
23 Jan The importance of karate in a stressful world
Article by Kyoshi Hayes, written Jan 2025
Let’s explore the increasing prevalence of anxiety in children and explore where karate comes in as a positive influence.
Everyone experiences a degree of stress, which is necessary in order to accept and cope with rigorous tasks, find our optimal performance levels, or embark on the risk taking that leads to discovery and growth. This capacity building is essential to the development of resilience in our children.
The problem occurs when stressors are out of control, and the child feels the existence of the three negative states; unpredictability, severity (or intensity) of stress and prolonged exposure to it. This is certainly true of trauma, but many of our children don’t show symptoms that may be described as ptsd, yet certainly exhibit anxiety and show difficulty in coping with stressful situations.
The increasing incidence of negative and disruptive behaviours in schools will certainly create an environment where many children feel uncertain on a daily level, and where there is intense and prolonged exposure to a state of tension and anxiety in the classroom and in the playground. The presence of certain children in the room can do it, as well as the apprehension and uncertainty that a conflict in the classroom may lead to aggressive responses, raised voices and an unhappy mood . Some children experience this on a daily basis. Social media also creates a similar environment if children face the uncertainty of negative responses to their online communication. An argument online again throws the student into a state of apprehension because the situation exhibits the three states; unpredictability, severity and duration.
As parents we can control some of this by doing the following ;
- Applying consistent ground rules regarding internet access is a given, as the risks with preteens and teens around social media are very well documented.
- Being involved in the education of children and understanding the culture of their classroom and whole school environment is also important, as are the family choices that surround this involvement, such as picking the right educational setting for our children.
- And thirdly, making sure that our children have an opportunity to engage with others in a community where they experience the three positive stressors. These are
Predictability
Moderation
Control
These are the three components of stress that promote a resilient child rather than a vulnerable child.
Imagine the positive benefit of having your child engage regularly in an activity that is predictable, respectful and encourages positive person-to-person interactions. An environment where success is noticed and acknowledged with a new belt or a well done card, where the ethos of respect, effort and personal harmony are recited as a mantra every single lesson, where the stress is there for sure, but moderated and the student is always in control of their environment.
I think we just described a dojo. And not just any dojo. It needs to be a dojo where the instructor really gets this, where the emphasis is on rigour that promotes self improvement but not at the expense of others, and where the ultimate aim is not the promotion of ego, but of humility and the gratitude that leads to a life of service.
This is why so few of our black belts never leave for “greener pastures” and few quit, because they have over their years of training come to understand the deep value of what they have in their martial arts community.
Many of our aspiring black belts, in their graduation essay, write that karate has changed their lives, because they have learned self control, the ability to cope in a crisis, the ability to “ bounce back” when the going gets tough. They have learned to handle stress, to embrace it and welcome the positive stress that is necessary to really get things done. They are more likely to cope with the pressures of life if they feel that they are in control of themselves, mind and body, and can take control of the crises they encounter through a centred and calm approach.
This is the real value of martial arts training. It takes time, but for parents it is an important investment in their children’s social and emotional development.
Note: Kyoshi Brian Hayes was a high school teacher for 26 years and a Deputy Principal in two large high schools. As the director of Rock and Water Australia he conducts workshops nation wide to teachers, counsellors and support staff who seek to teach the powerful Rock and Water wellbeing and resilience program to children and families.