More to Martial Arts than just kicking and punching. The common thought is that Martial Art just teaches your child self defence, but the truth is there is so much more. The physical skills learnt in Martial Arts transfer to other sports and activities, while the life skills and values will stay with your child for a long time. Read below to see how our Kinder Kick program can help the development of your child as we introduce them to physical exercise and movement, martial arts, and structured learning.
Children in this early age bracket are entering an exciting period of growth and development. As we help the child develop a positive attitude towards exercise and movement, they will experience improvements in the early stages of many skills. Martial Arts will help them kick start this growth and development in a positive and constructive environment.
Children in this age bracket would be involved in our KINDER KICKS program and would be working on developing and improving the following developmental milestones:
- Kicking
- Punching
- Blocking
- Crawling
- Balancing
- Hopping (one leg) / Jumping (both legs)
- Running
- Ducking
- Coordination – Hands and Eyes
- Coordination – Feet and Eyes
In addition to these ‘action’ milestones, we’re also working towards Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Social developmental milestones. Some of these include:
Physical Development Milestones:
- Early development of basic muscles – legs, arms, abs and cardiovascular/muscular endurance.
- Early development of alternating feet and hands.
- Early development of spatial awareness.
- Early development of distance.
- Early development of movement in various directions.
Intellectual Development Milestones:
- Early development of following directions.
- Early development of counting physical movements.
- Early development of paying attention despite distractions around them.
- early development of retaining information such as new words, commands, definitions and movements.
- Early development of understanding consequences of action, movement and behaviour.
Emotional Development Milestones:
- Early development of building a positive attitude – “I can do it”
- Early development of controlling emotions when they are challenged.
- Early development of embracing excitement in healthy competition.
- Early development of facing fears and trying new things.
- Early development of feeling a sense of independence.
Social Development Milestones:
- Early development of taking turns.
- Early development of communicating with instructors and peers.
- Early development of ‘fair play’ and ‘sportsmandship’
- Early development of patience.
- Early development of enjoying activities with others.
An example of how this all fits:
In our Kinder Kicks program we often set up circuit style obstacle courses for children to navigate through – either assisted or on their own. Here is one example:
- Children will perform physical movements (kicking, punching, blocking etc) on the kicking targets while counting the repetitions they are doing and alternating hands/legs. They are practicing body control and maintaining balance throughout the physical movements. Lastly they are focusing on the distance between themselves and target to ensure they are correctly hitting the pad.
- Students will then practice weaving between cones ensuring they have judged their distance correctly. They may move onto the balance beam practicing movement without falling off. After that they will hop or jump through the rings landing safely inside each one.
- Students to return to line and patiently wait for their next turn.