In this article, we discuss the benefits of kickboxing for kids. It is becoming increasingly popular to have children do kickboxing instead of soccer or ballet. And for good reasons!
Kickboxing is very good for children and we will provide many reasons why you should have your son or daughter participate in this sport.
Confidence
Many parents enroll their children in kickboxing to give them self-confidence. We all hear stories of children who are bullied at school or are not very sure of themselves. As a result, they don’t really enjoy school.
This can also be a reason for not having friends.
Kickboxing helps these kinds of children by showing them what they are capable of. What kickboxing does for children is that they become aware that they are not powerless at all. Therefore, they don’t have to be afraid of other children quickly.
They learn to stand up for themselves. They learn to hold their own! Of course, they don’t learn street fighting. Every kickboxing school follows the golden rule of martial arts: "the techniques you learn in the gym/dojo should not be used outside the ring/gym".
The best part is that as a parent, you will quickly notice the difference in your child’s behavior. Often, after just two months of training, you can already see that they make friends more easily because they are surrounded by peers.
They don’t let others walk all over them because they have learned from kickboxing what they are capable of. They will also feel fitter and more energetic from the exercise.
Other benefits of kickboxing for kids
- Improved reaction time
- More energy! Through lots of exercise, your child will feel better, and combined with healthy eating and enough sleep, this will definitely help your child.
- They learn discipline! Through the strict training, they learn to pay close attention, which also helps them later at school.
- Children learn what left and right are! By constantly having to punch and kick left and right, they learn which leg/arm is left and which is right.
- They learn to respect each other! Respect is number one in martial arts.
- Children become more flexible through kickboxing.
- They become stronger through kickboxing.
- It is a good outlet, allowing children to release frustration/aggression in a healthy way.
Nutrition
As I mentioned earlier, healthy eating combined with training and sufficient rest will do your child a lot of good.
As with every athlete, good nutrition is important to perform well. But if you normally have dinner with the family at 6:00 PM, and now your child has kickboxing training at that time, you might wonder what to do about meals.
Should the children eat before or after training?
The answer lies somewhere in between. If you give the children a full meal just before training, they will be too full.
As a result, they won’t be able to train comfortably, because it’s hard to maintain intense cardio training like a kickboxing session on a full stomach. But you also don’t want the children to train on an empty stomach.
This can cause dizziness during training. So what is the best approach?
The best thing to do is to let them eat a small snack before training, such as a sandwich, toast, a little pasta, etc. This will give them enough energy for an hour of kickboxing. After training, when they are home, it’s a good time to give them their dinner.
Rest
Sufficient rest is essential for children. Rest allows their muscles to recover properly. The next day, children need to be able to perform well at school, so make sure they go to bed on time after training.
Membership fees
Just like with all other sports clubs, you have to pay membership fees for kickboxing. The price can vary per gym but is often determined by how many times per week your child wants to train.
If you’re curious where to find a good gym near you, check Google and Google Maps. You can find kickboxing gyms all over the country there.
Almost all martial arts schools nowadays offer classes for children. Moreover, there are certain municipal funds, such as the Youth Sports Fund, to help with equipment and membership fees.
What your child needs to start kickboxing
- Boxing gloves
- Kickboxing shorts
- Shin guards
- Mouthguard
- Handwraps/inner gloves to wear under the gloves
- Optionally, a groinguard
We recommend buying a complete set. It contains everything a child needs for kickboxing training! The sets below are perfect for children aged 5 to 8 years! Is your child older? Then view all kickboxing sets for children!