Jackie Chan once said that if you want kids to learn respect and discipline, have them take martial arts. Once they become serious about their martial arts training, children can withstand many things, learn to work hard, and develop respect for themselves and others. Foster City kids are lucky to have several dojos to choose from if they’d like to experience the physical, emotional, and mental benefits of various martial art styles.

Gold Medal Martial Arts

Golden Medal Martial Arts has a wide variety of martial arts programs for kids of all ages and an excellent reputation for producing disciplined athletes. Students are encouraged to pursue the long-term goal of achieving a black belt, but even casual learners have a lot to pick up from this school. At Golden Medal, students are not only taught skills and techniques needed to become award-winning athletes; the hidden talents within every single child are nurtured and brought out, making them more confident about themselves when they step out of the school. Your child might be interested in the Kids’ Taekwondo Class, a 45-minute multi-age class that sets the foundation for becoming a black-belter in Taekwondo. But even if your child has no dreams to be a serious athlete, he or she will learn important skills that will enhance social, academic, and athletic development. If you want martial arts to be a family affair, consider the Family Class, a unique program that allows parents and kids to learn basic self-defense and martial arts techniques together.

For more information, call Golden Medal Martial Arts at (650) 286-9116. You can also sign up for a free introductory class by visiting the website at http://www.goldmedalcenter.com

Fearless Fitness

Since 1996, Fearless Fitness has been teaching mixed martial arts, Western martial arts, and kung fu to children and adults of all ages. If your child is only beginning to explore the world of martial arts, try the children’s mixed martial arts (MMA) program, which teaches the fundamentals of kung fu, boxing, jiu jitsu, muay thai, and catch wrestling. Besides teaching coordination, concentration, and physical fitness, the MMA class is a complete self-defense system in itself. There’s also the Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu program for children ages eight and older. Choy Lay Fut is a style of kung fu from Southern China developed over the last 150 years; the circular arm movements and the agile footwork easily differentiates this style from the others. Finally, Fearless Fitness is one of the few schools in the US that has a solid Western Martial Arts program for kids, which teaches Italian Sidesword and Bolognese techniques.

Classes at Fearless Fitness are very small and quick to fill up. Grab a slot for your child by calling (650) 212-2323 or visit the website for more details at http://www.fearlessfitness.us

Peninsula Brazilian Jui-Jitsu

Is your child fascinated by the graceful moves of jui-jitsu? If so, look into Peninsula Braziian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), a small school run and taught by 4th-degree black belter Marco Nascimento. Peninsula Brazilian BJJ is one of the few schools that lets kids learn from a jiu-jitsu black-belter every class. Whether you child is looking to learn self-defense or serious about becoming an athlete, Marco and his team of instructors can help make these goals a reality.

Peninsula BJJ does not charge new students for their first class. To find out more, call the school at 650-638-1795 or visit http://www.peninsulabjj.com

As you can see, Foster City kids have some great choices when it comes to learning Martial Arts!