Placeholder Image

The Mother Flipping Awesome Podcast

Season 3, Episode 15: What Martial Arts Can Do For Kids

On this episode, Abigail interviews...

Paul Monje

Today I am speaking with Master Paul Monje - a lifelong Martial Artist of 30 Years. He is the Founder of The Martial Mentor and the Co-Founder of My Focus Taekwondo. Competing heavily in Olympic Taekwondo sparring as a teenager, he would constantly rank in the top 3 in the nation. After getting physically and mentally burnt out from competition, he discovered his passion for teaching martial arts. With two decades of mentoring experience, he’s worked with over 2,500 students, ranging from 3 to 83 years of age. He has helped students become #1 in the nation and represent the U.S. around the world, guided students who were failing academically to earn straight A’s, and provided youth with the tools to defeat bullying without using violence. Today he is here to share his decades of learning with us!

 

Sneak peek:

This week Abigail speaks with Master Paul Monje about the ways in which martial arts can help a child learn respect and resilience, uplevel their academics, and gain positive social skills. Whether you are looking to help your child prevent bullying, or make it to the Olympics, this is the episode for you. 

2:00 Meet Paul!

3:00 Paul speaks to growing up as the “trouble maker” child.

5:00 A discussion about our children communicating physically, and how we respond to that temperament.

9:00 Seeing our children’s uniqueness or the skill set they enjoy doing, instead of fixed gender identities.

12:00 Paul shares how he discovered his true form of self expression through martial arts.

15:30 Paul talks about how he learned temperance and control, and how life-long change came from immersing himself over time.

18:00 Abigail talks about learning how to physically play and speak a kid's language.

20:00 Paul talks about how adversity expanded his comfort zone.

26:30 How adversity helps us raise resilient children. 

32:30 How our thoughts and feelings alter our experience. 

34:00 Discipline: doing what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like it.

38:00 The value of helping kids find, and fuel, their passions. 

43:00 Beyond learning to defend from bullies, we can get preventative too!

48:00 Progress over perfection and the ability to make mistakes and repair.

50:00 It's important for kids to see parents living through adversity and living the family values as well.

51:00 A story about Paul being a positive mentor in his students' lives.

 

Where to find out more about Paul:

Twitter: @martialmentor

Email: [email protected]

Get Your Free Week on the MFA App

Listen & Subscribe 👇