TKD: It's Not Just for Boys

(Published October 1995 in The Taekwondo Reporter)

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on the average, every fifteen seconds, somewhere, a woman is brutalized by either her husband or boyfriend. Their research further reveals that, for women, the most common cause of injury is battery.

You’ve seen it on Oprah, you’ve seen it in the newspaper, and maybe you even know someone to whom it’s happened. The problem is caused by the abusers, without a doubt. However, there are too many women who put up with it and stay with their tormentor. Research indicates that women who stay with an abuser do so because they suffer from a lack of self-esteem.

It appears that there is some imperfection in our culture that causes many young women’s self-esteem to deteriorate as they grow up. According to a 1991 study that was commissioned by the Washington, DC, based American Association of University Women, the self-confidence of girls in the United States diminishes between elementary and high school. At the elementary school level 60% of the girls surveyed say, “I’m happy the way I am”. By high school age, however, it drops to 29%. The study also reported that 45% of elementary school girls say that they’re, “good at a lot of things,” but that only 23% of high school girls felt the same way.

Studies by psychologists reveal that girls become more self-conscious and less self-confident as their bodies change. This is just the opposite of boys, who generally feel that as they grow they become stronger and better.

There have been many articles written about the benefits that the study of taekwondo provides for children. It helps them focus, develops strength, and most importantly, it improves their self-esteem. It provides them with the courage to stand up to bullies but also with the self-confidence to walk away from a fight. Recent case studies have determined that taekwondo, with the focus and structure that its study requires is especially helpful for children with Attention Deficit Disorder. In most of these articles, though, the children discussed are boys. Taekwondo is good for boys, but it is also good for girls.

Research that has been compiled by the Women’s Sports Foundation indicates that girls who are involved in sports reap great benefits. For Example:

· Women who are active in sports and recreational activities as girls feel greater confidence, self-esteem and pride in their physical and social selves than those who were sedentary as kids. (Miller Lite Report, 1995)

· Girls and women who are involved in sports have a more positive body image and experience higher states of psychological well-being than girls and women who do not play sports. (Calip, et al, 1980)

· Research suggests that girls who participate in sports are less likely to get involved with drugs, less likely to get pregnant and more likely to graduate from high school than those who do not play sports. (Women’s Sports Foundation, 1989)

· Half of all girls, who participate in some kind of sports, experience higher than average levels of self-esteem and less depression. (Colton & Gore, Risk, Resiliency, and Resistance: Current Research on Adolescent Girls, Ms Foundation, 1991)

· One to three hours of exercise a week over a woman’s reproductive lifetime (from the teens to about age forty) can produce a 20% to 30% reduction in the risk of breast cancer, and four or more hours of exercise a week can reduce the risk almost 60%. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1994)

· High school principals place physical fitness last on their goals for education (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1990). Yet their second [highest] goal is development of a good self image. [However] Female athletes have a more positive body image than do female non-athletes, and body image is particularly important to self-image during the adolescent years. (Snyder & Kilven, 1975)

· Increased physical activity results in increased self-esteem for pre-adolescents. (Melpomene Journal, Autumn 1992, Vol. 11, No. 2)

· If a girl does not participate in sports by the time she is ten [years old], there is only a ten percent chance she will participate when she is twenty-five [years old]. (Linda Bunker, University of Virginia, 1989)

· High school girls who spend more time participating in sports also tend to have higher grades. (Study of Stanford and the Schools, 1986)

This research is based on participation in sports in general. Add to this the proven benefits of taekwondo study in the development of a person’s self-esteem, and you build a very strong case with which to convince parents, not only to allow their daughters to participate in taekwondo but, to encourage them. In addition, study after study has revealed that children receive fewer and less serious, injuries in taekwondo than they do in more traditional sports such as football, basketball and soccer.

Participation in taekwondo is good for boys, girls, men and women. It makes their bodies stronger, more flexible and well balanced. It helps them focus, relieve stress and channel energy. It improves cardio-vascular health, controls weight and improves over-all conditioning. The satisfaction that comes from achievement in taekwondo makes practitioners feel good about themselves; whether it comes from the perfection of a back-spinning kick, achievement of a higher belt rank, or a win at a tournament. Taekwondo practitioners tend to have a high self-esteem, because the very nature of taekwondo study promotes a high degree of self-satisfaction.

Then there’s the obvious advantage for women who practice taekwondo – they have a much better chance of turning the tables on any man who may attempt to abuse them.

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