The psychology behind bullies makes us aware of the fact that bullies are in fact big cowards, who prey on the kids they identify as weak targets, but try telling that to a kid who is being bullied and they’ll find it very hard to understand.
If it were that easy for a victim of bullying to overcome their fear and stand up to the bullies, the mere existence of bullying wouldn’t be a reality.
Bully prevention and Mixed Martial Arts for kids is one of the most effective ways to combat what has grown into a social epidemic, as it addresses all the integrated elements of the process, on both the victim and the instigator’s side.
Bully prevention and MMA for kids may sound like a bit of a cliché, where the same old discussions are relayed to the victims but, previous victims who walk away from the expertly compiled workshops, go on to achieve much more in their lives, far beyond simply getting past their issue of getting bullied.
Besides taking part in the dedicated workshops that deal with bullying, kids who take up mixed martial arts learn much more than just how to handle bullies but this is a major default covered by the whole process of learning the art.
MMA teaches kids how to be disciplined, focused and creative, while providing adequate amounts of the much needed exercise, which is becoming more and more of a growing concern these days, translating into confidence, defensive and offensive skills, which pretty much inadvertently cover the skills required to deal with bullying.
MMA is best learnt as a kid as this is when development is at its peak, so starting the kids as early as possible is the best way to go, particularly if they show a real interest in the sport.
Bullying naturally takes many different shapes and forms, going beyond the obvious cliché of the bigger kids harassing the smaller kids, taking their lunch money and making them carry their heavy belongings — it also exists in the form of cyber bullying or mental and emotional abuse.
MMA is thus effective in addressing all aspects in that a number of other life skills are developed, one of which is simply the confidence to seek help, should the situation be too big for the victim to handle, or simply turning around and telling the bully “I’m not scared of you”.
Sometimes it is rather inevitable to have to go beyond trying to avoid handling the situation without getting physical, which is where the core principles taught through MMA come in. Kids learn a genuinely effective way to defend themselves or hold off physical attacks by bullies, which, at the very least, will bring attention to the situation and induce appropriate reactions from the sources which have the authority to deal with such situations.
One of the best gifts a parent could give their kids is putting them through a developmental program which focuses on bully prevention and MMA for kids, even though it would serve as an unconventional gift that isn’t as obvious as many other options for gifts.
