity to practice being a good sport and being kind within the safety of people you already know and trust.

If your family is looking for a sport to participate in, family martial arts at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute is a perfect option. With classes for all ages that help train physical fitness and self-defense skills as well as emotional skills like discipline, respect, and kindness.