Why Compete At Tournaments?

We have roughly about 230 active students at our school and usually we will get somewhere between 20 and 30 lately competing in the local regional tournaments. This number is down from the days when I was a color belt and even the early days of my owning the school. I have not been able to figure why. When I ask some students how come they don't compete they usually don't have an answer, or I get something like "I just don't like competitions."

There are several reasons why all students should compete at least a few times. I don't really get the idea of not liking to compete. It is my favorite thing about martial arts. When I say this to others I sometimes get a response like "yeah, that's easy for you. You always win." Well I don't "always" win and I didn't "always" win when I was competing as a color belt. In fact, I "always" lost in sparring until I was a red belt at World Championships in Little Rock one year. And, then I only took 3rd place. I was totally excited because I "always" lost up to that point.

I took my inability to spar well as a challenge and worked on it very hard until eventually I won World Champ in sparring in 1999. That was a long road in which I put a lot of effort into. I tell you this story not to brag, but to say that we all have challenges. We all have those things that we are really good at. I see guys at tournaments right now that truly "never" win. Yet, those same guys are at every tournament event and they just go out and do their best. Those are the people I really admire because they have heart and they never give up.

So, why should you compete at tournaments? Because it is an opportunity to grow. You see, students get very comfortable in the class room situation. At some point you are not really challenged any more because everyone knows you and what you like and don't like and because we really teach courtesy and respect, they cater to your needs. Get yourself out of the box and challenge yourself! Never be afraid of losing. But, do be afraid of being stagnant and not growing.

At a tournament you have an opportunity to see how well can you do against and equally skilled opponent that you don't know and they don't know you. You get to see how you might react if you are ever challenged in a "real" situation on the street, except you get to do it in a safe environment. You get to see if you can really make any of this stuff work.

So, get out of the box and get to the tournament and see how you do. Just for the record I want you to know that I still get very nervous before competing. My stomach starts doing flip flops and I get weak in the knees and have to make multiple trips to the men's room. It's just not good, until after the competition is over. But .... every experience is one to grow from.

Oh, and the last reason you should do tournaments is that they are ...

FUN!

Stan Shields
4th Degree Black Belt
www.kicks4all.com
(303) 220-5956

Kids Really Need Martial Arts Training

My martial arts school does a lot of free community events at elementary schools, churchs, boy scouts, girl scouts, libraries, etc. We do these events at no charge both for the opportunity to expose our martial arts school to more people in the community, but more so to show what awesome kids we have in our programs and what martial arts can do for other kids. The vast majority of parents that contact us regarding lessons for their kids are looking for either confidence building, discipline or Focus for their kids.

Martial arts teaches your kids respect, courtesy, integrity, goal setting, focus, discipline, confidence, and how to maintain a positive attitude. Now, what parent would not want all of that for their kids? Exactly! All of them want those things for their kids. In a good martial arts school the physical movements of martial arts are blended with the mental aspects of the life skills mentioned above. This seems to be something needed more and more these days and parents seem to be struggling to implement these at home. Through martial arts training and the life skills activities we are able to help parents accomplish this.

Many kids today are involved with a variety of sports and other activities. Martial arts helps them to learn focus, disciplnie and goal setting that can be applied to all of those other activities they are participating in. From a physical standpoint they learn better coordination, hand/foot eye coordination, agility and flexibility. All of this helps them in their other sports activities.

Martial arts also serves as a great cross training tool for athletes. In short martial arts is a great activity all around for kids. Guess what, it is not just for kids. It does all the same stuff for teens and adults too!

Stan Shields
4th Degree Black Belt
Chief Instructor/Owner
ATA Family Martial Arts
http://www.kicks4all.com/
http://kicks4all.blogspot.com/