Kids and Mixed Martial Arts

Ultimate Fighting and Mixed Martial Arts are hot topics in the news lately, especially now that some gyms and martial arts schools are promoting these programs to children.

How does Hilliard Taekwondo America feel about young children participating in these programs? That depends. If a program encourages children to get inside a ring or cage and pound the living daylights out of each other until one of them is knocked out or a bloody mess, then our answer is “We think it’s a bad, Bad, BAD idea!” But, if a program is simply teaching children a mix of boxing drills using heavy bags, targets and controlled partner drills with some proper wrestling techniques and self-defense skills in an environment of respect, self-control and integrity ... then, it might be a safe program. Of course, Kids Ultimate Fighting and Mixed Martial Arts not a program we plan to offer in our school.

Technically, you could say we already teach a mixture of martial arts in our school. Taekwondo itself is a mix of kicking and boxing. Plus, we mix in some jujitsu, wrestling and other techniques to help get away from an attacker. But our program stresses peaceful resolution as the goal of any conflict by teaching students to first: have the self-confidence to avoid conflict, second: use words to resolve the conflict, third: block to deflect any physical conflict, and to use physical force as a last resort.

We feel that the use of heavy bags, targets and boards allows students to practice the powerful techniques they would need to be able to defend themselves in a real fight. Our sparring program uses light contact to allow students to get used to reacting to an attacker throwing punches and kicks at them, and to develop strategies to respond. We don’t feel that our students need to experience a “real” all-out attack, being punched and kicked full force, to learn how to deal with a potential attacker. And our program seems to be working — we’ve had a number of parents share stories related to them by teachers about their child handling a physical confrontation with a bully using the blocking techniques they learned at our taekwondo school.

So, we’ll stick with our version of mixed martial arts: the self-confidence, respect and physical fitness of an active taekwondo program mixed with a hefty dose of fun in a family-friendly environment!