Winning and losing can bring out a lot of emotions in people. Everyone wants to win when they compete, but chances are, you’ll end up with a good mix of wins and losses in anything you do.
Children tend to have a raw, emotional response when they lose. Children who do not learn to value winning and losing become adults who do not know the art and value of winning or losing. Fortunately, martial arts is one of the best ways to help teach your child the true value of winning and losing. Here are four ways that martial arts help your children learn this value.
1) Martial Arts Teaches Children That Learning Is Most Important
Martial arts is a lifelong endeavor. It is a sport in which you will never know it all and should never stop growing and learning. The emphasis is on personal growth, and on improving yourself daily.
As your child shows up to train, they will quickly discover that some things take a lot of practice. They will fail. Things will be difficult and challenge them. There will be times when something comes naturally to them, and other times when they simply struggle to figure it out.
Martial arts gives an opportunity for children to not only learn and practice perseverance as they push through their failures and turn them into successful learning opportunities, but they will learn to embrace the failures as part of the learning process. Children who learn that failure, and losing, are part of their learning journey are bound to be children who can persevere through any other experiences they may have in life.
2) Martial Arts Offers Competitions That Give Your Child Practice At Winning and Losing
Competitions are an excellent place for children to discover the value of winning and losing. There is a common saying among martial artists, “win or learn.” The idea behind this saying is that often, losing equates to a great deal of learning.
Winning is always exciting and fun, and of course, everyone loves to win and aims to win when entering a competition. Losing is an inevitable part of competing, however, and it gives children an opportunity to see that both winning and losing are natural parts of their learning process.
As children compete, and especially if they are guided by growth-minded coaches and parents, they will learn to value their experiences and each of their wins and losses. They will learn to look at their matches with pride and will learn how to evaluate their matches to fix mistakes so they can grow and become even better. When they continue to compete, children who were taught to view their losses as learning opportunities will be able to look back and find the true value of their previous losses and how they helped them perform better in the present.
3) Martial Arts Teaches Children That Their Personal Value Is Not Dependent On Winning Or Losing
After any length of time spent in martial arts, your child will have accumulated lots of wins and losses. Whether those are from class experiences as they’ve worked to learn new skills, or from actual competitions, all children in martial arts will have had both experiences.
As children accumulate these wins and losses, they will slowly but surely learn who they are as a person, and their value as a person is not dependent on their wins and losses. They will learn that no matter the outcome, whether an easy win or a challenging loss, they are just as important and valuable as they were before. In fact, they may find even more value in who they are as they discover their strength to win or lose with a positive outlook and a growth-centered mindset.
Martial arts, and the experience of winning and losing on a regular basis, will help your child to believe in their personal value, regardless of whatever life may throw at them as they grow up.
4) Martial Arts Teaches Children To Value Good Sportsmanship
Nobody likes a sore loser. Competitions always seem to have a few of them. As children grow up with the experiences of winning and losing, they will quickly discover the value of being a good sportsman.
Your child may see another child throw a fit at a loss and realize how inappropriate the behavior is, or they may even watch a child hug their opponent and leave the mat smiling even though they lost. Witnessing both types of responses will help your child decide what type of attitude they value and will carry with them as they have their own wins and losses.
Hopefully, as your child is immersed in martial arts culture, they will learn the true value of sportsmanship through the wins and losses of martial arts, but also through life.
Martial Arts Is the Ultimate Resource For Teaching Children The Value Of Winning and Losing
Whether your child decides to compete in martial arts or not, they will be presented with many opportunities to experience and process through winning and losing. This is the ideal time in their lives to begin to understand that losing is not the worst thing in the world, but that it actually carries a great deal of value as a way of learning and growing.
Children will sometimes have very raw emotions with their bigger losses, but if their coaches continue to help them focus on growth and learning as the primary purpose of martial arts or competitions, children will slowly begin to transform their outlook on losing.
If you are looking for the best and most practical way to help your children begin to value both winning and losing, look no further than martial arts. It will teach your children these things each and every day, and they will become healthy and well-rounded adults.
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If you have any other questions regarding Evolve MMA and the programs we offer, you can get in touch with our membership executives at the following locations:
Evolve MMA (Far East Square)
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Singapore 049568
Phone: (65) 6536 4525
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#06-01 Orchard Central
Singapore 238896
Phone: (65) 6536 4556
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#02-52 KINEX
Singapore 437157
Phone: (65) 6288 2293
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#04-18 Clarke Quay Central
Singapore 059817
Phone: (65) 6226 2150
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1 Vista Exchange Green
#02-26A The Star Vista
Singapore 138617
Phone: (65) 6539 9590
