Last Updated on October 26, 2012.
TSMMA Toms River Student Battles ADHD with Martial Arts!
My 9 year old son started taking classes at Tiger Schulmann’s MMA about 3 months ago and it has made a huge impact on his life. My son was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 5. In addition, he has some low muscle tone and coordination problems. He spent a great amount of time in both physical and occupational therapy with some good results, but he did not enjoy going. He has always avoided sports of any kind because it has been a struggle for him both with the physical part as well as keeping focused enough to participate. School has been a struggle as well. He is extremely smart but has had a very difficult time keeping on task and completing work. We have tried different ADHD medications only to have bad side effects.
My son has spent a great deal of his life struggling to do things that come so easily to other children. I have searched and searched for answers to help him but to no avail. I had read that Martial arts is supposed to be good for children with ADHD so I decided to give it a try and enrolled him at Tiger Schulmann’s. It has been an amazing experience. I have gone from seeing my son have low self esteem and no confidence in himself, to a little boy who can focus in the MMA class and do what all of the other kids are doing. The Head Instructor is amazing with the children. He has the right amount of toughness, kindness, and patience. He is an amazing teacher and works with the children until they master their MMA moves. In addition, he reinforces all positive ideas such as a non quitting spirit and having confidence in yourself. The lessons that he teaches about bullying and how to handle bullies is so valuable to children. My son never wanted to do an activity before and now he cannot wait until it is his day for class.
In addition to the improvement I have seen in my son’s focus and self esteem, I have seen physical improvements as well. He is able to execute moves that in the past would have been very difficult for him because of his coordination problems. When my 6 year old daughter approached me and wanted to join as well it was a no-brainer. Now both of my children go and are loving every minute of it. I cannot express how truly grateful I am for how much this experience has helped my child. It is truly the best thing that I have ever done for him. Thank you so much to Head Instructor Bobby Colontino and the staff at Tiger Schulmann’s MMA. You have truly helped to change my son’s life.
Carrie Rainieri