Why Some Boys Thrive in Martial Arts When They Struggle at School
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- 7 min read
A recent CBC News report, “Why the ‘boy crisis’ is more than just a school problem”, examined a troubling trend in education: boys are falling behind girls academically in Canada.
The report points to lower academic achievement and graduation rates, greater disciplinary problems and declining engagement among boys. It also raises a concern I think many parents of young boys will recognize immediately: some boys seem to have a particularly difficult time fitting into the environment we have created for them at school.
They have trouble sitting still. They get distracted. They're energetic. Sometimes they're disorganized or impulsive. Before long, some of these boys begin hearing words like difficult, disruptive or behind.
I've been teaching martial arts for more than 40 years and have worked with thousands of children during that time. I've seen many children — particularly active boys — who struggle with attention, behaviour or confidence in other areas of their lives become remarkably focused when they step onto the karate floor.
I don't think that's a coincidence.
Maybe the Problem Isn't That They Can't Focus
Parents regularly tell us when their child starts karate:
"He has trouble focusing."
"He can't sit still."
"His teacher says he's easily distracted."
Those observations may be completely accurate. But then we sometimes see something interesting happen.
That same child watches an instructor demonstrate a karate technique and tries to reproduce it. He remembers the movements of a kata. He works with a partner practicing self-defence. During sparring, he has to watch another student, anticipate what that student might do and respond appropriately.
The child who supposedly "can't focus" can sometimes focus very well.
The difference may be how we're asking him to focus.
Sitting quietly at a desk and concentrating on written work requires one kind of attention. Watching, moving, reacting, remembering and physically performing something requires another.
Children need to develop both. But for some kids, physical learning gives them an opportunity to experience success while they're still developing the attention and self-regulation skills required in more sedentary environments.
Can Martial Arts Help a Child Who Has Trouble Focusing?
Martial arts can help children practice focus because attention is built directly into physical activity. Students have to listen to instructions, watch demonstrations, remember sequences, control their movements and respond to other people.
The important word, however, is practice.
Karate isn't a treatment for attention difficulties, and I would never tell a parent that enrolling their child in martial arts will suddenly solve problems at school.
What martial arts can provide is a structured environment where children repeatedly practice paying attention, following directions, controlling impulses and staying with a task even when it's difficult.
Over time, those experiences can help children become better at regulating their own behaviour.
And because they're moving while doing it, some children find this kind of practice particularly engaging.
Movement Isn't the Opposite of Learning
One of the most interesting observations in the CBC report came from educator Matthew Morris.
He described watching boys organize soccer games during recess. They create goals, establish teams, keep score and remember exactly where the game left off when they return at the next recess.
Those are organizational skills.
They just don't necessarily look like the organization we traditionally associate with school.
I've seen similar things throughout my years teaching children.
A student might struggle to keep his school desk organized but remember exactly where he stands in a complicated kata. Another might have difficulty sitting through a classroom lesson but spend an entire karate class working toward a technique he desperately wants to master.
That doesn't mean school isn't important, or that children shouldn't learn to sit quietly and concentrate when necessary.
They absolutely should.
But it does suggest that we need to be careful about assuming a child lacks ability simply because we haven't yet found the environment where that ability becomes visible.
Why Can Physical Activity Help Some Kids Learn?
Children don't all learn in exactly the same way.
For some kids, particularly energetic children, movement gives them something productive to do with their energy while still requiring attention and self-control.
A good kids martial arts class doesn't simply try to eliminate that energy. It gives it direction.
Run here.
Kick this target.
Hold this stance.
Move faster.
Now stop.
Listen.
Control your technique.
Wait for your turn.
Try again.
That last part is important.
Martial arts isn't simply an opportunity for energetic children to burn off energy. If that were all we were doing, there would be much easier ways to accomplish it.
The real value comes from combining movement with self-control.
A child gradually learns that being energetic doesn't mean being out of control. He can move explosively when appropriate and then stop when asked. He can be competitive without becoming aggressive. He can become physically capable while also learning restraint.
Those are skills that extend well beyond the karate school.
Can Karate Teach Discipline?
After teaching children for more than four decades, I've come to see discipline less as a personality trait and more as a skill.
So is concentration.
So is perseverance.
And skills improve through practice.
One of the advantages of martial arts is that children practice these things repeatedly without necessarily thinking of them as abstract "life skills."
A student doesn't learn perseverance because an instructor gives a lecture about perseverance.
He learns it because a technique doesn't work.
Then it doesn't work again.
An instructor helps him make a small correction.
He tries again.
Eventually, he gets it.
That experience teaches something much more powerful than simply telling a child, "Don't give up."
It teaches him what happens when he doesn't.
Success Can Change How a Child Sees Himself
This may be the most important part.
Imagine being a child who repeatedly hears that you're too distracted, too energetic, too disorganized or not trying hard enough.
Eventually, those observations can become part of your identity.
"I'm the kid who's always in trouble."
"I'm not good at school."
"I can't focus."
"I'm just not good at this stuff."
Once children begin believing those things about themselves, getting them to keep trying becomes much more difficult.
But put that same child in another environment and something can begin to change.
He learns his first kata.
He earns his first belt.
He controls himself during sparring.
An instructor notices that he tried harder today than he did last week.
Eventually, he helps a newer student with something he once found difficult himself.
Those experiences begin building a different story:
"I can learn difficult things."
"I can control myself."
"I'm getting better."
"I'm good at this."
In my experience, that sense of competence can be incredibly important for a child who isn't experiencing enough of it somewhere else.
Why Is a Sense of Belonging So Important for Kids?
One theme in the CBC report stood out to me more than almost anything else: children need to feel that they belong.
When children believe there is a place for them, they're much more willing to invest effort in becoming better.
That's something we've always tried to create at Canada's Best Karate.
Not every child who walks through our doors is naturally athletic. Not every child arrives confident. Not every child learns at the same speed, and certainly not every child behaves exactly the same way.
They don't need to.
Our job as instructors is to meet the student standing in front of us and help that child take the next step.
For one student, success might mean performing an advanced kata.
For another, it might mean making it through an entire class while maintaining focus.
For another, it might simply mean having the courage to participate when six months earlier he was afraid to try.
The destination isn't identical for every child.
Progress matters.
And when a child sees that progress recognized by instructors, parents and other students, he begins to understand that he has a place in that community.
Are Martial Arts Particularly Good for Boys?
Martial arts can be particularly appealing to some boys because it combines physical activity, challenge, clear expectations, measurable progress and opportunities to develop competence.
But this isn't a boys-versus-girls issue.
Girls benefit tremendously from martial arts too. I've taught thousands of girls over the years, including my own two daughters, who both earned their black belts. I've watched martial arts help girls develop confidence, resilience, physical capability and leadership.
Helping boys doesn't require taking anything away from girls.
The issue raised by the CBC report is whether some boys are struggling in environments that don't always align particularly well with the way they learn, move and develop.
We should be able to talk about that without diminishing the achievements of girls.
More importantly, we should be interested in giving every child multiple opportunities to discover what they're capable of.
Sometimes Kids Need Another Place to Succeed
Martial arts isn't a replacement for school, and it isn't a magic solution for academic, attention or behavioural difficulties.
But a good kids martial arts program can give a child something extremely valuable:
another place to succeed.
A place where movement is part of learning.
A place where energy can be directed rather than simply suppressed.
A place where discipline is practiced rather than merely expected.
A place where improvement is visible.
And a place where a child who sometimes feels he doesn't quite fit somewhere else can discover that he absolutely belongs.
After more than 35 years of teaching children, I've learned not to be too quick to decide what a child is capable of based on how they're doing right now.
Sometimes the child who has trouble sitting still becomes one of your most focused students.
Sometimes the child who gives up easily learns to persevere.
Sometimes the child who doesn't think he's good at anything discovers something he can become very good at.
And once a child starts believing "I can do this," it's remarkable where that belief can take him.
At Canada's Best Karate, our kids martial arts programs in Vaughan are designed to help children develop their skills at their own pace while learning confidence, discipline, self-control and perseverance.
Because becoming better doesn't mean becoming someone else.
It means learning how to Be Your Best!
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