Kavi Ranjan

Why do kids like cartoons? | 12 Reasons & Early warning signs

Children of all ages are fond and are at times adamant to watch their favorite cartoons and animation movies. Animations and Motion pictures have become an inevitable part of their daily life. You might wonder why do kids like cartoons? What impact does a cartoon create on a child’s behavior and development?

Parents show nursery rhymes and stories available in cartoon forms, for various reasons in their child’s early development. The bright colors, mismatching shapes, funny voices, and comedic or weird character sketches with colorful attires attract the toddlers more than we know.

By watching animated tales like Frozen, Cinderella, Beauty, and the Beast, girls fantasize themselves being a princess, and boys get to imagine themselves as knights after watching Peter Pan, Aladdin, and so on.

Motion pictures now rule the television era, all thanks to the kids’ curiosity, observing things, and fast learning capability. Animated tales and cartoons can have both negative and positive influences on the cognitive development of children and their psychological behavior.

Why do kids like cartoons?

Kids like cartoons because cartoons create a fantasy world with extraordinary energy and superpower characters that kids can relate to and reverie to live. Special effects, storylines, sound effects, and technical aspects fascinate and engross them to a great extent.

Cartoons are developed to capture kids’ interest with simple fun and twists in the tale, hilarious voices, attractive colors, and life adventures. Cartoons narrate innocent stories and the victory tales of good over evil that imparts life lessons to kids.

Sound effects, songs, and futuristic environments with unrealistic visuals play a major role in attracting kids into their favorite imaginary world.

Superpowers, skills, physical appearance, and magic wand possessed characters and solving all problems by main characters in funny and tricky ways, and having a happy ending makes kids inseparable from cartoons.

A well-crafted cartoon scenario helps a child to learn positive and recoiling skills. Animated versions and tales can be an excellent entertainer and educator.

Cartoons and animated versions teach kids how to control their temperament, speak decently, help elders and the poor, listen to parents, and work with friends without jealousy. There are extremes when children get influenced the wrong way. Watching Television with parental supervision might keep the kids on the right track.

How do cartoons affect the psychological behavior of kids?

Cartoon characters and their mannerisms can diverge kids from the real world, increase the possibility of negative and aggressive behavior in them, and marginalize their cognitive mental processes.

Animated negative characters stimulate kids’ interpersonal behavior, social growth, and learning processes.

Spending long hours watching cartoons, kids gain the ability to imitate the behavior of the characters and events in real life. Children pick fights among friends in the class, one of the main reasons for their aggressive behavior could be the influence of violence based animated tales or negatively portrayed characters in cartoons.

Kids who are very engrossed in cartoons find difficulty in differentiating between reality and the fantasy world and affects their psychological development. A Child’s brain is tender during their developmental milestones, and is easily prone to form negative impressions. Parents should be selective in choosing the right shows to show.

12 Things on How cartoons positively affect children’s development:

Children who indulge in cartoons can have various positive effects on their behavior and developmental stages.

How animated visual cartoons can have a positive impact on children:

#1 Helps children to start learning early

There are educational cartoons that educate basic things like shapes, colors, alphabets, and numbers to the toddler in a simple, fun, and interactive way, making learning an enjoyable activity. Cartoon characters’ funny voices, moves, colorful visual effects, and talking pictures make learning more interesting, and attract toddlers to a great extent.

#2 Helps kids to explore and observe

Explorer cartoon characters make children curious to explore everything around their world, observe new things and the environment around them. Children try to put these fictional situations in real life and learn life the right way.

Each cartoon tale is fictional and their actions and environments are not real, but there are survival lessons hidden behind the characterization.

#3 Helps them reach their developmental milestones

Cartoons help your kids to develop cognitive skills, reasoning, and logic abilities, capture sustained and selective attention, and process auditory information.

#4 Helps children in language development

Cartoons help your children in developing linguistic ability by exposing them to different languages and cultures. When you allow kids to watch cartoons in their mother tongue, it helps them to learn and understand the language better. Cartoons improve your kid’s pronunciation and talking style.

#5 Enhances creativity and imagination

Cartoons develop their imaginative and creative knowledge, they start making up imaginative stories based on the cartoons they watch. They can even learn to make innovative art pieces when they see them being created in videos with sound effects and colors.

#6 Helps kids to maintain good health

The main motive of cartoons is to instill laughter and joy among the audience, no matter what age they are. With healthy laughing and learning, children can experience regulated blood circulation and stay active all day.

Some cartoon characters portray fitness freaks and have good physiques, which inspire kids to stay fit and cultivate good eating habits.

#7 Helpful in relieving stress

With humorous scenes, jokes, and joyful environment cartoon tales can reduce the possibilities of kids being moody for whatever reasons, and instantly puts a smile on their sad faces. As a scientific fact, Laughing increases the production of endorphins in the body that can keep the mind and heart-healthy all time.

No matter how your kid’s day goes at school, a few minutes of their favorite cartoon and snacks with you by their side can automatically lift their spirits.

#8 Helpful in learning visual effects and colors

A kid’s mind is a blank paper that can be filled with anything during their developmental milestones. With Visual mediums that capture their interest in seconds, children love learning through animated cartoons. Their interpretation of colors and shapes are wide when they learn through visual mediums.

Attractive colors, beautiful animations, and other settings enhance kids to differentiate colors accurately and help them to draw art pieces with wild imaginations.

#9 Helps kids learn difficult concepts easily

Cartoons help kids to learn about their country’s customs, history, traditions, language, and mythology very easily. By watching epic series like Ramayana and Mahabharata in animated versions, kids can easily know Indian mythology. There are historical animated tales that teach good morals, compassion, and kindness to your kids.

#10 Helps them in enhancing their speech ability

There are proven instances of cartoons and animations helping children with lesser speaking abilities convey and confess their thoughts and ideas more clearly and effectively. Cartoons can help them at places where parents get stressed enough not knowing what can help them in speaking fluently.

#11 Helps kids in getting along with friends and elders

Children learn from everything that happens around them. There are many single children who do not know how to get along with other kids owing to their family situations. Cartoons help them in getting along with new people and respecting new elders as well.

#12 Instills life values in children

Cartoons make the work of teaching children about life values like equality, loyalty, honesty, trust, compassion, and kindness easier than having had to explain them with exceeded talk and tasks.

There are always two sides to a coin. As much as there are positive effects of watching cartoons, there are still negative effects of watching animations without parental supervision.

Early warning of children watching exceeded cartoons:

Violence and aggression

Cartoons depict violence and encourage kids to become violent in their life. Cartoons also play an aggressive part, there are a lot of negative characters who perform aggressive roles. Kids are too small to differentiate between negative and positive roles, and easily get aggressive in real life.

Lack of empathy and unruly behavior

Some cartoons display rude and disobedient behavior towards their elders and teachers. Children get encouraged by watching cartoons and they start mimicking in front of their teachers or parents.

Improper Cartoons also use foul or unfit language for kids, they start to use bad language in daily life. It’s always okay to let your kids watch their favorite cartoons, except ensure that they are safe to watch and learn about.

Encourages anti-social behavior

Some cartoons encourage characters to be antisocial behavior and give wrong or negative messages to kids. Children think that it’s perfectly okay to behave spoiled, aggressive, and violent. As parents, it is always your responsibility to stay vigilant about what goes into your child’s head.

To avoid negative effects, parents should sit and watch television and animated versions of cartoons with kids. Spending quality time with kids increases your bonding time and observation level with your young ones.

Your Little one’s heart is pure, soft, and innocent with full of honesty, give your time when it is needed and direct them in the right way.

Benefits of gymnastics for children | Is it good for toddlers?

By Kavi Ranjan

Gymnastics is all about focusing on and coordination. Mere than a sport, it is an amalgamation of body and mind to let your body develop better consciousness and coordination. Today, this sport exercise has gained a lot of fame because of the endless benefits it comes with.

Not all parents are keen on letting their child pick up Gymnastics thinking how doing a backflip or forward roll is going to help them in life? Well, the answer to their question is No. It is not going to help them score number one in school or at work but, it will help them to do multiple skills at a time. They can lead to a better lifestyle which is way important than earning a six-figure salary.

so , what are the benefits of gymnastics for child!

Is Gymnastics right for your children?

It is a sport that needs immense dedication and coordination. Whether it is a sport or a school/career, children today are competing at a very young age. Their life has better exposure than going to school and doing homework. They are seen participating in various competitions, enrolling in various activities clubs, adventuring by joining different camps, and so on. Regular physical activities do help your child from health problems but gymnastics will help them in the long run by keeping obesity at bay, no diabetes, and heart-related problems.

What are the benefits of gymnastics for children?

No wonder, every mommy wants their child to enroll in a gymnastic class. That’s great. But before you go ahead, let you read in detail all about gymnastics and whether it is good for toddlers?

Gymnastics is great for health and overall well-being

Regularly participating in a gymnastic class, your child can have a range of health benefits such as improved cognitive skills, better coordination, fitness, and prevent heart-related issues in the long run.

Determination and discipline

To achieve something in life, it is important to have determination and discipline and that’s what gymnastics teaches your child.

Kids learning gymnastics are found to be driven by determination. The sport is helping children learn about what is hard working, positive attributes and how to bring determination and discipline is their lives;

Confidence and self-esteem

Gymnastics is one of the sports that helps in boosting self-confidence in kids. There is a sense of confidence when your child masters the skill – the self-confidence skills. As they start towards advanced classes, your children learn to handle intense challenges and tackle them methodically. This boost in their self-confidence aids them in their daily lives where they learn to face their fears and build skill on how to handle them.

Learns to overcome their fears

Performing gymnastics is not easy. It involves a lot of muscle movements that are tough and challenging. It is obvious for a child to develop a fear. The coach at the gymnastic center encourages kids to talk about their fear so that they can help you get through. Their primary agenda is to work on their fears and help them build confidence that they can do it. The coach approach matters a lot when it comes to coping with fears and helping children on how to overcome such situations. This in the long term encourages your children to try new things with the confidence that they can handle any situation that life throws.

Help them set goals

The capacity to have an athletic, flexible kind of body can’t be built overnight. It requires an immense level of dedication, determination, and discipline. The sport teaches your kids to set goals and hard work to put in to achieve those goals. During the process, your child learns to manage the challenges, and most importantly how to stay calm under the stress.

Long term health benefits

Gymnastics offer long term health benefits when your child is enrolled for continuous classes. The health issues remain at bay and the sport helps fine-tune the body and mind. It improves focus, along with letting your child have a fit body even when he is growing up.

It helps develop sportsman spirit

Gymnastics is a solo sport however it does involve group learning activities. Thus, helping your child learn to develop sportsman spirit and how to remain positive even when he/ she is losing. Furthermore, it also teaches to cheer their peers along with understanding what healthy competition is all about. Additionally, honing their social skills through interactions that happen in the class. This way they learn to compete and cheer up when they lose.

It is a fun activity

Kids are naturally drawn towards activities that are fun doing like flipping, jumping, free fall, tumbling, swinging, and so on. Gymnastics is all about that. Channelize their hyper by enrolling them into regular gymnastic classes. It is a great fun activity, where your child will learn many good things than just knowing the sport.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Gymnastics

There is no proven evidence but it has been believed that girls’ puberty is delayed. Because of the excessive dieting and a lot of strain to get it right, girls experience stunted growth.
Because gymnastics is all about getting a perfect flexible body which is only possible through a vigorous diet. There is no room for curviness hence it has been seen that children tend to develop eating disorders.
It is a high-impact sport, which means children are prone to get injuries often while learning. Muscle pains, broken bones are normal.
At times children are seen developing psychological effects of gymnastics. The sport requires having a vigorous regime of getting everything perfect from posture to the movements that can hurt their self-esteem. Coaches’ aggressive training methods impacting psychologically on your child’s mind.

What Are The Safety Measures That Parents Require Ensuring Their Child Safety?

Below-mentioned is the tips to remember:

Know that your child is interested in gymnastics. If he/she is not keen to join, let them understand the benefits of gymnastics and why it is important.
Not all body types are made for this vigorous exercise. If your child is prone to injuries it is a hint that it may not suit them. Discuss this with the coach and they will guide you on how you can start with the sport.
Your child must learn under a certified coach. Find a reputed gymnastic center for your child. Check the reviews and feedback before enrolling. The reputed gymnastic center will have certified and knowledgeable coaches who know a fine way of tuning with kids.
Make sure that your child learns the basics thoroughly before advancing to the next level. This can prevent severe injuries. Also, the coaches teach on how to deal with those injuries and recover to get back into the game.

Myths Busted About Kids Joining Gymnastics

Parents think that gymnastics is for strong and flexible bodies. Well, this is completely baseless. The earlier your child joins the gymnastics class the better his/her body leaves the stiffness.
Most of the parents think that is not a sport to pursue as it does not have much of a career graph. Well, it all depends on how one takes it. By participating your child in various competitions he/she can make a career out of it.
Parents think that twisting, swinging, jumping, balancing, and such bodily movements can injure their child severely thus thinking that it is a dangerous sport.
It is a girl sport, a prevailing myth-making round about gymnastics which is completely untrue. Nowadays, boys too are showing keen interest in joining this amazing coordination building sport. This further helps them in pursuing other sports like baseball, football, etc.

FAQs

When should my child start gymnastics?

Like most other sports, there is not any specific age to start gymnastics. You can join a gym at any age to practice for becoming a gymnast. There are classes based on various age groups. From as early as 18 months of age.

Is gymnastics bad for the body?

No. It is a myth that people carry around the sport. Regular participation provides innumerable health benefits to all age-group children. In the long run, it prevents chronic illness like blood pressure, diabetes, and heart-related problems

Can gymnastics cause scoliosis?

Gymnastics does not cause scoliosis, however, an intense range of muscular motion can be the reason. The coach is the best person to guide your child, ensuring such things don’t happen.

Can gymnastics cause arthritis?

People who have done gymnastics from a young age and have been careful with their body movements have minimum or zero complaints of developing arthritis. Mostly the arthritis impact is seen in their back muscles, wrists, ankles, and knees. But, with proper diet and good care, this can be prevented.

Closing Thoughts

Gymnastics is suitable for children of all age-groups. However, it is recommended that you start with the younger which can be 5 years. Let your child explore the possibilities and have fun especially if you have a hyper kid. It is one of the best ways to channelize their enthusiasm where along with they learn to get disciplined, determined, and focused which are important elements of a successful life.

Level 2 gymnastics requirements | Age, Skills & Routines

By Kavi Ranjan

Level 2 in gymnastics comes after the completion of Level 1. It is the second level included in the gymnastics level structure of the USAG Junior Olympic program. There are certain skills that are compulsory in the routine of level 2 gymnastics requirements. All gyms do not compete at this level. Also, this is not considered a required level.

The basic levels including level 2 prepare a gymnast to get more accustomed to his or her body and take control of the body weight. Immense dedication is required to learn these skills. The regular practice gradually makes the activities perfect and the gymnast can progress to the next level.

Though gymnastics is rewarding to the body of children, yet they must be trained under professional supervision. Parents must take care of while their kids are practicing the drills at home or the park. It is better if the right kind of mats, grips, and chalk are used so that the Level 2 gymnasts can train properly and safely.

If your child is not able to do a certain skill of Level 2, it means he or she needs more muscle development and strength to accomplish it. Ask the trainer for body specific workouts and make the kid do them regularly. Make your child follow an expert-recommended diet.

Never make your child do any activity that the coach has not suggested.

Ideal age of Level 2 gymnasts:

Generally, kids of 5-6 years reach Level 2.

Level 2 allows the kids to join a team and compete for the first time. They usually need 4-5 hours of practice per week.

Level 2 gymnastics requirements:

Vault:

Jump to handstand on the mat stack and straight body fall to flat back
Tuck over
Straddle over
Handstand and fall over a barrel
Handstand arch to stand
Dive roll-on mat stack
Jump off the block – stick

Note:

There are several changes in Level 2 from Level 1. The first stage involves a stretch jump. Level 2 requires an inverted jump.

Remember:

The gymnast must stretch properly for making the muscles warm. It reduces the risk of injury.

Uneven Bar:

Cast
Pullover
Leg cut
Mill circle (forward stride circle)
Back hip circle
Under swing dismount (squat to pike sole circle dismount)
Single leg basket swing
Three leg lifts
1 chin up
Piked glider swing
Straight body lift – support

Note:

Bar event of women is prominently acknowledged and appreciated as competitive. Young gymnasts can learn various skills at a good rate to become competitive. The number of skills increases at this level.

High Bar:

Pullover
Swing ½ turn
Tap swing
Leg lift
Chin-up
Cast
Back hip circle
Under swing dismount

Note:

High bar 2^nd tier skill set requires more refinement and definition of muscles. Daily exercise and various learning skills help in achieving them. Parents and guardians must take care of the young kids practicing at home.

Parallel bar:

Support walk
Swing
Turn 90 degree
Support and swing
Longhand swing
Front support
Straddle travel
Rear dismount

Note:

As per the experts, the gymnast at level 2 can train on a short p-bar before performing the skills on the actual equipment. It will reduce the risk of injury of the kids learning Level 2 skills. Children can get scared or lose confidence as they are not familiar with actual bars. With practice and moving on to the actual apparatus, they can gradually become confident and achieve perfection.

Beam:

Jump to front support mount
Arabesque (30 degrees)
½ pivot turn
Lever
Tuck jump
Stretch jump
Coupe walks
Cartwheel to handstand dismount (side)
Skipping
Cartwheel handstand straddle down
Side relieve turn
Lunge to lunge

Note:

The beam event is recognized globally. The all-women event involves balance and precision for executing great skills.

Floor:

Round-off

Bridge back kick over

Handstand for 1 second minimum

Backward roll

Tuck jump

Splits

Heel snap turn (90 degree)

Split leap with leg separation (60 degree)

Split jump with leg separation (60 degree)

Note:

With a level, the floor skills become tougher and more challenging. The level tests the determination and capabilities of the gymnasts who reached Level 2. The kids can practice the majority of the skills at home under the surveillance of elders. Using a tumbling mat helps lessen injury. Both boys and girls can perform activities.

Rings:

L-hold
Inverted hang
Tuck sit
Support
Leg swing
Pull up (skin the cat)
Swing dismount

Note:

The majority of the skills involved in-ring training are taught taking the help of certain apparatus like a high bar. Here, the development of the upper body is extremely important. With regular practice under expert guidance, kids can effectively learn ring skills.

Pommel Horse:

Leg swings
Tuck hold

Note:

This event is considered less demanding. Level 2 usually doesn’t support the momentum required for Pommel Horse skills. But, it is observed and proved that leg swings help in acquiring the capability of doing the skills. The more intense practice is required and with levels and body development, coaches teach the required skills to the gymnasts. Regular practice and utmost dedication can make the kids perfect.

Important factors to consider:

The gymnasts’ level of skill:

You have to remember that Level 2 is a junior level, and the gymnasts who are mostly kids may not have the confidence or capability to achieve perfection in all the skills. They may master a specific skill and can be prepared for progressing to the next level. But, they still may lack precision in other skills.

Hence, it is better to give them ample time and days to keep on practicing with care. If they are not prepared, keep them at the same level till they master all the skills.

The level of commitment of the little gymnasts:

The gymnasts have to learn more difficult skills in Level 2 and beyond. The mental strength of the kids must get the needed support and enhancement to cope with the rise in difficulty.

Parents, guardians, and coaches should remember that the kids are struggling hard to achieve a certain level of focus, mental skills, and confidence. They need more time to train their mind and body. The number of practice hours should be increased.

Parents must support their children in practicing their skills, and encourage them. They must make the child understand that failure is okay and normal. The child should learn from the elders that failure teaches them the right way to succeed. It is devotion, consistency, patience, and hard work that can give them the desired result. Parents should celebrate their child’s success and reward them every time they achieve a skill according to the commitment.

Gymnast’s maturity level:

Level 2 gymnasts are usually children who are emotionally immature. So, they may face difficulty in going ahead to the next level. They may feel scared as they have to perform difficult skills. Seniors, coaches, and elders must cheer up the kids and motivate them to practice more. Support them in boosting their confidence and teach them how to handle and master harder skills.

A suggestion to the parents of the gymnasts:

Whenever a coach thinks that your kid is ready to move up to the next level that is Level 3, then only your child can progress to the further stages. If the coach thinks that your little gymnast needs more practice and time to master certain skills, then don’t panic or scold your child. Kids are developing physically, mentally, and emotionally. They are seeing new things, learning new things, and experiencing new things. Their body may not have the required strength needed to perform certain skills. Their muscles and bones are getting stronger gradually. It will take time.

Confidence is another thing that a child may lack. Again, some kids may remain always cheerful and confident. You must not compare your child with others. Every kid is unique and has a distinct learning capacity. Give them the required time and let them learn at their own pace.

Moreover, if a gymnast repeats a level, that doesn’t mean that he or she won’t be able to pass it in the future. It signifies that the kid needs more practice, coaching, and time to get hold of certain skills. They have to work harder on mental and physical skills.

Conclusion:

Check if your kid is feeling overwhelmed. Otherwise, his or her level of motivation may drop. Start small and let them build over time. Start with a few classes per week instead of pressurizing your child to perform the tough skills every day and evening. Your Level 2 gymnasts are kids and you have to keep their interest on top so that they do their practice on their own.

Always keep it fun and do not think that gymnastics classes are everything in your child’s life. Let your baby enjoy what he or she is doing. Help the little gymnast make friends with other fellow gymnasts. Kids love doing things with friends and together they can achieve their level of mastery over the skills required in Level 2. Don’t forget that safety comes first.

Is karate effective in a real fight | Is it good for self-defense?

By Kavi Ranjan

Nothing is more harmful to the world than a martial art that is not effective in actual self-defense.
– Choki Motobu (Founder of Motobu-Ryu Kempo and notorious or celebrated Okinawan Karate street-fighter)

Karate, a word that came from the combination of two Kanji or Chinese characters, signifies ‘Kara’ expressing ‘empty’, and ‘te’ expressing ‘hand’. Jointly, Karate means ‘empty hand’. It is usually added to a suffix ‘do’ which is pronounced as ‘daw’. ‘Do’ means ‘the way/path’. Hence, the ‘karate-do’ elucidates karate as a complete way of life or discipline that goes beyond self-defense techniques and applications.

Is karate effective in a real fight?

First thing first, you must know that nowadays, people are more concerned about learning karate than earlier in the ’70s and ’80s. Karate can give you endless benefits mentally, physically, and spiritually. The techniques you can learn from Karate will enable you to develop maximum fitness. It is useful for all ages and anyone can learn karate irrespective of age, gender, and physical capability.

Type of Karate	Origin	Creation of Each Style	Purpose
Okinawan	Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa)	14 century	Self-defense
Japanese	Mainland Japan	20th century	Physical education and social education
Sports	Japan, America, and Europe	20th century	Sports competition

Source: Inspired from https://www.thekaratelifestyle.com/

Can you use karate in real life situation and save yourself?

Of course, you can. Karate is very effective in a real fight. We are not talking about the sports karate where tons of rules have been erected and full contact fighting is not allowed. Rather, it is the orthodox karate or full contact karate that prepares a learner for sustaining and saving himself or herself in a real-life situation where real fighting takes place. It doesn’t mean that you have to kill the attackers. Instead, you can strike or block or perform the right self-defense moves and get out of that dangerous situation without hurting yourself.

Pressure points:

is karate effective in a real fight — Source: http://howtostreetfight-a.blogspot.com/

Origin of Karate:

Karate arrives from China. Mainly, it was emerged in three Okinawan villages namely Naha, Shuri and Tomari. In each village, a distinct style of Karate is developed. For example- From Naha village, Naha-te has come up; from Shuri village, Shurite is developed; and from Tomari village, Tomari-te is evolved. The early form of karate is highly influenced by Kung Fu, ancient Chinese martial arts.

Latest dominant styles of karate:

Currently, four styles of Karate are pre dominant and those are:

Goju-Ryu
Shito-Ryu
Shotokan
Wado-Ryu

Apart from these four main styles, there are multiple styles of Karate, each deals with distinct positions, weapons, groundwork, locks, techniques, throws, and internal energy.

If you train regularly, you will learn all the exclusive techniques that can efficiently save your life in adverse situations where real goons are present. Karate makes you prepared for defending yourself and your loved ones from aggressors by bestowing you the right senses to reach promptly and effectively in life-threatening situations.

The lessons in class can be easily applied in real life. Along with learning the ways to defend against a sudden attack anywhere, you will learn specific strategies and attitudes to avoid worst scenarios.

Karate provides you with the practical knowledge of punching, kicking, blocking, throwing, and evading techniques that are enough to transform your body into a deadly weapon.

Can Karate be considered a civilian martial art?

Yes, Karate is considered a civilian art directed towards self-defense. An Okinawan Karate master named Anko Itosu explained the goal of traditional Karate. He said, “Karate is not intended to be used against a trained opponent but as a way to protecting yourself by using the hands and feet if assaulted by a villain or ruffian.”

See the common injuries that can happen in martial art. Proper strikes can cause injuries to the attackers.

most common types of martial arts injuries — **Source:** https://www.bookmartialarts.com/

Karate is basically not meant to be used in a ring. It is about protecting yourself through the proper use of your hands and feet when attacked by a rogue. The primary objective of Karate is to survive a fight or a face-off. Your main aim is to remove yourself from the oppressive encounter. There is no need to eliminate the attacker or aggressor. But, in a few cases, attackers got severely injured and even killed by trained karatekas in typical situations. Karate is extremely effective for self-defense.

Hence, the prompt answer of the question, “Is karate good for self defense?” is “Yes.”

You can punch or kick the opponent and run away from the spot to save yourself.

Top 5 martial arts in the world at present:

Most popular martial arts in the world graph

Karate improves confidence to a great extent:

If you know the right techniques of kicking, punching, throwing, locking, etc., it will give you immense confidence to you because you know that you possess the abilities to defend yourself and your family or friends. Confidence makes you a stronger and better person. Moreover, the discipline you learn from karate, the attitude, the mental stability, calmness, patience, taking decisions at the exact time, staying away from anxiety, focusing, etc. can be used in daily life at the home, office, school, college, and every activity.

You must remember that Karate is neither a combat sport nor a gymnastic. Karate is purely a martial art that focuses on personal protection. The crux of Okinawan Karate is effective in real-life. In fact, this martial art is very near to modern military close combat fights which are simple, practical, and deadly.

Karate promotes a lifestyle:

Apart from being a self-defense based martial art, Karate nurtures holistic and spiritual aspects of both Japanese and Chinese martial arts. Traditional karate has a purpose and that is to develop a well-balanced body and mind. Students who join Karate dojo (martial art training place) practice Hojo undo (breathing and conditioning exercises), kata (a form that refers to detailed choreographed movements that can be practiced alone or in a group), Kiko (energy circulation exercises), mokuso (meditation), along with fighting movements like a punch, block, kick, grab, throw, etc.

List of self-defense techniques that you can use anywhere if needed:

Ready Stance
Defensive walking
Defensive stance
Defensive turn
Stalking stance
Carotid sleeper hold
Passing
Blocks:
Left
Right
Up
Down
Forward
Weapon retrieval
Upper Extremity Strikes:
Elbow strike to face
Thumb strike to eyes
Fingers to eyes
Palm or heel strike to face, groin and xiphoid process
Lower extremity strikes:
Knee to groin
Knee to thigh
Instep kick

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221871167_Martial_Arts_Time_Needed_for_Training

To understand: ‘Is karate good for fighting?,’ you have to know the actuality of self-defense.

First, you must know that combat and self-defense are different. The effectiveness of karate is directly related to the way of training. For example, if you keep on punching and kicking with screaming, it is surely not going to teach you the needed applicability. Again, the wrong posture can cause harm to your body.

You have to learn so many things together from your Sensei (Karate master). Like, you need to practice the proper way of striking, exercise your attacks, and counters’ timing. If you practice with a partner, you can learn the timing, and the way to make a distance from the opponent, and get close to the opponent. For applying karate in real life, you have to spar during practice.

Any style of martial art can be effective on street and on the ring provided that you practice the style religiously giving importance to the ring or street scenarios.

It doesn’t matter whether you prefer sports karate or recreational karate. You have to learn the real-life application of the moves and stances you learn. You have to ask questions to your sensei about the choreography of the katas, the proper way of striking your opponent, timing, speed, which move to apply and when, etc.

You must learn to defend yourself against weapons:

Today’s villains may not come empty-handed to attack you. Most of them remain armed with a knife, rope, gun, etc. Many people have to get admitted to hospitals with deep knife injury or gun attack or rope choke, etc. In your dojo, a knowledgeable sensei will teach you how to use nunchuck, knife, stick, sword, etc. along with the defense methods against those weapons. You must be ready to face a life-threatening attack with a knife, or a bat, or anything lethal in real life. You must know how to tackle those situations and save yourself from the deadly weapons.

Which weapons are commonly used for attacking:

Knives
Broken bottles
Pens (Yes, a pen can be used as a deadly weapon)
Bat
Scissors
Hammers
Wrenches
Crowbars
Sticks
Guns (in some cases)

Using Kata in self-defense:

Instead of considering ‘kata’ as a whole, you must look upon it as a series of self-defense. One single Kata is comprised of many techniques that are extremely effective in real fighting if applied in the right manner.

Also, you must learn bunkai (applications of kata). Follow this process:

Study a movement
Do analysis
Disassemble it
Learn

Once a kata has been learned, it must be practiced repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the sequence of a form in Karate is useless.
Gichin Funakoshi

By exploring the various facets of kata, you will learn that Karate is a complete, practical, and the most effective self-defense system.

Conclusion:

Karate is concentrated mainly on solid stances, strength, and power. Karate provides equal time to both hand and foot techniques. The philosophy of karate is “My hands are closer to all targets and are faster.” You can learn systematic redirecting as well as dodging punches and kicks. The focus is on street self-defense and things that work best in close fighting. Hence, in simple terms, if you are seeking practical fights that you may need in real life on the streets or anywhere else, choose Karate as your martial art.

Level 1 gymnastics requirements | Age, Skills & Routines

By Kavi Ranjan

If you are in favor of an all-encompassing exercise program, then Gymnastics is the ideal one. It embraces speed, strength, coordination, power, balance, and flexibility. You can develop great skills and optimum perseverance through gymnastics. Friedrich Ludwig Jahn is known as the ‘father of gymnastics’. Gymnastics starts from Level 1 and goes up to several Levels. Gymnastics lays immense importance on the life of children.

You must be wishing to know Level 1 gymnastics requirements. But before, going in-depth, you should know what the right age is to start gymnastics.

The right age to start gymnastics:

The best part of gymnastics is there are no rigid rules related to the starting age for gymnastics. Some institutions offer sessions for infants who are young as 18 months, whereas, some organizations take admission of kids who are 8 years and beyond. Again, many kids begin when they reach teenage and continue through college and beyond.

Though you can find gymnastics classes in reputed institutions for children who are only 2 years of age, professional coaches suggest the parents wait until the babies reach 5 or 6 years of age. For kids who are younger in age, the introductory gymnastics classes must focus on awareness of body development and love for a particular sport.

As a parent, you must accompany your kids to the classes and encourage them to climb, jump, crawl, etc. as interacted by the trainers. Remember, children must be supervised in a very gentle way as they are extremely tender. If they are as young as 2 or 3 years old, be careful as their bones are not strong and injuries can be fatal. Younger kids must develop self-confidence and physical coordination but with care.

Tumbling classes: Level 1 gymnastics requirements

Tumbling classes are appropriate for children of 3 to 5 years of age. These sessions are physically more demanding. The introduction of basic skills like cartwheels, somersaults, backward rolls, etc., takes place. Moreover, balancing activities on low beams are taught. When the kids master these activities, they are introduced to the introductory classes. Usually, the kids reach approximately 6 years of age during this time.

What are the other sports that can prepare kids for beginning gymnastics classes?

Ballet
Soccer
Dance
Baseball

These sports and activities really help children to develop the same balance, hand-eye coordination, and other agility skills as gymnastics.

Children who are older can start gymnastics. But, you have to be aware that the longer a child will wait, the tougher it will be for him or her to compete with other kids who have started training since they were toddlers. But, nothing firm can be said as the famous Brazilian world champion named Daiane dos Santos was 12 years old when she started practicing gymnastics. Perfection depends on regular practice, devotion, patience, intention to learn new things, ability and will power to bear the pain, never give up mentality, and most importantly, believing in self.

What are the potential risks that are associated with gymnastics?

Sports that involve physical activities associate potential risks. Many incidents are imminent where gymnasts got heavily injured. Proper precaution and care are needed to practice safely. Be it a matter of children or adults, every gymnast must be very careful while practicing or competing.

A veteran coach named Rick McCharles who was associated with Altadore Gymnastics Club in Calgary, Canada quoted, “The risk of starting advanced gymnastics at a young age is potential burnout as a pre-teen.”

Serious training of gymnastics can have certain health consequences for the gymnasts. In the case of girl gymnasts, problems with the menstrual cycle are common if they train very hard. There can be a life-long injury. But, if your kids have passion, then they can certainly overcome the fear of injury and continue with gymnastics.

What are the required skills in Level 1 gymnastics?

level 1 gymnastics requirements — **Source:** Inspired from **https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi**

Vault Requirements:

The gymnasts in Level 1 don’t use the vaulting table in actual. The kids perform a straight jump onto an 8 inches high gymnastics mat. Also, they kick to handstand and finally fall to flat back.

Following are the Level 1 gymnastics requirements

Bar Requirements:

Pullover: The gymnast does a pullover in which he or she pulls his/her legs totally around a bar.
Cast: The gymnast starts in front support by placing his/her hips at the bar, and then pushes the hips off the specific bar by driving his/her legs behind his or her.
Back hip circle: Here, the gymnast initiates with a cast. Then, he/she returns to the specific bar. Next, the gymnast rolls his or her body backward around that bar.
Underwing dismount or Sole-Circle dismount: After the previous steps, the gymnast pushes off a cast to dismount. The pushing serves as a way to dismount.

Beam requirements:

Jumping to front support mount
Arabesque (30 degrees)
Lever
Stretch jumping
Cartwheel (3/4 handstand dismount)

Here, a gymnast learns how to mount a beam. Here, he or she jumps to front support with the specific beam at his or her hips. Also, a gymnast learns to dismount with a stretch jump. He or she stretches his/her body up while jumping. The gymnast’s arms are raised above the head.

At this level, a gymnast learns how to tuck sit with knees at the chest. The individuals also perform coupe walks and candlestick on the beams. Added, they do relieve walk. To do this, they have to walk on toes keeping the arms outstretched above the head.

At the final stage, the gymnast has to hold an arabesque or scale by standing on a single foot at the time of leaning forward, and the individual has to extend the other leg behind him or her and simultaneously outstretch the hands at the sides.

Floor requirements:

3/4 handstand
Backward and forward rolls
Cartwheel
Split jump (leg separation of 30 degrees)

Here, the gymnast has to do a candlestick. This activity needs resting on the back of shoulders, and keeping the legs together with feet pointed towards the ceiling. The kids also do leg swings and tuck jumps. They bring their knees to their chest. Coupe walks are also added. Here, the gymnasts walk on their toes by bringing the toes of one foot to the opposite foot’s ankle.

Let’s check the considerations:

The skill requirements are adjusted at regular intervals. But, the skills of Level 1 usually remain the same. The young kids are introduced to Level 1 skills in classes where they learn basic body positions and forms, and after the fundamentals, they can move on to the core Level 1 at age 4. The boys are taught rolling, cartwheels, handstands, bridges, and headstands on the floor. They also get introduced to skills of equal status on rings, parallel bars, horizontal bars, horse, and vault.

What will your kids get from gymnastics?

Is gymnastics just a sport? Does gymnastics contribute to the overall growth and development of the children?

We can go on and on describing the benefits of gymnastics in the life of a child. But, we have presented the most important ones in this piece of article.

I would hope I would inspire kids everywhere to know that you can do anything you put your mind to.
Simone Biles

Gymnastics is extremely good for physical health:

Regular practice of various activities involved in gymnastics provides benefits to children of any age. For example, they develop optimum physical coordination. Again, they can maintain excellent health that prevents heart disease in the long run. Age-related issues like bone loss usually don’t happen to a gymnast.

Gymnastics helps in building confidence:

Gymnastics involves extreme levels of physical activities that ordinary people can’t. The sense of accomplishment that the gymnasts achieve from mastering the specific activities builds super confidence and self-esteem. They learn to handle various challenges in proper methods and reach their goals. Again, the activities involve fear and kids learn how to overcome fear with a smile.

Gymnastics helps in building accurate coordination of body and mind:

The kids gain strong spatial awareness. Gymnasts don’t get startled by any sudden imbalance. They acquire the right reflexes and can use them in difficult situations in normal everyday life.

Gymnastics builds a solid foundation for athletics:

Gymnastics concentrates on various aspects of sports including psychological, physical, etc. Along with building strength and flexibility, it bestows mental toughness that is extremely necessary for life.

Gymnastics makes a child disciplined:

Discipline is required in every sport, and gymnastics stand on discipline. Kids have to practice daily, maintain proper timing, speed, and focus. Otherwise, accidents can happen. Through gymnastics, a child learns how to do hard work, respect time, be dedicated to working, and focus on each step.

Gymnastics develops sportsmanship in children:

Gymnastics involves group learning along with individual lessons. It helps in developing positive relationships and sportsmanship in children and makes them learn to support each other and cheer. The kids also get to learn about healthy competition. It leverages their social skills as they interact with other kids and adults with certain expertise.

Gymnastics assists in setting goals:

Any athletic ability takes time to develop. The kids learn to set little goals and reach each of them to progress to the next level which involves tougher activities. They get to know how to work continuously to achieve targets and manage stress in the process. They can stay calm during extreme pressure which is very helpful in real life.

Conclusion:

Gymnastics involves various fun activities that entertain the kids when they learn together with their peers. Regular classes boost endorphins release which keeps their spirits high and they remain in a good mood. Doctors often suggest gymnastics for autistic children as it is a great medium to socialize and play. Let your kids do the jumping, flipping, swinging, tumbling, and others. Raise a confident, determined, and talented child who has excellent communication skills developed from gymnastics.

How to keep kids busy while working from home

By Kavi Ranjan

The Coronavirus outbreak was totally unpredicted and so was the work from the home situation that arose because of it. While we would have given anything to work in our beds before this whole thing, it has become a nuisance for all of us now that it has become mandatory for most of us.

The section of the working class that is struggling, the most, consists of parents who are working from home. Not only they are struggling to keep their work and personal life separated but they also have to deal with their children coming in the way of giving their best at their work.

As such, in this article, we are giving you a solution (10, in fact) to this problem – how to keep kids busy while working from home. So, in a nutshell, here are 10 ways on how to keep a toddler busy while working from home.

Washing their toys
Art – Drawing, Coloring, and Shadow Tracing
Something with cardboard shipping boxes
Target toss from a bean bag
Making necklaces
Scavenger hunt
Rock Painting
Household Chores – Sweeping/Mopping/Dusting

You are still here! So, let’s get to it. We will be diving into each of these activities on how to keep kids busy while working from home. Let’s begin!

Toy Washing

The first activity we have for you when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home is – Toy Washing.

We all know that one thing that kids absolutely love is – their toys. If you had to think of another thing that your kid loves the most, it would mostly be water. Kids love playing with water unless it is the winter season (obviously).

Toy washing put together two things that kids love the most – toys and water. Here’s why this is one of the most effective ways of how to keep kids/toddlers busy while working from home. You just fill in a bucket, tub, sink, or any other container with water and provide your kids with all the toys they have (and a towel). Yes, ask them to dry up their washed-up toys as well.

Caution: Give only plastic or rubber toys to your kids during this activity. Avoid any toy with electronic elements.

Art – Drawing, Coloring, and Shadow Tracing

Just like toys, most kids love drawing, coloring, and similar artsy stuff. So, the next thing that works if you are looking for how to keep toddler busy while working from home is artsy stuff.

Here’s the psychology behind this. Kids love when they get brand new stuff, right? The idea is to use this to advantage. Get your kid(s) new art supplies. This activity works with old supplies too but getting new art supplies will just get them more excited about this.

You all get what coloring and drawing are. You can either get them those drawing sheets or real-life objects that you probably won’t need and ask them to draw on it or color it. Another activity that you can add to this list is – Shadow tracing.

Ask your kids to just pick up random objects and trace them on a piece of paper. If you have more than one kid, make it a competition. Whoever manages to trace more objects gets more candies.

This is one of the most common ways of how to keep kids busy while working from home. If this doesn’t work with our kids, don’t worry. The next one probably should.

Playing With Cardboard Shipping Boxes

If you have cardboard shipping boxes lying around in your house, they are a blessing in disguise for you if you are looking for ways of how to keep kids busy while working from home.

If you have saved some of the older shipping boxes with you, you can just give them to your children and ask them to build houses, fortresses, and whatnot. You can even throw in some crayons and coloring pens with the shipping cardboard boxes and ask your kids to draw rooms in the homes or fortresses they are building.

Besides this, if your kids are a bit older, you can also include scissors and glue with this activity. These simple additions will only make this activity more fun.

This activity will keep your kids busy for hours and you can just stay focused on your work without any nuisance. In our research, this is one of the most popular methods among parents who are looking for how to keep kids/toddlers busy while working from home.

Target Toss From A Bean Bag

This activity can keep your kids busy for hours at length when you are looking for ways of how to keep toddler busy while working from home.

Set up a bean bag in our living room along with dustbins, hula hoops, laundry baskets, etc. in your living room. You can arrange for objects to throw in these targets, It could be anything from paper airplanes, or anything else, This is where you can get creative.

Again, if you have more than 1 kid, you can make this a competition. You can ask them to maintain a scorecard and whoever wins gets some sort of privilege – some extra candies, extra television minutes, or anything else that can work for your kids.

This activity is one of the most effective ones when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home.

Necklace Making

Well, this is undoubtedly one of the most popular ways of how to keep kids busy while working from home. Of course, it depends on what your kids like or dislike.

If you think that your kids like creating things or are even a bit creative, necklace making is definitely something you should try. Give your kids a bucket of tiny objects & a thread, and ask them to weave a necklace for you using those objects.

As you all already know that weaving a necklace is an activity that requires patience, you can not only expect this activity to keep your ids busty but also help them be more creative and productive with their time.

You can also include other objects like cereals to make this activity more fun and engaging for your kids.

Scavenger Hunt

You can get as creative with this activity as you can with this. This is one of the most effective ways where you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home. Having said that, creating a scavenger hunt for your kids will take some work. So, we advise you to create a scavenger hunt for your kids the night before you plan to use it.

Keep in mind that you are creating this scavenger hunt for your kids. As such, it should neither be too easy nor too hard. It could be as simple as creating a list of items around your house and asking your kids to tick items on that list after they find them.

Here’s a word of caution. While scavenger hunt works when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home only list items that are easy to reach for your kids. This means that avoid listing down items that your kid might not be able to reach and end up getting hurt.

Painting Rocks

Well, who doesn’t love painting rocks? You can use this activity when looking for how to keep toddler busy while working from home.

Find a bunch of rock – big and small and get some coloring supplies (painting brushes, washable paints, etc.) for your kids. Ask your kids to paint on these rocks and to get as creative as possible. This activity won’t just keep your kids busy but will also help them to realize the creative side in them.

Caution: Make sure that the rocks you choose for this activity are not too heavy to hurt your kids.

Rock painting is one of the activities that has worked for parents who are working from home. So, it should work for you too when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home.

Household Chores – Sweeping/Mopping/Dusting

Remember how, as kids, we quickly wanted to grow up? Well, kids of this generation are no different.

Your kids are longing to play adults and this activity will allow them to be. And if you are lucky enough you will have a few chores left for you to do after this. Give your kids a duster/sweeper and assign them a few easy chores.

We have observed that kids actually love doing this and even might end up learning these things for their own good when you are not around to micromanage them. As such, this activity definitely deserves a spot in the list of activities on how to keep kids busy while working from home.

Final Words

There are many other activities that can be helpful to you. For instance, letter writing (to grandparents, God, or anyone else) can be effective when you are looking for ways on how to keep kids busy while working from home.

Having said that, if you are tired of doing all these activities on your own, Pencil Voyages can help you out. They have a list of outdoor activities that will help your kids learn while having fun and making friends.