Kenpo Karate: An Excellent Sport for Girls

When he walked up behind her between high school classes, he merely intended to surprise his girlfriend by putting his arm around her neck in order to give her a hug. Instead, the surprise was his when she, instinctively reacting after a decade of martial arts training, grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder onto the rock-hard floor. That was the last time her then boyfriend ever snuck up on my older daughter from behind.

Like most fathers with daughters, I worried about their safety and well-being as they were growing up. Since there are lots of crazy people out there in the big, bad world, I was concerned whether my girls would be able to take care of themselves if they ever found themselves in a difficult situation. Looking back, now that they've safely made it through their teens, I can strongly recommend the Kenpo karate training that they received for the beneficial role it played in their development and ongoing safety.

When my older daughter, now 23, was in the second grade, possibly due to having watched the Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons, she decided she wanted to learn martial arts. Figuring that karate would be a good form of exercise, at the very least, my wife and I signed her up for lessons at a Kenpo karate studio near our house. A few years later, our younger daughter, now 20, having watched many of her sister's classes, requested that she, too, join the karate program. Being quite pleased with our older daughter's results and progress, we signed the younger one up as well.

To their great credit, the karate studio's instructors did such a fabulous job keeping the classes fun, interesting, and enlightening that my girls stayed with it for many years. Both daughters willingly continued with the training program until finally leaving home for college, earning a total of 5 black belts (junior, teen, and adult) between them.

The benefits of taking karate classes for so many years were far more than just getting belts. Karate training played a positive role in several areas as they grew and developed. For example:

Physical Strength Probably the most direct benefit was due to the regular exercise they performed in the 2 to 3 classes per week, year around, from elementary through high school. There was no way my kids could have become couch potatoes with the regular jogging, strength training, punching, kicking, flipping, and blocking they did over those years. As they got older and approached the black belt tests for their age groups, the physical training grew more and more vigorous. They both grew quite strong and have enjoyed staying active, excellent life-long traits for well after their karate classes ended.

Confidence Progression through the several colored belt levels indicated more than just attending training classes. The belts also signified achievement. Passing each belt test proved a mastery of more advanced karate moves, techniques, and routines. The positive feedback provided with each new higher level belt helped instill a sense of inner pride in their accomplishments and taught them a powerful work ethic. They gained confidence that hard work, dedication, and perseverance toward a goal paid off in visible ways.

Secondarily, a part of their training and testing required standing alone in front of the class, speaking up to introduce themselves and their individual routines to be performed before the group. Having gained self-confidence to be at ease speaking before groups of people will certainly pay off later in their professional lives.

Crisis Management Contrary to possible public perception, karate does not teach students to go looking for a brawl so they can show off their fighting abilities. To the contrary, karate instruction stresses that avoidance of confrontation is the preferred strategy. "Common sense before self-defense" is a motto. Students are taught to remain calm and simply walk away, or to try to verbally diffuse an unpleasant situation before it can escalate into a confrontation. Only as a last resort were they taught to use their karate skills and fight, and then only in self-defense.

When a kid was harassing one of my girls on her junior high school bus, she wondered whether to punch the kid's lights out, since she figured that she could take him by using her karate. Wisely, however, she chose instead simply to switch to a bus seat up front near the driver, a place that kid dared not further bother her. My daughter successfully used what she'd learned and found an easy, peaceful way out of a potentially bad situation.

Self-Defense The obvious reason for my girls to learn karate was to be able to defend themselves if necessary. We did hear of rare examples where others in the class or the instructors had to use their karate to quickly end an altercation. It was good to hear that others' karate skills worked when put to the test.

For my girls, particularly by the time they got to high school, their karate training acted as a deterrent to others' foolishness. Word got around that they had their black belts, and fortunately, their schoolmates concluded it was wise not to mess with them. As a father, particularly knowing how hormonally crazy most boys are at that age, the knowledge that my girls' karate skills struck fear into the boys' minds was definitely worth the cost of all those years of karate classes.

Camaraderie By virtue of having taken classes and progressed through the belt ranks over the years with the same groups of students and instructors, both girls developed close friends from the karate studio, some of whom remain in touch to this day. They also developed a strong sense of teamwork, regularly helping classmates perfect each others' techniques and drilling together during group routines.

Cross Training The physical skills the girls picked up in karate translated nicely to other sports as well. Both girls played catcher on their fast pitch softball teams, where they impressed their coaches by their toughness, strength, and ability to take a hit while blocking the plate, and without getting hurt. Their years of blocking punches and getting thrown during karate classes taught them to keep a low center of gravity, how to fall, and how to avoid direct blows. More recently, when our younger daughter joined the fencing club during her freshman year in college, her new instructors immediately complimented her for her excellent balance.

Equality The karate classes at their studio were co-ed, and consisted of male and female instructors as well. All throughout their years of karate training, girls worked out right alongside the boys. My daughters learned at a young age not to be intimidated by boys, since they were throwing and punching them as equals. The instructors also insisted on mutual respect, regardless of sex, age, or ability. Additionally, one great benefit when my girls were young is that one of their lead instructors was an attractive woman in her late teens with beautiful, long red hair who could kick the butt of any male who crossed her, an excellent role model.

In conclusion, rigorous training in Kenpo karate paid off in many ways for my two daughters as they grew up. Although I've here focused on them, the benefits of karate classes apply to others as well. School age boys will gain the same advantages, and it's not too late to start even as an adult. New student classes start year round.

Just be sure to warn everyone not to sneak up and grab you from behind.