The Perfect Age to Enjoy the Benefits of Martial Arts Training

What is the perfect age to enjoy the benefits of martial arts training? The short answer is from age 4 and up into the seventies! The better answer: start whenever you are looking for the benefits that quality martial arts training can provide! Some martial arts benefits are universal with quality training, and other aspects will provide more value based on the individual’s age.

What Are The Benefits of Martial Arts Training

Most people are aware that the martial arts will provide the benefits of a good fitness workout and self-defense, and these are two of the most common reasons why people begin training. However, the martial arts will also improve self-esteem and confidence, reinforce respect and courtesy, and work on self-discipline, focus and self-control.

The Benefits of Martial Arts Training for Ages 4 to 6

Our preschool martial arts students are being prepared for success in their academic career, with many not yet in Kindergarten or First Grade. During their training, they will learn to work with different instructors, to cooperate with fellow students, and they will work on developing their gross motor skills and coordination. Training at this age is a mixture of fast-paced drills designed to develop fitness and release excess energy, and individual and small-group work with instructors to develop focus.

The Benefits for Ages 7 to 12

KFMA’s students who are in elementary school will be challenged more than our younger students, both physically and mentally. At this level, students will enjoy longer workouts with more physical intensity, and they will learn to perform the Songahm Taekwondo forms on their own. These forms are ideal for developing “bilateral integration” in the brain and assist in developing long-term memory. (See this article for more information on the benefits for your brain: (https://teamkowkabany.com/a-workout-for-your-brain-from-taekwondo-forms/). At this point in their training, the self-defense techniques developed will make more use of the students’ increase in power and strength, and their fitness standards will begin to increase.

This is about the time kids want to become more independent, and so more time is focused on the life skills, particularly showing courtesy and respect to others, especially at home. While much of their training is done in a group environment, students will progress based on personal merit and individual development. Students at this age will also learn about integrity and be taught self-discipline and self-control.

The Benefits for Teens

KFMA’s teens are an amazing bunch of individuals, and as they approach adulthood, their training reflects their need for stress relief, friendship, and physical fitness. The self-defense techniques taught at this level are similar to the ones taught to all of our adults, as they will spend more of their time outside the home without their parents nearby. With many of our teens in advanced and AP classes, and frequently heavy academic loads, this group needs a physical outlet for stress relief.  Training in our Family classes gives them the opportunity to work with other students their age, while still having positive adult role models alongside them. Teens have a natural tendency to want to explore new things, however, they also look at the ‘models’ presented by their parents and other adults they respect as a way of learning how to become adults.

The Benefits of Martial Arts Training for Adults

As our society gets more complicated with each passing year (or perhaps each week with the influx of AI), more than ever, adults need time away from work and the responsibilities of life to just enjoy themselves physically. They need stress relief, and they need new challenges that they can face on their own terms. As with all of our KFMA students, every adult needs to know the basics of self-defense, and these techniques are developed in every class we teach.

From a fitness standpoint, many people join the gym every January with ambitious goals, but very few stick to it. With martial arts training, you become part of a family of like-minded individuals who encourage each other and help each other reach their goals and their full potential. Every KFMA Family class has a cardio element, every class works on developing strength in the core and to maintain/increase flexibility, and every class is taught by a Master Instructor.

The Center for Disease Control recommends 150 minutes of moderate physical activity for adults every week, including 2 days of strength training. (https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html)  Two classes a week in our KFMA family classes will give you two hours of physical activity, plenty of strength training drills (push-ups, sit-ups, leg strengthening, etc.), and it will all be in a positive, supportive environment that will leave you feeling better than when you came in. You’ll quickly notice that you feel more confident in your personal physical abilities and your martial arts skills, and this confidence will carry over into other areas of your life.

How to Start Enjoying These Benefits

The answer for this is simple… give us a call. Chief Masters Laura and David Kowkabany have over 80 years’ combined experience in teaching students and families, and they still teach every class at KFMA five days a week. Our students range from pre-schoolers, to teens, to adult professionals, with many of them having trained with us for the past ten to fifteen years! Several of the kids we now teach are with us because we taught their parents when they were kids! 

For more information regarding our family martial arts classes, just give us a call at 813-540-5528. KFMA was established in 1996, and is located at 13910 Monroes Business Park, just two doors down from the Tampa Bay Brewing Company off Racetrack Road.