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Why Martial Arts Are Great For Your Kids
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If you are a parent, we are certain that your child’s health and development are among the highest priorities in your life. There is so much you can do, so much conflicting advice on what are the best things a kid should do to grow up happy, healthy and equipped with all the right skills to tackle life.

We don’t have all the answers, but we are certain that training in martial arts is hands down one of the best practices for your children, let us explain why.

What are martial arts?

Karate? Taekwondo? Hapkido? Kicking? Punching? – Lifestyle, Mindset, Character-Building

For those that know martial arts only from pop culture, we would like to explain that it’s more than just kicking, punching and fighting.

For many, it’s a lifestyle, a mindset, and a deep philosophy.

Martial arts are often centuries old organized systems of practices and traditions that are practiced for physical, psychological and spiritual development and for learning self-defence skills. They have been a very important part of human history and continue to bring immense benefits to its practitioners to this day. The physical practice develops strength, coordination and endurance while building character, boosting self-confidence and self-control.

Another popular misconception is that it’s just for adults. This can’t be further from the truth. Unlike most sports and practices, martial arts don’t just train the body in isolation, but also the mind in equal measure. Martial arts as a solo journey encourages self-improvement stronger than team sports but also encompasses benefits of teamwork through training with, and supporting, other students in their journey.

Benefits of martial arts for children

Kids Martial Arts: Focus, Self-Defence, Fitness, Respect, Discipline & Teamwork

Like with everything else, if you put in the time, you will see the results. Martial arts are no different. Besides the mass of anecdotal evidence, many of the benefits for children and adults alike have been researched.

Let’s inspect the most prominent traits you will see in your children if they start practicing martial arts.  

Focus

The attention span of everyone is declining with the rise of technology and this is even truer for kids. The complex nature of martial arts movements and principles requires a level of focus and concentration that will undoubtedly improve the child’s focus and discipline. That’s why it’s better to start early, so they can use this focus in every area of their development.

Self-Defence and Environmental Awareness

Being aware in your surroundings and being able to defend yourself is one of our main pillars at Eagle Martial Arts. After all, martial arts were developed for this exact purpose. The cold truth is that it’s inevitable that at some point someone may bully your child and when this moment comes, their martial arts skills will be invaluable not only to be able to physically react, but even more importantly to resolve the situation calmly and without violence.

Fitness

Every martial arts consists of complex movements that mobilize the entire body. Training properly, with intent and focus, will develop strength, mobility, agility, stamina and balance. You will witness your child becoming stronger every week. They will start using their bodies functionally and you can be sure they will stay fit, healthy and active.

Respect

Respect to authority, elders and hierarchy is pivotal in traditional martial arts. There traits are ever disappearing in today’s world, but in martial arts they have not been lost. Your child will learn to be well mannered and respectful not only to the instructors but also to others around them. Furthermore, they will learn respect and appreciation for their own abilities.

Discipline and Teamwork

The environment in a martial arts school with its atmosphere of respect and honour inspires these values even in the most problematic of kids. The young ones learn that concentrating on a single task will inevitably lead to good results. All the challenges in the dojo/dojang teach problem solving that lend itself perfectly in the day-to-day life.

Despite being a solo activity, martial arts also build a very strong bond between practitioners because they face the same challenges, help each other overcome them and push each other to become better.

Eagle Martial Arts program for kids

Coordination, Behaviour, Self-Control, Discipline, Respect, Self-Respect

By now, you are probably convinced of the undeniable benefits a child can get by training martial arts. Here at Eagle Martial Arts, we take pride in developing a comprehensive curriculum that is specifically tailored to each age group in a way that helps the children grow as both martial artists and people while also being a lot of fun.

Starting as early as 3 years old, your little one can become an Eaglet at EMA. They will develop vital motor skills, coordination and well-mannered behaviour while having a lot of fun. The 3 and 4 year olds grow up every day and it’s important to satisfy their curiosity with meaningful and interesting tasks. We will help you do that while kick starting your child’s growth.

The next age group is the Little Eagles. We created a teaching method that we call “edu-tainment” for the 5- and 6-year-olds. In a fun and interesting manner, we teach our Little Eagles 8 pivotal life skills and traits:

  • Focus
  • Memory
  • Coordination
  • Self-control
  • Fitness
  • Discipline
  • Teamwork

The oldest children up to 13 years of age fall in to the Junior Martial Arts category. Here, we focus on incorporating all the previously learned skills in a holistic self-development approach. Children start learning more effective self-defence and control techniques. We also emphasize many verbal, psychological and verbal anti bully techniques.

The road from junior leads to teen and adult and quite possibly a lifetime journey in martial arts, rewarded by unwavering self-confidence, robust health and body and friendships for life.

Martial arts are perfect for children

Focus, Strength, Self-Improvement

It’s safe to say martial arts are perfect activity for kids. It takes commitment and consistency, but the rewards are well worth it. Guide your child in the early stages and it will thank you for it later in life.

If you feel inspired by the promise of focus, discipline and strength, maybe you will start your own martial arts journey alongside your child and walk the path of self-improvement together. There are classes at EMA suitable for every age and gender.

Studies on benefits of martial arts:

1. Psychosocial Benefits of the Martial Arts: Myth or Reality? A Literature Review

2. The effects of martial arts participation on mental and psychosocial health outcomes: a randomised controlled trial of a secondary school-based mental health promotion program

3. Health benefits of hard martial arts in adults: a systematic review

4. Getting Fit With Martial Arts

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What is Hapkido?
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Hapkido

The modern world is a much safer place than any other time in history. If you live in a developed country, chances are you will never have to use physical force to save your life, health, or dignity. 

But imagine that one day you are forced to defend yourself, your family, or your property and there is no other option in sight. At this very moment, the physical and mental skills you can apply are the single most valuable thing you possess.

As the ancient Chinese proverb goes “It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war”. This still rings very true today.

Hapkido is a hybrid martial art designed for self-defense originating from Korea that includes a complete arsenal of techniques both for striking and on the ground. 

Our aim at Eagle Martial arts is to train Hapkido in a way that can be applied, not just practiced.

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What is Hapkido?

Martial Arts? Judo? Self Defence? Taekwondo? Karate?

Hapkido was created in Korea as a form of self-defense. The name literally means “The way of coordination and internal power” and it‘s characterized by combining dynamic striking, kicking, deflection techniques, throws, takedowns, grappling locks as well as a vast array of joint locking techniques.  

This makes Hapkido a complete martial art and one of the original “mixed martial arts”. The creator of the style Choi Yong-Sool adapted the Japanese art Daito-ryu Aiki jiu-jitsu when he returned to his country after spending 30 years in Japan. 

He and his followers saw the need to add more and more aspects to Hapkido from other martial arts, that have proven themselves to be applicable in real combat. Kicks and strikes from indigenous Taekkyon (parent style of modern Taekwondo) were added first, then various throws and ground fighting techniques from judo. 

The main goal of Hapkido is to rapidly subdue and render any attacker helpless without the use of brute force. Instead, practitioners seek to gain the advantage through manipulation of body position and applying leverage to incapacitate without the use of strength. The control over the opponent allows the Hapkido artist to choose to defuse the situation without causing harm or inflict serious damage if wanted. This makes Hapkido a preferred system for many law enforcement personnel throughout the world. 

Traditional Hapkido is based on 3 important principles.

  1. Principle of Nonresistance to force- this principle teaches to not act directly opposing the opponent’s force. Balance and fluidity are used to redirect and use the opponent’s force against them. 
  2. Principle of Circular motion- using circular motions allows the gathering of greater energy and using it in the techniques. All the movements in Hapkido are free-flowing and natural.
  3. Principle of water- in short, this means to fluidly adapt to the circumstances of the opponent and the surroundings. One must be able to adapt and respond to every situation. This principle also shows the flowing nature of the moves in Hapkido.

Of course, we can analyze these concepts in much greater detail, but perhaps we will do this in another article. This one is just to familiarize you with the basic principles and what you will learn if you choose to train Hapkido. 

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How we train Hapkido at EMA

Kicking, Striking, Throwing, Techniques, Ground Work & Application

At Eagle Martial Arts we view martial arts to be much more than kicking and punching. Martial arts should teach you a wide array of skills and attributes. In addition to learning how to defend yourself physically, you will become confident, collected, and aware in a large range of situations.

Our Hapkido program can provide you with the complete toolset for this. We developed Eagle Martial Arts to fill many of the gaps between traditional martial arts and real-life scenarios. 

In the last couple of decades, the rise of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts exposed a lot of gaping holes in many traditional disciplines and beliefs. In addition, the large usage of cameras pretty much everywhere also documented many real altercations that everybody can watch on the internet. 

With this knowledge, we followed the example of early Hapkido masters and expanded the already very potent traditional style with some aspects from other battle-proven styles like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. The result is a comprehensive curriculum for the modern world. 

Still, we encompass all the values and techniques from traditional Hapkido and we are proudly a part of the Global Hapkido Association.

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Even more benefits of Hapkido

Strength, Cardio, Flexibility, Stress Relief, Fun

Training in martial arts is a never-ending journey to self-improvement and immense mental development. But it’s also a great workout for the body. Systematic training will undoubtedly increase your muscle strength, flexibility, and cardio.

The flowing and non-resistant nature of Hapkido reduces the chance of injuries and harm significantly, especially in comparison with modern combat sports training. 

And last, but definitely not least one of the most beneficial aspects of training martial arts is stress relief. When you focus on perfecting the techniques you forget everything else in your life. All the real or perceived problems you have go away at least for the duration of the practice. 

Hapkido’s reliance on technique and precision rather than strength makes it perfect for all types of people. Your journey in Hapkido and martial arts is one of mastery of yourself, not others, and can begin at Eagle Martial Arts.

EMA Hapkido Ha Dan Dolyo

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What is Brazilian Jiu Jistu (BJJ)?

What is BJJ?

Self-Defence? Wrestling? Fitness? Martial Arts?

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) stormed over the martial arts world in the last couple of decades and established itself as one of the main styles of combat arts you must know to be a complete fighter.

Even if you do not have such high aspirations, you have a lot to gain by training Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

BJJ is a martial art based on grappling and the central purpose is controlling a resisting opponent with techniques that force them to submit or incapacitate them. For this very purpose are used different principles of leverage, angles, pressure, and the knowledge where the limits of the human body lie. These skills can overcome vast differences in physical attributes like strength and weight, allowing the grappler to control much larger and more aggressive opponents. 

Now, this is a skill that you should definitely want to have.

Why is BJJ so popular?

BJJ: A Martial Art, Self-Defence and a Sport

The “gentle art” as BJJ is sometimes called has gained massive popularity worldwide for a reason. It has both very well-developed sports aspect that goes from a beginner to a professional level with international competitions, while at the same time it has proven itself to be one of the best forms of self-defense.

If you watched (or participated in) a street fight you must know that a vast percentage of the fights end up on the ground, or at least in a standing clinch position. Once there the BJJ skills reign supreme. It’s a fact that controlling a resisting person is much easier on the ground, so the majority of BJJ is centered around getting the opponent down and securing a dominant position from where they can be neutralized. 

The knowledge of how to control and subdue an opponent with whatever level of severity you choose is invaluable. For example, law enforcement personnel often need to incapacitate a threat without doing too much harm and this often can be the case in a real-life situation everybody can encounter. 

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The sport of BJJ

“Position, Position, Submission.”

BJJ can also bring you medals, fame, and a career as an athlete. Even though it was developed as a system to beat a larger opponent in a confrontation since the mid-1990s the art has become a worldwide sport with a wide range of competitions ranging from kindergarten children to world level athletes. 

Sport Jiu-jitsu shares most of the elements of the self-defense version, but there are also some key differences. There are certain positions employed in the sport that are very beneficial when you are trying to score points in the specific ruleset, but it would be pure madness to use them in a real fight. Competitors also use specific tactics that exploit the rules and maximize the chance to be awarded a victory.

The core principles of the two branches of BJJ are largely the same, but some of the things used in gi-based jiu-jitsu tournaments are not applicable at all in a scenario where strikes are allowed- being a real fight or MMA match. 

With that said there are many benefits from sport BJJ that are directly applicable in real life. Preparing for a competition brings intensity of training that can be hard to reach if you are not preparing for some specific event. 

Competing in a tournament brings anxiety and adrenaline impossible to replicate in the gym and learning to control and use these feelings is an invaluable life skill. 

BJJ at Eagle Martial Arts

Practice all aspects of BJJ

Eagle Martial Arts’ BJJ program focuses on self-defense and also provides the opportunity to compete, allowing you to pursue one or both aspects of the art. EMA helps you decide which path you want to dedicate your practice to. 

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Short history of BJJ

Carlos Gracie – the pioneer of BJJ

The word Brazilian in the name should be self-explanatory where the martial arts comes from, but this is not the full story. The original martial arts BJJ sprouted from is the Japanese jiu-jitsu, which was used by the samurai for hand-to-hand combat. 

Late in the 1800s, the founder of judo Jigaro Kano started to combine both styles in order to create a new martial system. In 1915 one of his emissaries- Mitsyo Maeda arrived in Brazil and began teaching and showcasing his martial art. There a young kid named Carlos Gracie was brought in to the dojo by his father. In his hands and that of the Gracie family, jiu-jitsu evolved into a different animal that later became known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Since the very early days, the Gracies tested their style in challenge matches, street fights, and even professional bouts against any and all other styles to prove the efficiency of their art. Generations of the Gracie family members honed and perfected the art before we arrive in the early 1990s and the rise of the UFC. 

The beginnings of modern MMA are indeed tightly connected to proving that BJJ is the superior combat art. In 1993 a relatively small man Royce Gracie dominated the first Ultimate Fighting tournament using only his grappling skills and exploded the popularity of BJJ as an indispensable addition to the skillset of a complete fighter. 

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(Picture: Eagle Martial Arts BJJ Instructor Lineage)

Get the benefits of BJJ

Self-Defence, Strength, Flexibility, Endurance, Fitness & more

There are huge physical and well-documented benefits in training BJJ. Jiu-jitsu challenges the body in pretty much all aspects- strength, flexibility, endurance, durability. You develop your body while also learning new skills.

Some might argue that the mental gains are even more than the physical ones. Practicing any martial art is a never-ending journey to self-improvement that builds character, fortifies the mind, and develops mental fortitude. BJJ is also known as “human chess” for its countless techniques and concepts. Immersing yourself in them will surely sharpen your mind and body.

BJJ has proven to be one of the most potent self-defense systems on the planet. Unlike many other styles and systems, it was thrown into the fire of real conflict countless times to be strengthened and perfected. 

It is also an amazing and complex sport, an integral part of Mixed Martial Arts, and even a great workout for health. 

Jiu jitsu for you can be any of these aspects or maybe something else you want it to be. Come join the BJJ program at EMA and start discovering what BJJ is for you.

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