The University of Madrid conducted a three-year study—including over 2,000 individuals between the ages of 6 and 18—to explore how exercise affects academic performance. If you’ve ever read about the mental and emotional benefits that come from exercise, you will likely be unsurprised to find out that the study indicated physical activity can enhance a student’s ability to perform well in school.
At Impact Martial Arts, the study’s findings do not surprise us. We have seen many of our students throughout the years excel in their classroom studies. Sure, this can certainly be attributed to the fact martial artists get plenty of exercise, but that’s only the start of the story. Other ways martial arts can help your child in school include:
1. DISCIPLINE One of the countless benefits to studying martial arts is learning self-discipline. Having the discipline to do the right thing (simply because it’s the right thing to do) can play a role in a child’s classroom successes. It is especially important for time outside of school, when there are countless temptations to keep a child away from doing homework!
2. CONFIDENCE Too many times, children have difficulty excelling not because they lack innate abilities, but because they do not have confidence. Martial arts instills that confidence with every lesson. A student learns that if she works hard and is persistent, she can accomplish more than she previously thought possible. Overcoming barriers leads to confidence that carries over in school performance.
3. FOCUS We now live in a society of virtually endless distraction. The internet alone can keep someone distracted and away from important responsibilities—like homework—for hours on end. To succeed in martial arts, one must stay focused and concentrate on what he is trying to accomplish. As students acquire and refine their abilities in this regard, they can apply them to the classroom and begin to excel in subjects that were previously hard for them. 4. RESPECT A truly outstanding feature of martial arts is the way students learn and demonstrate respect to instructors, each other, and themselves. Now, some might think respect is only given to instructors because they are authority figures, but this is not true. An instructor is respected because of the knowledge and skill he or she possesses. In this way, the respect comes from the value we all possess. For a student to be successful, he or she must respect teachers, and this is something martial arts develops.