Warrior Wisdom

  Joint Longevity for Kicks, Throws, and Falls: Protecting Your Young Warrior's Body for a Lifetime There's a moment many martial arts parents experience, usually somewhere between their child's first belt test and their second year of training. You're watching class. Your child throws a beautiful roundhouse kick—higher than ever before. You feel proud. Then, in the same breath, a small worry creeps in: "Will all this kicking hurt their knees someday?" "Is it safe for them to fall like that?" "What if they get injured and have to stop?" It's a natural fear, and an important one. You want your child to love martial arts for years—maybe even decades. You don't want their training to become the cause of pain or limitation down the road. Here's the good news: martial arts, done well, is one of the best things you can do for your child's joint health. But—and this is crucial— how they train matters just as much as how often...

Movement as Medicine: Why Stillness Is the New Smoking (Movement Medicine, Part 1 – Written for Warrior Parents) If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance your child already moves more than most: they kick, block, shout kihap, and race around the dojo floor with that martial‑arts glow only other parents truly recognize. So it can be confusing when you also hear messages like: “Kids today aren’t moving enough.” “Sitting is the new smoking.” “We have an epidemic of sedentary children.” You might find yourself thinking: “But my kid does martial arts two or three times a week. Isn’t that enough?” In this first part of Movement Medicine: A Martial Artist’s Guide to Lifelong Health , I want to zoom out and help you see your child’s training not as “just an activity,” but as a piece of something much bigger and more powerful: Movement as daily medicine for their body, brain, and emotional world. My hope is that you’ll finish this article with three things: A clearer understanding ...

Movement Medicine: A Martial Artist’s Guide to Lifelong Health Series Introduction – For Warrior Parents If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve already seen firsthand what happens when a child steps onto the mat. Maybe your son or daughter walked into the dojo shy and uncertain, shoulders a little hunched, eyes on the floor. A few months later, you caught a glimpse of them in the mirror as they bowed in: back a bit straighter, gaze a bit steadier, a hint of quiet pride in the way they tied their belt. Or maybe you’ve watched your child go from stumbling through their first form to moving with a surprising level of focus and grace. You’ve seen them work through frustration, memorize complex patterns, and keep trying after mistakes that would have brought them to tears a year ago. That’s the visible magic of martial arts. But there’s also an invisible side—one that’s just as important: The way their hips and knees are loading with each kick and squat The way their breath speeds up ...