Martial Arts in Buffalo NY and WNY | Master Chong's Tae Kwon Do

Build your child's confidence with martial arts classes

Does your child need a boost in their self-confidence? Is your son or daughter a little bit shy and need some help coming out of their shell? Consider getting them involved in a physical fitness activity such as children's martial arts classes. Statistics show that participation in youth sports and fitness activities builds confidence and promotes development of a healthy lifestyle.

"It's not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life," Dr. Betsey Stevenson, economist at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Thoughts, feelings, and expectations can build or destroy confidence. Children with self confidence will persevere through challenges, show enthusiasm, and maintain a positive attitude.

With confidence, a child knows they can meet any challenges ahead. By seeing their skills improve and goals become reality, children gain a sense of accomplishment; they feel more in control of their situation, and feelings of helplessness disappear.

Programs that provide children with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and confidence to participate in physical activity can establish active, healthy lifestyles that continue into their adult lives.

Athletics are especially important for girls

"Girls derive benefits from athletics that are difficult to measure objectively, such as confidence and self-esteem; they score higher on tests designed to gauge positive body image," say Jean Zimmerman and Gil Reavill, authors of Raising Our Athletic Daughters.

"The athletes we met were, on the whole, 'achievers' who cited sports as an important strengthening factor in their lives. One characteristic we noticed over and over was a sense of focus and of being centered -- these were, by and large, young women who knew where they were going with their lives."

Why Tae Kwon Do?

Parents should ensure that their sons and daughters participate in physical activity programs in which they will experience enjoyment and success.

Many young people drop out of these programs because the activities are not fun, too competitive, or demand too much time. At Master Chong's Tae Kwon Do, your child will have fun, compete against their own personal best, and enjoy coming to classes each week.

"Master Chong's Tae Kwon Do has been a big part of my life. I was hesitant at first, but after I joined I realized how much I enjoyed it. I was excited to get new belts and accomplish new goals. It gave me confidence to be able to believe in myself and become better in school and at home." ~Nikki Mancini, youth black belt student

Other important factors in building confidence include:

• achieving short term goals while moving towards long term ones. Master Chong's belt ranking system allows students to feel progress as they move towards achieving their black belt.
• breaking skills down into tasks ordered from easy to hard, and having the opportunity to observe others performing the skills. The instructors at Master Chong's demonstrate each technique step-by-step - every student grasps the basics before moving on to more advanced techniques.
• repeated opportunities for practice during the activity. Unlike other sports or activities, there are no 'bench warmers' at our school. All students are active participants in every class.

Choose Master Chong's