8 Ways Martial Arts Can End Bullying

Written on the 3 November 2018 by Instructor Giorgio Repice

Before you read the article on how Martial Arts can end bullying, see what one of our parents had to say about how the techniques her child learnt @ GIANT really did work against a bully:

From: Danielle Aktypis
Sent: Sunday, 23 September 2018 2:02 PM
To: train@giantma.com.au
Subject: Chris

Hi Anthony & Giorgio,

Just thought I would let you know that Chris was in a situation last week where he had to defend himself and used his learnt skills.

He was attending a oztag gala day against a few other local schools.
He tagged someone out who got quite frustrated with it. The boy from the other school must have festered on it and when the game was over approached Christopher. He threw a punch at Chris, Chris blocked him and used the large outer reap move.

The boy expressed he was hurt, but Chris assured me that he did not use full force, only enough to give him a warning.

Chris walked away and said, "next time, don't bother".

Thank you for teaching my boys the necessary skills and giving them the confidence to know when and how to use them.

Cheers,
Danielle

See below a sample video from our Online Resource Library on the throwing move that Chris learnt to defend himself against the bully:

 

How to end bullying with Self Defence training

Bullying is a growing problem for children. For the child being bullied, it can destroy their self-confidence and self-esteem and negatively impact their view of the world. It can have negative consequences for the bully as well as they will have serious problems with self-control that need to be addressed.

Practicing martial arts can help both the child being bullied and the bully to improve their quality of life and become more successful in their social, educational and professional lives.

Training in self-defence can help children develop confidence, discipline, self-control, respect and leadership skills. It can also provide stress relief.

Here are 8 ways that Martial Arts can help to end bullying:

1) Prevention of the problem
When children are enrolled in a self-defence program, they are a lot less likely to become bullies or be the victim of a bully. The process of learning new challenging techniques will create a mindset that will help to guide their actions as they grow and encounter new people, places and experiences.

2) Building Confidence
Children often become bullies because making others fear them gives them confidence and status. self-defence training helps children gain confidence, attention and approval in a more socially acceptable way. Bullies harass victims they see as easy targets. Children that appear weak, easily frightened and unsure of themselves. Children who take self-defence classes tend to be confident and project strength and courage. Plus the techniques themselves work as we have seen with young Chris!

3) Reinforcing Discipline
Being raised in a home where the approach to discipline is inconsistent is often a contributing factor to a child becoming a bully. self-defence training provides a clear-cut, consistent structure about what type of behaviour is acceptable. This helps children become disciplined. Bullies are less likely to provoke or challenge children that consistently display strong, disciplined behaviour. If they do, the children will be able to defend themselves.

4) Teaching Respect
Bullies display a strong desire to control people and exert their dominance. That reflects a lack of respect for others. Children who participate in self-defence training are taught the importance of treating everyone with respect. They are also taught mistreating people is wrong. Children that consistently receive this type of training are less likely to become bullies.

5) Developing Self-Control
Bullies are usually impulsive, hot-headed and unable to control their emotions and behaviour. Self-defence training teaches children to be aware of their thoughts and emotions and control their actions. This helps them resist the negative impulses to bully others. If children who are victims of bullies receive training in self-defence, they will be able to control what they say and do that triggers a bully's negative behaviour. Self-defence training teaches children to recognise words and actions that can agitate bullies and lead to conflict and violence and how to use self-control to avoid them.

6) Learning Leadership Skills
Although some bullies are physically strong or have strong personalities, they lack empathy. They pay no attention to the rights and feelings of others. Martial arts training can help children develop the ability to be empathetic. It can also teach them how to use their strong bodies and personalities to become effective leaders instead of developing anti-social personalities that can get them in trouble. Bullied children can also benefit from learning self-defence and leadership skills. It can help them to master techniques for connecting with others, making friends and working together towards common goals.

7) Stress Relief
It is often stress, anger and frustration that make bullies unable to control their emotions and actions. This leads them to lash out at others and overreact to the slightest perceived provocation. Doing self-defence training gives children an opportunity to blow off steam through a socially acceptable outlet. This reduces the likelihood they will bully other children to ease their frustration. Bullied children often feel physically sick and can have headaches, coughs and stuffy noses. High levels of stress can weaken the immune system and leave the children with physical ailments.
Learning self-defence techniques provides children with stress relief through vigorous physical activity. Plus, with the self-defence techniques they learn, they can stop bullies from taking advantage of them.

8) Ability To Defend Oneself
A desire for power is often what drives bullies. Once they discover how good it feels to have some power, they begin to continually use aggressive behaviour to subdue and control others. Enrolling those children in self-defence classes will teach them to use their strength and power to defend themselves and others. Knowing they can use their strength to defend the weak will give them a new sense of pride and empowerment. Their strength will get them gratitude, respect and love instead of fear. If children who are bullied take self-defence classes, their new confidence, knowledge, abilities and physical strength will make bullies think twice before they approach them.

Bullying is a serious problem. It can diminish the quality of life for millions of children. Some will fail to fulfil their potential because of fear and intimidation. The bullies can see their own lives diminished by getting criminal records and becoming social outcasts. Teaching both these groups of children martial arts can help them become disciplined, confident individuals able to protect themselves and others and make bullying a long forgotten chapter in their lives.