Taekwondo helps kids with ADHD with finer mental focus and better behavior. It gives them an improved attitude, and the determination to achieve anything they set their minds to.
Taekwondo isn’t just a combative sport but also a lifestyle that can lead yourself or your child in a positive direction that no medical condition such as ADHD can ever stop.
Each Taekwondo school has its own way of helping those with ADHD, so lets look further at the major benefits
What is ADHD?
There are many parents out there every day struggling with their child having ADHD or even an adult that has had it since early childhood and still fighting to this day, it is a constant battle that never seems to end.
ADHD is a medical condition that is the abbreviation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it affects your ability to focus, to be able to stay still and even your self-control to the point it can make you act irrationally and sometimes make poor decisions.
Normal versions of the treatment are usually controlled substances prescribed by a doctor that will even change one’s personality entirely changing who they are as a cover-up until or if they ever grow out of it as some children do but this isn’t a true fix, but what if I told you there is a different way?
How Does TaeKwondo Improve ADHD Focus and Behavior?
I am sure many of you have heard of Taekwondo by now as this martial art was developed in the 1940s in South Korea and still one of the most well known and practiced today.
You probably, of course, know that participating in this sport can keep yourself or your child very physically active combining the use of striking with both your hands and feet.
Did you know though how Taekwondo can affect you mentally and how it can be not only a short term answer to ADHD but also something to combat ADHD for the rest of your child or your own life, pushing them or you mentally and physically to be the best version of themselves?
How Does TaeKwondDo Improve ADHD and Focus?
Taekwondo improves mental focus and the ability to concentrate naturally by training the mind to keep it from wandering and focusing on one thing at a time.
It will seem at first okay while he or she is training they are able to focus on the training as to how busy it’s keeping them but then you will start to notice it very rapidly in your child or your own very own life as well with everything you or your child does.
The self-discipline Taekwondo creates will rapidly counter the effects of ADHD steering in a direction of success for a lifetime once you commit to it.
You may be wondering how does Taekwondo helps my child concentrate. The answer to that is actually a very simple one, Taekwondo burns a lot of energy that otherwise would just be getting stored up making it near impossible to focus.
The burning of the excess energy is then not just random acts of play like normal but focused on a sport where every technique is a never-ending drive for perfection that is addicting to your core to try and better yourself.
This type of focus will then carry over into your child’s schoolwork or even your job if you have adult ADHD allowing for better grades or more productivity pushing towards a better long term future.
How Does Taekwondo Help with ADHD and Behavior?
Taekwondo will also greatly and near-instantly start to increase your child’s behavior as the structure it has your child will start to mimic in everyday activity as well.
We as humans naturally are more relaxed in a structured environment and having ADHD doesn’t change that. If anything it’s then strived for more because with ADHD you’re just looking for anything to harness that energy whether you realize it or not.
Taekwondo has a rank system using belts that is very rewarding for children and adults alike, this will build a foundation of wanting to push yourself and teaching attention to detail that otherwise, a person with ADHD would have a hard time doing.
This attention to detail will then carry over to everyday life, for example, you tell your child to make their bed and because of the structure they have been taught they instantly go do so, they leave a corner un-tucked but catch it themselves as they are then trained to strive for perfection and fix it without you having to say a word to them.
Now because Taekwondo is such a repetitive trial and error Martial Art not only will making their bed become a normal habit but even checking that corner to make sure it’s fixed right for now on.
Final Thoughts
If you thought about the negatives that your child learning Taekwondo may cause, then you have probably thought that if my child is already prone to irrational behavior because of ADHD why would I want them to learn a Combat Sport?
We have already established how this gets rid of the irrational thinking by honing that energy into something productive but on top of that how many people do you see trained in combat sport’s getting into fights on the streets or in school?
The usual answer to this question is barely ever or none as this type of self-control is usually the biggest deterrent to fighting. It teaches respect for others and the knowledge that just because you know it doesn’t mean you should use it outside of controlled sporting events.
Taekwondo does teach self-defense no doubt about it, but that’s it self defense not offense to only use if necessary and the knowledge to make this judgment call at the moment something’s happening to it instead of just reacting instinctively.
So to sum it up, TaeKwondo is a martial art and sport that will take the very best of who you are and challenge you to get better every day.
This not only affects those with ADHD for the better but is also an example to all other children and adults around them to help better this world, one person, at a time.
