An unfortunate part of growing up and of life in general, is having to deal with bullies.
In our society today the idea of teaching kids to fight back is frowned upon.
School officials and others tell us that we must teach our children to "talk things over" with bullies.
While it is good to diffuse situations with words, the sad truth is that many times talking will only make the situation worse.
The Best Martial Art for Self Defense is Not Karate This will anger many karate practitioners, but let me go a step further.
The best martial art to defend yourself against a real life attack is not Karate, or Judo, or even MMA.
Each of these martial arts has good and bad points, but none of them are geared toward real life violent situations.
Any martial arts class that you might consider enrolling your child in is going to prepare them for the concept of playing around with fighting techniques, not actually using them to protect their lives.
Real Life Scenarios None of us likes to think of bad people like bullies, or heaven forbid perverted pedophiles interacting with or trying to harm our children.
A run in with bully intent upon beating your child up, or worse yet, a predator trying to snatch him or her away, is a lot different than any "self-defense" scenario they will face at a Karate studio.
To get out of these types of situations, a better approach is needed than those provided by traditional martial arts.
The Best Martial Art for Self Defense needs to be Realistic The idea of training kids to learn to defend themselves must be rooted in learning to recognize, avoid and neutralize potential attacks.
The end goal isn't to do a dramatic jump kick to beat someone up - it is simply to get away from dangerous situations by any means possible.
Teach your children to use common, everyday items as weapons to use if they were ever grabbed by a kidnapper.
A pencil or pen jammed into an attackers groin or eyes can go a lot further than any kata or form that your child will learn at a Martial Arts Academy.
You obviously want your child to be safe from any and every kind of danger.
We teach our children to run from strangers and to scream and make noise, and that is good.
But it is not enough.
What will happen when the worst-case scenario takes place, and a sicko grabs your child? This is not a scare tactic; it is something that every parent should consider.
Just as you teach your children what to do in case of a fire, you should find a program, not necessarily a full-blown karate class, but a program that you can use to drill your children with.
To teach them survival skills that will get them away from danger.
Real life self-defense scenarios are ugly and terrifying, yet so many of us are not prepared to deal with them.
And we send our kids out into the world every day even more unprepared than we are.
Junior is not going to beat up an adult bent on doing him harm with the cool little Karate kicks he learns in class.
For your kids to protect themselves, they need something better than a class.
They need a true self-defense system.
You are ready to provide your child with the information and skills they need to protect themselves, aren't you?