By Sybil Cummin, MA, LPC
Extra-curricular activities can be a fun way for children to learn skills and values such as time management, the value of team work, the value of hard work and dedication, as well as many others. There are all types of activities that are beneficial for kids to participate in; music, art, volunteering in the community, drama, and athletics. If you have a high energy or hyperactive child, providing your child ways to exercise and burn off some of that energy is needed and athletic activities are great for this. If your child has ADHD, it can be challenging to find an extracurricular activity that will keep your child engaged, motivated, and will help with the illusive skill of time management. Many children with ADHD not only struggle with focus and attention to detail, many also struggle in the social world as well, making team sports more difficult. Some children with ADHD do very well in a team environment and the team dynamics do not cause anxiety or blows to their self-esteem. If you do have a child that struggles in the social arena and may need an individual sport, martial arts may be exactly what you are looking for.
There are many different types of martial arts activities to choose from; Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, Kick boxing to name a few. All can provide exercise and some great skills for your child. I recommend doing your own research on which activity is the best fit for your child and which schools in the area fit with the values you are hoping to instill in your child. I will share specifically how the values and things taught in Karate can benefit your ADHD child, as this is where my experience lies. I am not a martial artist myself, I am writing as a parent of an ADHD child who has seen significant improvements in focus, goal setting, self-discipline and confidence since my child has participated in Karate.
We had tried several other athletic activities with my son, and none were a hit. This is not only due to his ADHD, however if he was not engaged 100% of the time, he would lose focus and would get bored. It is frustrating paying for a whole season of a sport, when after 4 weeks my child was “bored” and didn’t want to go anymore. Initially, I had steered clear of martial arts, thinking that the discipline required would be really difficult for him, there would be more standing around, and worried that learning how to fight would allow for him to be more “hands-on” with his peers at school. He was interested in learning karate, so we decided to give it a try, believing that in a handful of weeks he would become bored and we would be back to square one. Over the past year and a half, my son is still engaged and has seen benefits other than learning how to do a great jumping side kick. As a child and family therapist, I have learned that the values taught during his classes are great ways to help children with ADHD learn skills that can benefit them in their everyday world. Some of these skills are goal setting and self-discipline, improving working memory and the mind-body connection, and improving their interactive effectiveness with adults and peers.
Karate is an individual sport. The athletes move up belts based on their completion and proficiency of certain skills on their own timeline. While many move up to the next belt with their cohort, some do not if they are not ready and need more time. Moving to the next belt is rewarded and acknowledged by the instructors, peers, and parents. Each of these elements is helpful for the ADHD child. Children with ADHD work very well for immediate rewards. It is much harder for them to have the patience and memory to work towards a longer term reward. The students at our school are rewarded by being recognized during class, in front of their peers for a job well done on a specific skill or for focus and respect, which helps with the need for more immediate gratification. While earning their next belt takes several months and helps teach patience and continued work towards their goal. Being able to move up on their own timeline rather than based partly on other members of a team teaches them the value of hard work and self-discipline. They cannot rely on others to carry them if they are not focused and they do not have other people to place the blame if they do not move up belts. It is solely based on their work and practice.
In karate, students learn forms, different karate moves put together to create a flowing routine. If they do not practice, they will not master what they need to master to move up to the next belt. The forms are broken own into parts to allow for mastery and memory of each part. This process teaches how to set goals and how to break them down into manageable pieces so not to become overwhelmed. The students are also expected to be disciplined in class in order to learn what they need to learn. Self-discipline is explained in a way that students of all ages can understand and is consistently rewarded in class.
Another struggle for children with ADHD is remembering what they have just done (working memory) and connecting their mind and body. I group these two skills together, because as mentioned before, when learning forms, the moves are broken down into smaller sections to be later performed as a whole. This practice improves working memory, not only because they are practicing a skill over and over, but because they are using their whole body and mind. When children’s bodies are engaged during learning, they are more likely to remember. I have seen my son’s working memory improve outside of the karate dojo, specifically if he can have some engagement with parts of his body.
As with many sports, athletes become more aware of how their bodies work and how to engage them in the ways that they want. They develop strength, flexibility and coordination. As I have noticed these skills improve, I have also noticed other improvements in my child’s mind-body connection. My son has also been better able to verbalize how his body feels in different situations. This illustrates to me that he is more cognitively aware and able to slow down enough to notice what is going on inside his body; a skill that will benefit him in many other ways than just on the karate mat.
Even after hearing of all the benefits of karate, you may still be worrying that you will get yet another call home from your child’s school about your child not keeping their hands to themselves; and worse that they will be karate chopping other children. This was one of my worries too; that my son would be more hands-on with his peers after learning how to fight. This has not proven to be the case at all. At our karate school, there is specific explanation of when karate can and should be used and when it is not appropriate. It is a student creed of our school that the students “will only fight to defend their life or the lives of others.” This is acknowledged at each class taken. When your child is angry at a peer at school, it can take an extreme amount of self-discipline for them to stop from tackling them or smacking them on the head. I know that my message for my child to handle things in different ways is also being addressed and strengthened at every karate class he attends. Remember that these are the values taught at the karate school that we attend. Please make sure to ask the owners or instructors at a school you are looking at attending what their values are and how they are being taught each and every class.
Again, there are many extracurricular activities to choose from for your children. If you have tried team sports and they were not a hit for your high energy, low focus kiddo, you might want to look into karate or another martial art. It has made a positive impact for my son in ways that were unexpected. And a year and a half and many belt colors later, he is still excited to go.
We had tried several other athletic activities with my son, and none were a hit. This is not only due to his ADHD, however if he was not engaged 100% of the time, he would lose focus and would get bored. It is frustrating paying for a whole season of a sport, when after 4 weeks my child was “bored” and didn’t want to go anymore. Initially, I had steered clear of martial arts, thinking that the discipline required would be really difficult for him, there would be more standing around, and worried that learning how to fight would allow for him to be more “hands-on” with his peers at school. He was interested in learning karate, so we decided to give it a try, believing that in a handful of weeks he would become bored and we would be back to square one. Over the past year and a half, my son is still engaged and has seen benefits other than learning how to do a great jumping side kick. As a child and family therapist, I have learned that the values taught during his classes are great ways to help children with ADHD learn skills that can benefit them in their everyday world. Some of these skills are goal setting and self-discipline, improving working memory and the mind-body connection, and improving their interactive effectiveness with adults and peers.
Karate is an individual sport. The athletes move up belts based on their completion and proficiency of certain skills on their own timeline. While many move up to the next belt with their cohort, some do not if they are not ready and need more time. Moving to the next belt is rewarded and acknowledged by the instructors, peers, and parents. Each of these elements is helpful for the ADHD child. Children with ADHD work very well for immediate rewards. It is much harder for them to have the patience and memory to work towards a longer term reward. The students at our school are rewarded by being recognized during class, in front of their peers for a job well done on a specific skill or for focus and respect, which helps with the need for more immediate gratification. While earning their next belt takes several months and helps teach patience and continued work towards their goal. Being able to move up on their own timeline rather than based partly on other members of a team teaches them the value of hard work and self-discipline. They cannot rely on others to carry them if they are not focused and they do not have other people to place the blame if they do not move up belts. It is solely based on their work and practice.
In karate, students learn forms, different karate moves put together to create a flowing routine. If they do not practice, they will not master what they need to master to move up to the next belt. The forms are broken own into parts to allow for mastery and memory of each part. This process teaches how to set goals and how to break them down into manageable pieces so not to become overwhelmed. The students are also expected to be disciplined in class in order to learn what they need to learn. Self-discipline is explained in a way that students of all ages can understand and is consistently rewarded in class.
Another struggle for children with ADHD is remembering what they have just done (working memory) and connecting their mind and body. I group these two skills together, because as mentioned before, when learning forms, the moves are broken down into smaller sections to be later performed as a whole. This practice improves working memory, not only because they are practicing a skill over and over, but because they are using their whole body and mind. When children’s bodies are engaged during learning, they are more likely to remember. I have seen my son’s working memory improve outside of the karate dojo, specifically if he can have some engagement with parts of his body.
As with many sports, athletes become more aware of how their bodies work and how to engage them in the ways that they want. They develop strength, flexibility and coordination. As I have noticed these skills improve, I have also noticed other improvements in my child’s mind-body connection. My son has also been better able to verbalize how his body feels in different situations. This illustrates to me that he is more cognitively aware and able to slow down enough to notice what is going on inside his body; a skill that will benefit him in many other ways than just on the karate mat.
Even after hearing of all the benefits of karate, you may still be worrying that you will get yet another call home from your child’s school about your child not keeping their hands to themselves; and worse that they will be karate chopping other children. This was one of my worries too; that my son would be more hands-on with his peers after learning how to fight. This has not proven to be the case at all. At our karate school, there is specific explanation of when karate can and should be used and when it is not appropriate. It is a student creed of our school that the students “will only fight to defend their life or the lives of others.” This is acknowledged at each class taken. When your child is angry at a peer at school, it can take an extreme amount of self-discipline for them to stop from tackling them or smacking them on the head. I know that my message for my child to handle things in different ways is also being addressed and strengthened at every karate class he attends. Remember that these are the values taught at the karate school that we attend. Please make sure to ask the owners or instructors at a school you are looking at attending what their values are and how they are being taught each and every class.
Again, there are many extracurricular activities to choose from for your children. If you have tried team sports and they were not a hit for your high energy, low focus kiddo, you might want to look into karate or another martial art. It has made a positive impact for my son in ways that were unexpected. And a year and a half and many belt colors later, he is still excited to go.
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