Helping your child succeed in martial arts, and anything else.

The LEVEL 3 Martial Arts Performance program gives your child an advantage to succeed as they grow. But with any growth comes challenges. Kids may not realize that the values they’re learning at LEVEL 3 are also the same values that can make martial arts feel less fun than they expect. Kids base their interest and continued support of an activity solely on emotion and entertainment value - this is why game companies, technology companies, and toy companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars studying the child’s mind and advertising to each specific age group. Adults have a self-discipline muscle they’ve practiced developing for years that keeps them following through with a routine even during burn-out phases. Kids don’t have that discipline. So when your child is feeling demotivated don’t jump straight to the easy and often convenient decision of letting your kid quit or “take a break”. If one leaves something when feeling down about it without truly reflecting on why then chances are one might always remember it that way and never return to that activity - concreting a negative feeling about that thing for life possibly. Take time to evaluate why your child might feel the way they do then address it with your instructor who should be an integral part of that conversation. Often times what kids feel isn’t what they verbalize (i.e. “its not fun” usually means “it’s challenging and new and I dont believe in myself yet”). Consider some of the points below if / when your child ever feels demotivated with any routine, let alone martial arts.

Help them properly prepare for class before leaving the house: It can be tough for a child (or even adult) to trade in the idea of laying on the proverbial couch for entering a structured environment that requires discipline, focus, and effort, especially after a day at school. Every kid loves to play video games, watch YouTube, and interact with friends on social media. If they’re told its time to stop vegging and start working hard they may resent coming to class even though they always leave with a smile. Anything short of more game playing or going to sleep after being physically stagnant will become an unattractive thought and bring about resistance. This is the point where parents say they don’t want to fight with bringing their kid anymore so they’re going to “take a break”. Instead of that lets try establishing a productive home routine 30 - 60 minutes prior to attending class such as chores, homework, or help with other household activities. This gets them in a more appropriate mental and physical zone creating a successful in-class experience and out-of-class sentiment.

Prioritize their martial arts training schedule: Establishing a consistent attendance routine at LEVEL 3 is essential to succeeding for three reasons: 1) The participant can build-in other activities around this routine which can teach balance, moderation, and help kids handle more obligations as they grow. 2) Your child’s body will physically start to expect the feeling it gets from attending LEVEL 3 classes right around the actual time of class. This helps them mentally align with getting prepared to attend, eradicating any resistance to attending even if they are tired or were having playtime - when you tell them “time to go” it won’t be an unexpected statement. 3) Attending class at least twice per week allows your child’s skill to grow as our curriculum intends. If you don’t show up consistently at least twice per week then the program may not be able to work its magic!

Fuel your child for top performance: Create healthy snacking habits on days your child will attend LEVEL 3 classes. If they eat something that sustains their energy and focus, and they properly hydrate then they’ll feel good and be ready for physical activity. This means positive attitude and confidence will be higher from the start. The L3MAP program requires certain age groups of our children classes to track their nutrition and hydration to earn one of their belt stripes, but you can use the tracking table for purposes outside the rank advancement of course.

Create visual encouragement: Create a vision board containing an image of your child with their martial arts goal surrounded by all the positive character traits they’ll need to achieve that goal like persistence, determination, confidence, consistency, self-esteem, integrity, self-control, effort, patience, etc. Post this vision-board somewhere they’ll have to see it every single day. Seeing things constantly can remind us what we are working for and during phases of demotivation can help a child exercise that discipline muscle.

Reinforce the values of our program at home: The perfect way to remind your child that martial arts is more than just kicking and punching in a uniform at a studio is to help them implement key values such as discipline while at home or elsewhere. We teach our students that discipline means doing the thing that needs to be done whether you feel like it or not. As adults we have to exercise discipline most everyday! However, when your child doesn’t “feel” like doing something, yet we know they should because its a commitment they made or its necessary to be done, you must realize this is THE KEY MOMENT discipline will be learned - point it out to them as it’s happening and anytime you reference the word they’ll remember that moment and apply it moving forward.

Learn to identify warning signs of discouragement: When your child is feeling demotivated it could be do to self-doubt or low self-esteem. Listen for comments like “I’m only a white-belt”, “The other kids know more than me”, “Im not good enough”, “Its too hard”, “I dont feel like going tonight”, “I have a stomach/head ache”.  A lot of times parents think its a one-off occurrence and they let the kid skip class (in the case of true illness, please skip class). As soon as the child realizes their excuse is acted upon favorably to them they’ll take advantage of that, because remember, they dont have the discipline muscle to do the right thing whether they feel like it or not.

You should consider your instructor an essential part of the conversation regarding demotivation or other concerns. It is they who introduced you to the program, enrolled your child, and now teaches them. They will probably know best how to help your family continue to succeed in martial arts.