Kids Martial Arts and Compassion?

Can kids martial arts training help your child be more compassionate?

I often wonder how compassion has entered the consciousness of many martial artists. It seems to be a theme that runs through many different martial arts. Compassion, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is: sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.

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I think there are many reasons to have your child enrolled in kids martial arts training, I’m just uncertain if compassion is the first thing that parents think of as a reason. There are a lot of parents who don’t want their children in any kind of kids martial arts class because they think of it as fighting, and they don’t want to encourage fighting. This comes up often in different discussions and I think that it is somewhat merited. There is plenty of glorification of violence and various characters are portrayed as being a master of a certain martial art. A lot of bad movies and TV shows are out there. I feel fortunate those weren’t the kinds of movies I liked.

Movies, Kids Martial Arts = Kung Fu Theatre

I remember staying up to watch Kung Fu Theatre and watching Bruce Lee in Fists of Fury. I loved it! I loved the story and was wholly, emotionally invested in the protagonist. There are also the spaghetti westerns like Maginificent 7 and Fistful of Dollars which I, as I grew older, found out were based on the old Kurosawa samurai movies Seven Samurai and Yojimbo. I suppose you could throw in Star Wars as well which is a story initially based on another old Kurosawa film called The Hidden Fortress. There’s always a good guy and a formidable bad guy.

I think some people think if they enroll in kids martial arts training the children will grow into being bullies….

I read a good piece on a fighter today that I found intriguing because it seemed the furthest thing away from being a bully. What grabbed me to follow the link to the original piece/interview was reading this quote:

“It’s important to be playful and I think that’s the key to success, not just for athletes but for everyone; also to be calm and composed. The better you feel, and the more at ease you are with everyone and everything, the easier it is to focus; also your brain functions quicker, and you have more ambition, energy and self-confidence,” -Gunnar Nelson Ultimate Icelander

Kids Martial Arts can be compassionate and lots of fun

Another point that Gunnar Nelson said in the interview that struck me was when he says “They think maximum result during training is necessary and can’t stand to lose to training partners. That to me is a mistake and it is generally a bad idea to stand on a pedestal. If you do that, you’ll miss out on so many things you could learn. During training sessions, I’ve been beaten up numerous times, by fighters I would easily take inside the ring. It’s okay to give up sometimes, because it means you’ll come back stronger.”

To me, that is compassion and it makes all the sense in the world. It’s similar to when I’m playing chess just for fun and I want to see where a move takes me without concern for winning or losing. I just want to see how the game evolves and both of us playing can learn. However, I also see how it may be a little strange for people to hear someone say something like “it’s okay to give up” without the context. When you’re playing there is competition but when it’s fun people lose track of keeping score as they keep it playful. Just having fun is enough to enjoy the endeavor-whatever it is you are doing.

Kids martial arts training should be fun. When it’s fun the kids don’t want to stop playing, which is essentially learning and guiding each other. I know my daughter loves it. In her kids martial arts class she learns about friendship, respect, and has lots of fun playing games. She’s currently in a class of mixed levels and she seems to learn from her fellow students as well as her coach. This is a dual bonus because she’s learning on two levels: (1) there is some form of mentorship and passing on what they know to each other and (2) they are role models for her to play a similar, helpful role for her younger sibling as a big sister and future students who will follow and take a kids martial arts class.

If I asked her she would just say that her kids martial arts class is fun…

But I see compassion (and fun).

Click here for more info on Kids Martial Arts at SBGi in Portland