The Ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything. -Lee Iacocca
- Focus your eyes: When being taught, focus on making and keeping eye contact with the instructor or teacher.
- Focus your body: Student stands or sits with their body motionless.
- Focus you mind: A focused mind does not stray from the task at hand.
We know that exercise is good for the body physically, but it's turning out that exercise has numerous mental benefits as well.
Recent studies are proving that exercise has a wide range of brain-related benefits, including improving attention and reducing stress and anxiety. For children, exercise causes them to be less impulsive, which makes them more ready to learn.
When you exercise, your brain elevates the supply of endorphins, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Endorphins regulate mood, pleasure, and pain. Dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are chemicals that affect focus and attention.
By increasing the level of these important brain chemicals, you improve your child's ability to remain focused and concentrate consistently.
If there’s one thing children have in spades, it’s energy. As a parent, it’s your job to try to help then rein that energy in and learn how to focus it in productive, positive ways. Psychologists the world over report that extracurricular activities make a huge different in establishing focus and drive in children; according to HealthCental.com, martial arts in particular can be helpful for children who suffer from issues with attention and focus.
The way it works is simple:
Martial arts require discipline, teaching children how to hold still as much as how to move. Given that children today deal with a constant barrage of stimuli from the TV, Internet, mountains of homework and after-school programs and activities, having an activity meant to slow a child down is a necessity.
If you ask Health Ambition, learning control and concentration isn’t just what improves overall focus in a martial arts student, it helps students become better people. Improving a child’s ability to concentrate on the task at hand, whatever that task may be, definitely gives them a leg up over their over stimulated peers and classmates—don’t miss out on all the benefits martial arts training can offer your child. Get them started and watch them start improving today.
Parks Federation