One of my proudest moments as a taekwondo coach was when a Mum told me that her six-year-old - let's call him James but that wasn't his real name - was at a birthday party with several other of my students. Some kids at the party knew that James and his friends did taekwondo so they challenged them to a 'fight'.

James was naturally a quiet child. You can imagine his little heart rate racing at the challenge. Remember these were six-year-olds and it would have been a playful challenge. Nonetheless, the other kids believed Shugyo (the name of the school I taught at) was about fighting so they wanted to 'fight'.

My most proud moment came next. James' Mum said that her son replied confidently to the other child. He said, "no, we do Shugyo, we don't fight!"

Kicking and punching is really fun! Eventually kids will work out how fun it is and want to try it out. My philosophy is that it's better to teach kids how to kick and punch than to ban it. We then get to use the opportunity presented by being the coolest adult in the room, to also teach the values of compassion, self control, and love.

Kids are clever! Sometimes more clever than us adults (am I right?). If they are given the freedom to move their bodies in any way they want, they'll find a love for movement. But if they are restricted, they will see exercise as a chore. Our best bet to help them live a healthy and active life is to introduce them to all types of movement, let them choose the ones they love and then make sure great values are taught alongside those movements.

This forms part of the philosophy behind Secret Ninja School. You can check it out for free by clicking the button below.