ADHD and the Martial Arts - Help Your Child Succeed

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by: KalynnAmadio
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A child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder known as ADHD is gifted with spontaneity, creativeness and the ability to focus intensely on any task they take an interest in.

Conversely, this same child is a challenge to parents because they can often be aggressive, hyper, distractible and impulsive. The world views these children as "hard to handle" which can permanently harm self-esteem.

Children are frequently distracted or inattentive and often impulsive on occasion, but a child living with ADHD experiences these attributes most of the time. A parent has a great deal of influence in helping their child perceive these character traits as advantageous, not a liability.

In spite of its name, ADHD is not only a lack of attentiveness but the ability to exert more focused attention on a chosen topic. Those with ADHD don't lack focus but often focus inappropriately. They have little tolerance for inactivity and are bored quickly.

Sports can be a positive or negative experience for any child but especially the ADHD child. Releasing excess energy is a plus but team sports are often frustrating if the child can't learn to follow the rules or play their specific part for the team.

Martial arts, like tae kwon do, can be immensely therapeutic for the ADHD child because it allows aggressive behavior in a safely controlled environment. Directions are given by an instructor and immediately acted upon so there is a sense of relevance and immediate satisfaction.

A martial art like tae kwon do always emphasizes self-confidence, self-esteem and self-control as part of the curriculum. This is important for the ADHD child to have the confidence to believe what many consider negative character issues are actually positives.

Part of tae kwon do instruction is the philosophy of "right action" which is to reach a point where you inherently know how to react in a situation with no thought. This teaching helps the impulsive ADHD child curb those impulses. Classes are exciting with lots of jumping, kicking, spinning and punching so boredom is never an issue. Hyperactivity doesn't exist in a tae kwon do class. Action is rewarded.

And martial arts training focuses on respect and tolerance for others while receiving the same regardless of what label may have been given in other environments.

Many people assume ADHD is primarily a boy problem but this is not true. ADD which is the same disorder without the hyperactivity component, is diagnosed in girls in equal numbers to boys with ADHD. Both disorders are genetic; studies show 25% of children diagnosed have a parent with Attention Deficit.

You do not outgrow ADHD, so finding ways to mitigate its negative influences is critical to your child's success. Give them the opportunity to learn how to turn these traits into advantages that can carry them throughout life.

There have been many successful people in history who most probably suffered from ADHD. The common traits to all these businesspeople, athletes, politicians, artists and entrepreneurs can be pared down to what some would consider negative traits. Tenacity, fast thinking, spontaneity, intense concentration and creativity were the characteristics of Mozart, Thomas Edison and Winston Churchill. Not bad company to keep.

About the Author

To find out more about how tae kwon do instruction can benefit your ADHD child, visit Kalynn Amadio's excellent website Taekwondo-Network and read more about the types of classes a good school provides for kids tae kwon do lessons. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service