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. 

Benefits of Martial Arts for Families

By Hope Morgan, 4th dan

Sharing physical activities with your kids, parents, and siblings isn’t just a fun way to get your heart pumping. It’s also a great way to build family bonds and a great taekwondo program provides the perfect opportunity to share the many benefits martial arts offers for families. It’s quite rare to find sport that involves the entire family, and more often than not, someone is left just sitting on the sidelines observing. Taekwondo, however, allows the entire family to join in. The Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo taught at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute offers classes tailored for all age groups, so whether you’re a younger sister or a grandfather, our taekwondo school will suit you, making it simple to participate in a family activity.

Currently, our family martial arts program is home to several families, and all of them agree that working out together makes things not only more interesting, but overall more engaging. Even when you’re not working out in the same class as your loved one, you are still experiencing all of the same fun, and that doesn’t even include all of the exciting events held every year ranging from tournaments to expos and camps.

Furthermore, It’s the specialization of this taekwondo school that really makes it unique. As an adult or parent, it’s most likely that you’re not looking for the exact same benefits in a sport as your child is. That’s what is so amazing about this martial arts school – your whole family can participate while still meeting all of your individual needs. In their class, your younger family members will learn the importance of education, good decision-making, and teamwork while developing their confidence, focus, responsibility, and respect. While practicing all of the same material, adults are able to expand their physical fitness abilities, learn positive and healthy actions, and broaden their concentration capabilities. Taekwondo is also a great stress-reliever for all ages. 

One thing our family martial arts program really tends to focus on is the significance of setting goals, something we believe is important for both younger and older students. Not only does martial arts permit the whole family to work-out together, but it’s a long-term commitment rather than just a seasonal activity. Family helps encourage students to set goals for themselves, and when your family is also involved, it makes it easier to push each other towards success. You constantly have someone to help you by practicing at home, providing you an extra layer of encouragement and a feeling that you are engaged in their learning experience. A new level of understanding comes with mutual participation in a sport and makes sharing each other’s successes that much more special.

Families Who Sweat Together, Stay Together!

Taekwondo is a sport that provides many mental and physical benefits to students of all ages. Unlike many other individual and team sports, taekwondo is a great activity to do with the whole family. Families can train together in martial arts to exercise, learn techniques, practice self control and discipline, and grow in self confidence while building family bonds at the same time.   Also, since families would be going through the same training process, they can help motivate each other to keep working harder and improve their taekwondo skills. Not to mention, you will always have a training partner at home to practice with!  Training in Moo Sul Kwan taekwondo is especially great for families. Moo Sul Kwan taekwondo places an emphasis on creating a safe and positive learning environment for all students. No matter the student’s skill level, age, or previous martial arts experience, they are accepted into a welcoming community.   

The Colorado Taekwondo Institute offers classes for people of all ages.  Students are able to take classes with people who are of a similar age and belt rank to create the safest and most productive learning environment.  Classes are offered to all age groups to ensure that all students are able to experience the benefits that taekwondo offers.  This is great for families because each member of the family will be able to be in a class that is more tailored to their needs and skill levels.  Although you may not be training side by side with your family member in the same class as you, you will still be experiencing the same fun activities, exercises, and benefits.  

Many families already train with the Colorado Taekwondo Institute, and they would all agree that it enhances their training journey and helps motivate them through their training journey.  Whether you are training with your siblings, parents, children, or your whole family, you will be able to experience the family fun in taekwondo.  Not only can families train in classes, but they can also experience the numerous events that the Colorado Taekwondo Institute offers.  From tournaments to expos to camps to demonstrations, our taekwondo school holds many exciting, fun, and family friendly events every year.  

Also, taekwondo is a wonderful sport for family martial arts to participate in because each student is able to receive a unique training experience.  It is likely that a young child would not have the same goals in taekwondo as their parent would, and each person would be looking for different benefits.  Taekwondo is a great sport for families because each individual student is able to receive a very personalized training experience.  Each instructor who teaches a class gets to know each of their students as individuals and teaches them in the ways that work best for the student.  The training experience at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute is great for families because family members can be part of the organization together, but each individual student can meet their needs at the same time.  Students of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to set goals for themselves as they grow in their training, which promotes a community of growth both inside and out of taekwondo class.  

Overall, family martial arts is an amazing sport for families to participate in together.  Taekwondo allows the whole family to exercise together and allows each individual member of the family to set their own goals, grow in confidence, learn discipline, and have fun, while strengthening bonds between members of the family.  Also, taekwondo encourages long-term commitment because it is a year-round sport, not a seasonal sport.  Family members who do taekwondo together can help encourage and motivate one another, and can help each other with practicing outside of class. This mutual participation in taekwondo can help strengthen the bond of a family and create skilled martial arts students at the same time.