Life’s Lessons: a parent reflects on the value of martial arts training.

By Bryan Gregory

As parents we have several options in parenting when mentoring and guiding our children through the early stages of life. Some choices prove successful and others….well maybe not so much. I believe we learn from our successes and failures along the way.[su_spacer size=”10″]

One of our successes…

[su_spacer size=”10″] We started Kaden in martial arts roughly 6 years ago in Dale McCutcheon’s Martial Arts Academy. We had no idea what we were signing up for at the time. As some of you may have seen the earlier post from my wife…it is overwhelming to watch your child in challenging situations (while controlled). They are truly out of your control during the moment. In this experience we have learned some valuable lessons about ourselves and our children:

  1. It’s humbling to watch your child in challenging situations but fantastic to watch them grow.
  2. Our children are vulnerable to this big world with many different and unique people. While many are good, several are not. We must enable them to know the difference.
  3. Children are resilient and their minds are like a sponge.
  4. Challenging situations in martial arts equate to better results in the world. We are not always looking over their shoulder.
[su_spacer size=”10″] Mr. McCutcheon constantly tells the children in our school…

[su_spacer size=”10″] [su_quote]Your parents buy insurance for their homes, cars, etc…martial arts is one of the wisest forms of insurance they can invest in for you. You are not replaceable and the lessons you learn in this school will help protect you in the world[/su_quote].
Very wise words from a great man![su_spacer size=”10″] Last night our little guy passed his green belt test and I could not be more proud of him. At the same time, I’m extremely humbled by Mr & Mrs. McCutcheon along with the Black Belts (and Kyu ranks) in our school for enabling our children with such wonderful life skills.