Prevent Bullying with Taekwondo

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes injury or discomfort to another person. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose. The bullied individual typically has trouble defending him or herself and does nothing to “cause” the bullying.

Taekwondo can help kids that are victims of bullying. It can also prevent and stop bullying from happening in school and in the playground.

Here are some tips for kids and parents to combat bullying:

1. Be confident

In Taekwondo classes, kids are taught with the proper ways on how to project confidence through body posture and gestures. Show self-assurance and assertiveness by sitting and standing tall with eyes looking forward. This is better than slouching. For parents, they should encourage their children when they are trying to be more assertive and brave.

2. Be calm

Staying composed even when faced by the bully is difficult to do since you will be teased, pushed, or even shouted upon by this person. One technique is by doing deep breaths and controlling your emotions which could halt the extremely tense situation. For parents, it is best to talk with the teacher or meet the parents of the bully to peacefully resolve the situation. Showing sudden fits of anger and violence will only aggravate the problem. Having a harmonious life with different types of people is the ultimate goal of Taekwondo.

3. Be friendly

Being sociable and having lots of friends, including your schoolmates or your friends at your local Taekwondo gym, will greatly boost your self-esteem. To have friends, you must be a friend to others first.

4. Be proactive

Tell your parents, teachers, or superiors when somebody is bullying you, your friend, or somebody you know. Not reporting these incidents will only encourage bullies in school. For teachers, take time to listen to each pupil even though it is overwhelming to hear all of their complaints.

5. Be a Protector

At Taekwondo World’s Homebush & Strathfield Gym, students are well-trained in self-defense which makes you confident in warding off would-be bullies. When you see somebody being harassed at school, help them by reporting it to an adult/teacher or you may take the bullied kid away from the situation.

6. Be Prepared to Defend Yourself

If everything else fails, and you sense that physical harm is imminent, protect yourself by doing defensive maneuvers. Just do enough force to disable the bully, run, and report to the authorities.

If you are interested in studying Taekwondo, please visit Taekwondo World’s Homebush & Strathfield Gym website at http://taekwondoworld.com.au/homebush-strathfield. They are Australia’s Premier Taekwondo School with superb facilities, excellent equipment, and highly competent black belt instructors to facilitate the learning of the martial art to their students. They see to it that personal attention and close supervision is given to each student. The school is affiliated with Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters, and their Black Belt students are certified for life by the World Taekwondo Federation.

The Head Coach in Taekwondo World’s Homebush & Strathfield Gym is Master Byunggee Yoo, an 8^th Dan Black Belt with 13 years of championship experience from Yong In University in South Korea. His knowledge of Taekwondo has helped his students become world class champions, high-quality coaches and proficient instructors.

Taekwondo World’s Homebush & Strathfield Gym is located at Sydney Markets Plaza (Paddy's Markets Flemington), Shop 6, 250-318 Parramatta Road or Flemington Road, Homebush West NSW 2129. 

The contact numbers are (02) 9743 5757 and 0412 851 302. 

You can email them at tkdworld@hanmail.net or visit their Facebook fanpage at www.facebook.com/TaekwondoWorldSydneyStrathfieldEastwood.