Discipline & Respect – How To Build It In Traverse City Children and Teens With Taekwondo
Chase has to be asked seven times to put away his toys and it always seems to end in a yelling match. Brenna gets stubborn just before bed time and will not go to bed without threats of punishment. Every time we are at Meijers, the twins will not stay next to me but always run off and throw fits. Ever since getting into Traverse City West Middle School, Emily is very short with her parents and sighs at every request. Alex won’t stay at the table to eat his dinner … he is always running around and acts like he does not even hear his frustrated father.
“Discipline” in its simplest form is doing as your told the first time you are asked without whining, arguing, complaining or negotiating. “Respect” is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as understanding that someone is important and should be treated in an appropriate way. Martial arts and specifically Taekwondo is great at instilling both discipline and respect in kids. It is well recognized that martial arts helps children in so many important ways with balance, agility, flexibility, confidence, bully defense skills, pride, patience, etc. However, the positive impact Taekwondo (a traditional Korean martial art) can have in particular on building discipline and respect is sometimes over looked. But, at the Seung-ni Martial Arts Academy in Traverse City, the parents of the young students training there are seeing it first hand:
“Ever since starting the Seung-ni Taekwondo classes, Brandon has been more respectful and listens better.” William & Barb, S. - Traverse City
“The whinning has almost stopped completely and Erik loves the fun Seung-ni black belt instructors who get down to his level.” Joan R. – Williamsburg
“Our daughter has made a remarkable turnaround since starting the Teen Taekwondo program at your academy. She is more polite at home to me and her mother, there are no more yelling matches and she is now amazingly self-directed on getting her homework done.” Mark A. – Traverse City
“Wow” in a word. Reece was out of control. I am so glad my sister in law told me about the Little Dragons program. Watching him say “yes sir” and bowing is something I thought I would never see.” Mary Anne G. - Interlochen
Martial arts teaches respect and discipline unlike any other child activity and here is why:
1. ANOTHER VOICE TO COMPLIMENT YOURS - Children hear all the time from their own parents that they should listen to them. Often, however, kids stop hearing this message. But, the powerful impact a third party respect figure (like a Taekwondo black belt instructor) can have is essential to get that message across. Having your child hearing that message from multiple sources (especially from ones they admire) is key.
2. IMMERSION THERAPY – Everything in a martial art school is based on respect and discipline. Bowing, saying yes sir, learning to control their emotions, positive peer pressure from other students to train hard and be a good student, memorizing student creeds that focus on respect and discipline. If you want to learn Spanish move to Spain. If you want to learn discipline and respect – go to a Taekwondo class where it is instilled in every aspect.
3. MAKE IT COOL – The engaging Taekwondo instructors at Seung-ni make showing respect and exhibiting discipline to be enjoyable, praiseworthy and cool. This is important to counteract the negative role-modeling your children are likely to fall into from disrespectful friends and school class mates if gone unchecked.
Building respect and discipline in your Traverse City kid does not have to be a frustrating individual battle. These two traits are some of the most important life skills a child can master. If you would like to see a real change, then consider enrolling your son or daughter in a Seung-ni Taekwondo Class and see for yourself the true power of martial arts.
