Dealing with Bullying

Bullying has always been an issue. Although there might not be a way to end it forever, we as professional Martial Arts instructors are in a perfect position to really do something about minimizing the negative effects of bullying. As a matter of fact, even if we don’t consciously spend much time discussing bullying, our students naturally experience less of it in their life by training with us. This happens for several reasons. Let’s discuss.

To begin with, it is important to understand that a predator, regardless of their age, is looking for prey. They’re  not thinking to themselves “let me find the biggest strongest most confident person I can and attack them“. Instead, they are looking for someone that appears weak, unaware, or lacking in confidence. As students train in martial arts and grow in confidence, they naturally begin to project that confidence. They become more aware, and in doing so, look much less like a victim, therefore  the predator is more likely to move on to find another pray.

Next, because martial arts training can be dangerous and might even be considered violent, it obligates good martial arts teachers to stress the importance of respect, courtesy and self-control. Thus, someone with predatory instincts is less likely to act on them when they training in martial arts, as they are taught to channel and control themselves. And in many cases, as their self-esteem grows, their need to  bully others diminishes.

Thirdly, as a student’s confidence grows through their training, they are more likely to stop predator behavior in others because they are confident enough to do so.

These things all happen naturally through martial arts training. Imagine how much we can magnify these effects if we consciously give students the strategies to deal with all the aspects of bullying. That is why we developed our www.donewithbullying.com program. It gives instructors the tools they need to work with their students that will allow them a whole new level of anti-bullying strategies.

In the Done With Bullying program, we stress four things:

1. What is bullying and why we shouldn’t bully others  
2. What to do if you are being bullied
3. What to do if you see bullying happening to others
4. The value of “Buddying”

I sincerely believe that there is no better group of individuals than us, martial arts instructors, to really address the coreissues that come with bullying. I strongly encourage you all to join our fight against bullying by becoming part of the “Done With Bullying” movement. Please go to www.donewithBullying.com And register. It is completely free and contains a valuable information that can be put to work immediately.