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Martial Arts Unlocked

Parent's Guide for Choosing a Martial Arts School

By Amy King September 20, 2014


When our 4 year old discovered ninja turtles and his imitation of their leaping air kicks made me flinch with visions of trips to the Emergency room 20+ times a day, I thought it was time to channel this energy in a way that would not guarantee huge doctor bills or the purchase of a new television in our near future.

This wasn't the first time I had thought about Martial Arts as an option for our son. I assume I am not the only parent who struggles with disciplining a small child. I wanted to ensure disciplining our son would not cause him self esteem issues, and erode his developmental growth. I wanted him to respect not only us as his parents, but to engrain in him consciousness of how his behavior effects himself and those around him, and how his good behavior will lead to him being respected and looked up to by others.  

I knew sports was going to be an avenue we would try to implement in his life from the time he was born. We tried everything from soccer to gymnastics, to really excelling on our neighborhood swim team and becoming a great swimmer. For one summer. Then, when Fall swim team began, with a new pool, new kids and new coaches, he had no interest in listening to the coach, he loved the water, but these coaches just weren't reaching him. They didn't show an interest in him, with patience and instruction, they didn't make an example of his poor behavior and non-exsistant listening, and teach him how his behavior was effecting the whole team. We were 5 Fall swim team practices in and we were told to try again when he was older. 

When I started thinking about Martial Arts again, other than parent recommendations, I had no knowledge of how to select an instructor or school, the difference between the types of Martial Arts styles, or school genres, if it was even right for our son, or how big of an investment a good program would be. I didn't even know what defined a "good program" or how to find one.

I reached out to a local school who had been recommended by a few parents.  Upon meeting Master Ash, the owner of Baeplex Martial Arts, he gave me his recently published book, Martial Arts Unlocked.

At less than 90 pages, Master Ash led us through the process of not only finding the best school for our son, but showed us how much Martial Arts can do for him and his future. Ash's Parent's Guide for Choosing a Martial Arts School is the best resource a parent could find, and answered all of our questions.
Guiding us on the various "types" of schools, the different Martial Arts styles and what we could expect financially based on our commitment level. He explains how your family will benefit from experiencing Martial Arts, including the structure and discipline, respect, focus and confidence practicing Martial Arts can provide.  

To learn more about Master Joseph Ash, you can visit his personal blog MartialArtsUnlocked.com. You can also learn how to get your copy of his Best Selling Book, Martial Arts Unlocked, Parent's Guide for Choosing a Martial Arts School




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