“OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights. You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.” I’m sure you have all seen or heard this classic from Dr. Seuss. This has always been one of my favorite kids’ books, because it’s so inspirational, and it’s a reminder to kids that they must believe in themselves. When it comes down to it, they’re the driver of the bus for their life. It’s up to them to make strides. It’s up to them to stand up for themselves, and ultimately, to succeed. One of the most interesting aspects about this book is that it is timeless, and applies to ALL walks of life. This book is given to kids at pre-school graduation. It’s quoted at high school and college graduations. The reason that the book can stick with kids all the way through adulthood is because it teaches them to BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES. We’re not saying one little book has changed the world. What we ARE saying, is that a child’s home, play, and sports realities play a HUGE part in deciding how our kids are gaining self-confidence. In the gym, if a small child sees his or her friend successfully perform a forward roll for the first time, their thoughts lead them to believe that they can do it too. In school, teachers challenge their thoughts. The first time a child gets a math problem correct in front of the entire class, they are set up to know how it feels to get a boost of confidence.  The more kids are given the chance to succeed, the better their self-confidence becomes. We are not wanting to build boastful or conceited humans. Our goal is to raise confident kids, who grow into successful adults. The recipe is simple: challenges + positive reinforcement = confident kids. Now, why are you still reading this? “YOUR MOUNTAIN IS WAITING.  SO… GET ON YOUR WAY!”

Extracurricular activities expand well beyond sports. Extracurricular could be the likes of chess club, art guild, community theatre, 4-H, and tons of other types of opportunities for kids to socialize. There is much more happening beneath the surface of these activities. Of course, when we think of clubs and activities outside of the classroom, sports always falls into this category. Activities that keep our kids active and social are at the foundation of who they are, and the goal is to allow these activities to help them thrive. We teach follow-through and perseverance when we allow kids to choose an activity that interests them , and carry through with their actions. The notion of practicing something over and over, leads to learning the value of delayed gratification. One of the greatest purposes of extracurricular activities is to allow kids to experience the same types of goals and tasks as their required curriculum in school, but in a different setting . Just as getting a bad grade on a paper will cause children to reevaluate their study habits, losing a wrestling match allows for the same reflection. "What could I have done to change my performance, to alter my consequence?” It’s the intermittent feedback from a coach, teacher, or trainer is exactly what children need to to see the end of the next challenge. PERSEVERANCE. DRIVE. GRIT. This is how it happens. When this drive, or ambition is present, grit follows . These kids are learning that disappointment can happen, but they don’t let it get them down. They allow their experiences to help them grow. Through guidance from parents and coaches, they set the bar high for themselves, and succeed. Whether they lose a chess match, forget a line on stage during a play, or turn the wrong way in a dance recital, they don’t let it get them down. These kids are full of strength, courage, independence, perseverance, and determination. Just by accomplishing one key element, they are developing their character and setting the bar higher for not just the next performance, but for the rest of their lives.

“Do not ask your children what they want to be when they grow up. Instead, ask them what problems they would like to solve, if they could.” I want my kids to know that they can do anything. They don’t have to be an employee. They can be their own boss . They can create. They don’t have to be typecast into a role in their lives, just based on something they’re good at. They can do whatever they want! I want my kids to have that spunk. The spark. The GRIT. What are some SIMPLE things we can do to inspire grit in our kids?! There are so many things we can do, but these are incredibly simple things that we can do in our adult world, to tweak the kid experience in their world. Assign household jobs… it encourages pride in what kids do. Allow kids to make mistakes… it means they’re learning. Teach good manners… it encourages them to be respectful to others. Give heartfelt compliments… kids need to know when they’re on the right path, and when they’re doing an awesome job. Allow kids to make decisions… it boosts confidence. Remain positive…it’s contagious. Encourage kids’ interests… find something they’re good at and help them thrive. Promote thinking and problem solving… with every problem solved on their own, their confidence is boosted. Allow kids to spend quality time among adults… seeing the behavior of adults and observing the adult world helps kids to interact with grown-ups in addition to their parents and teachers. Volunteer with your kids… it teaches selflessness. Be friendly to new people you meet and introduce your kids… be the example that you would like your kids to follow. Give your kids the opportunity to get some GRIT!

Failure is the key to success. Seriously. We’ve all lived it. Small business owners have lived it. Parents have lived it. If we didn’t fall off the swings as a kid, we would have never understood the importance of hanging on . Actually, isn’t that the perfect metaphor for life? Just sayin’. Anyway, one of the toughest things to watch as a coach and parent is seeing a kid fail. Parents, especially, have the gut instinct kick in that says: “Go help!” But, as history shows, one of the best ways for kids to understand their achievements is to learn implicitly through failure. Did you “get it” the first time you attempted a somersault? Probably not . You probably failed. Gah! There’s that word again. It sounds so horrible. After all, if you get an “F” on your paper, that’s it. Adios. You’re toast. So why should we encourage kids to fail? It forces PERSISTENCE. It empowers TENACITY . It builds GRIT. It makes kids CONFIDENT. The look on a kid’s face the first time he successfully completes an obstacle course without any errors is PURE BLISS. That’s why we do this. That’s what NinjaZone is about. That is our ultimate objective. We LOVE to see our kids succeed. To be able to succeed, most will fail. This builds an ultimate drive and persistence in kids that is worth its weight in gold. Failure is vital to learning. The kid who really focuses learns more from his failures than his successes. Allowing kids to fail, take in feedback, and dust themselves off is imperative to ultimate success. Don’t let the lack of success bring your kids down. It’s building them up, and making them awesome people. After all, it worked for you, didn’t it?

The importance of “grit,” “determination,” and “work ethic” are all the rage right now in determining school success in children, a concept that is wholeheartedly understood and observed by thousands of coaches all over. It’s a fact that athletes with less natural ability, but high levels of work ethic surpass athletes with lots of natural ability but less grit. But how do we foster this important value in kids ? Intrinsic motivation is key. Naturally children work hard on things they feel intrinsically motivated to achieve. They will work through setbacks and small failures to reach their goal, just like a toddler learning how to walk. No stickers or rewards are needed, a toddler simply wants to walk because they knows they can do it. That’s not to discount the important role of a supportive and enthusiastic caregiver, as that child knows he has support and is succeeding at doing hard work! Instead, the combination of intrinsic motivation and effective coaching helps children realize they can do things that seem improbable at first glance. Why NinjaZone? NinjaZone is perfectly suited to building these qualities in boys and we’ve seen it happen countless times. NinjaZone offers cool skills that boys want to learn. Quite simply, boys naturally want to flip, kick, and do “ninja” moves, especially after sitting for long periods of time at school, and doing paper/pencil tasks at school – something developmentally inappropriate for ideal learning. Achieving these tasks takes self-discipline and focus. Offering developmentally appropriate tasks in developmentally appropriate environments with trained coaches is what is best for kids, which is exactly what NinjaZone does on a daily basis. The NinjaZone program offers skills kids wants to learn, translating to individual improvement and success in many areas. Coaches have a specific plan for students, including skill development, the “NinjaZone pillars”, fun, and competition; making the NinjaZone curriculum intentional, and developmentally appropriate. Intentional programming means increased successes. Through many repetitions, interrupted by small failures, NinjaZone students learn many new skills. With NinjaZone, kids instantly know what success feels like, know when achieve a skill – and how great it feels! Trained coaches break down skills into smaller parts, providing encouragement and positive feedback, even when they haven’t yet mastered the skill. So, even when a student hasn’t mastered a particular skill yet, an expert is saying he’s on the right path to success, celebrating achievements big and small. There are not many places where young children can develop self-confidence and a strong work ethic, but NinjaZone is one of these places! NinjaZone has coaches reinforcing the belief that kids can do hard tasks and sequences, if they put their minds to it. The mastering of these tasks early translates into the ability to take on other hard life skills later in life, leading to real success, intrinsic motivation, and self-confidence creating good students with time management skills, self-control, and leadership skills, who aren’t afraid of hard work, able to defer gratification, and be good team members . These are all skills that will make them great leaders in both school and work, throughout life.

There are only so many sports children can get involved with at age three or four. Soccer? Check . T-ball? Been there, done that. Tumbling? Yawn . What parents really want is something that is FUN and something that will get their kids MOVING. NinjaZone to the rescue. NinjaZone provides a place for kids to move with bodies in cool ways and offers skills they want to learn! The curriculum and the space are both specifically designed for optimal skill development and individual success making NinjaZone not just fun, but rewarding, as well. NinjaZone students learn all sorts of physical skills such as flipping, tumbling, jumping, running, flexibility, and stamina but they also gain a number of valuable social and emotional skills as well. The following skills transcend the gym into everyday school/home/work situations: Listening skills Turn taking and sharing Self-control and learning to focus energy to achieve specific, positive, and useful goals Incremental progress and delayed gratification. Learning a skill little by little making small progress over time until the skill is accomplished. Being part of a team or community; Learning good citizenship Demonstrating pro-social behavior Students enrolled in NinjaZone classes have a forum to do cool things they want to do, while learning the important skills of perseverance, work ethic, and grit. These skills lead to more confidence, greater achievement and higher self-esteem, which then translates into success in school/life. NinjaZone coaches report their students tend to be good in school, good at time management, and leaders in school and later in life, at work. The combination of knowing what they are made of, not being afraid of hard work, deferred gratification being good team members are a recipe for success. So, what are you waiting for ?

Grit, meaning to have courage and resolve, be tenacious, and able to persevere through adversity is not only used to describe the toughest warriors and soldiers but has become the hottest term in child development today. Parents everywhere are trying to figure out how best to ensure their children are filled to the brim with grit. They all want the grittiest kid on the block and are looking to experts everywhere to show them the way. From Scholastic Books to CNN and everywhere in between grit has become the hottest new parenting trend to hit classrooms and sports fields in recent years. The Washington Post even goes so far as to say that grit is the key ingredient to success and happiness in children. But how can parents effectively teach grit? Well, they can’t exactly. Grit is intrinsic and cannot be achieved through traditional methods of a token economy. Working toward a reward, adding stickers to a chart, or getting a prize at the end of the game doesn’t achieve the personal meaning and significance needed to encourage grit. In order to grow strength of character, internal determination, and stamina parents should seek programs and instructors that embrace the following coaching methods. Through these methods children gain confidence, build on successes and failures, thus creating a heartier disposition that can power through difficult situations. 1. Start with a child’s interests . Parents should seek out activities and programs that their child wants to participate in. This seems like a no-brainer, but so often children are pushed into activities that their parents are interested in and not ones that actually interest the child. When a child is naturally interested in pursuing something, their internal motivation to succeed is higher. Piggybacking on these initial feelings of success and motivation can naturally begin to grow into persistence for difficult tasks. 2. Have a plan . In gymnastics, a trained coach, developed curriculum, and prepared environment are precursors to a successful student. Parents should be sure to select a program that is intentional in its curriculum. Having clear end goals and milestones will allow children to see what needs to be done in order to succeed. 3. Communicate goals clearly . It doesn’t simply end at the plan, instructors, teachers, and coaches must be able to clearly articulate what is necessary for success in order for children to succeed. Goals and objectives should be clear up front, with measurement milestones included. Children should be provided with clear instruction, repetitions of small successes, building to bigger goals and achievements. 4. Use rewarding language. Celebrating individual successes in children are important to growing their confidence. Programs should emphasize individual improvement and achieving personal best over the “winning” mentality. Also, instead of handing out generic praise, coaches should be specific, and make it personal to the child. Instead of stating “I really like how you did that!” something more precise, placing the achievement on the child is more beneficial. “You really got your leg up high during that kick. Nice job!” The child gets specific feedback and the focus of the praise less about pleasing someone else and more about achievement. While grit cannot be taught formally, it can be achieved though the right programs and instructors. Parents should talk with their child, attend an introductory class, and talk to other parents, if necessary before selecting a program.

Agility training was once thought to be exclusive to professional athletes, but over the years, those training styles have trickled down.  With the advent of high intensity workouts, CrossFit, etc, the advantages of youth agility training is becoming the forefront of a balanced athlete. In this article, we’ll talk about the top 3 benefits of Youth Agility Training. 1. Injury Prevention Athleticism can be measured in several ways, from strength and flexibility to agility and focus.  At a program like Ninja Zone we aim to provide the most well-rounded athlete as possible.  Agility is often an overlooked quality of today’s youth athletes, but along with flexibility, can be one of the most important factors in injury prevention.  Simply put, agile athletes are less likely to fall and know how to handle their bodies when they do. 2. Improved Multi-Planar Coordination This is basically the nuts and bolts of agility training.  Multi-Planar coordination involves movements that are more than 2 directional.  For example, jogging in a straight line is an example of a single plane exercise while a Ninja Zone Palm Spin is multi-planar.  Improving multi-planar coordination will allow young athletes to have more control over their bodies while either anchored to something like a mat, bar, or beam or if they are in free flight while tumbling or dismounting an apparatus. 3. Cross Sport Benefits No matter if your child aims to be a professional Ninja or a starting wide receiver, agility training is beneficial both inside the Ninja Sport and in other sports like football and baseball.  Most moves that require agility happen in 10 seconds or less , which means there is a tiny window of time when you either have the agility or you don’t.  Catching a football and immediately cutting in to avoid a defender is an example. Final Thoughts Agility is a skill that’s difficult to measure, which is why it is so often overlooked for direct training in youth sports.  It’s much more difficult to measure reaction time and intuition than it is to measure speed and strength, but agility could be the difference between a game winning catch or watching your opponents’ fans rushing the field.

The Ninja Games – a new sporting event geared to young kids and foundational athletics,  has done it. A  well-needed face lift for youth sports competitions. It took a new sport to do it, and Ninja Sport is taking the US by storm, and here’s why… Welcome to the weekend in suburbia… Two working parents, four kids, three different sporting events, two birthday parties, backed up laundry, and 18 other things I’ve already forgotten. Putting kids in sports is like 1/2 the reason we have them, right? Joking… but it’s certainly an important part of childhood.  As parents, we want them have fun, get exercise, learn,  develop life skills, and find their passion. Expecting my seven year old to know if she wants be a collegiate gymnast is about as realistic as my first college major. But the fact is, if our children love it, we’ll do whatever it takes. In the case of my happy-go-lucky 5 year old, she likes anything with other kids involved. This tells me that as a parent, I’m at least able to control the options she’s going to choose from in finding her “thing”.  As parents,  we need other another option. Until my kids are mature enough to really understand risks vs reward of highly competitive sports, I want a sport option that provides a solid a character and athletic foundation for them that doesn’t suck our family dry of every evening, weekend, and penny in our bank accounts. Oh, and if it was entertaining, that would be pretty great too! 1. CROWD INTERACTION This is a FUN time. Families are encouraged to cheer loudly as the Ninjas make their way through their scenes of climbing, flipping, kicking, and strength. The kids faces are priceless as you see them focus on their challenges. 2. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE Lights, music, sideline reporting with elementary school kids is flat-out fun. Watching your child shine is even better. The Ninja Games are run with the intent of being a performance. Putting our sons and daughters on an athletic stage teaches them great things about learning to control nerves, adrenaline, and all those feelings we get as adults when we have to speak in front of a crowd. 3. FAMILY VALUES The Ninja Games take into consideration that there are parents out there who aren’t willing to give up family time to spend days on end at baseball tournaments, or 5 hour stints on bleachers. A limited number of practices and competitions all controlled by the governing body N.S.I. (Ninja Sport International). Oh, and competitions are set to be only 90min in length!

NinjaZone ’s mission is to build the character and athletic foundation of a child through sport. NinjaZone has a Character Pillar that is integral to the curriculum. NinjaZone values a community of good people raising great kids. Strong people. People that believe in teaching their children to work hard, play hard, and make a difference. The NinjaZone curriculum, and Ninja Sport itself, teaches kids what sports should - healthy FUN, work, passion, exercise, social skills, and commitment. But… NinjaZone has had the opportunity by starting fresh to be created  by experts that are real parents with real goals and realistic expectations, and  not coaches or parents driven by themselves or their own child’s successes. Your money is valuable, and being financially responsible is important to you. Your time is even more valuable. Your children are with us for only a short time, and we want you to feel good about the quality of time we’ve provided them. NinjaZone has thought this out and is driven by this educational foundation. The NinjaZone curriculum has 2 pillars – Character and Athletic. The most important, the mental or Educational Pillar, has 6 points. 1. Focused Energy – Energy that is focused equals success. Period. Imagine what you could do with more energy? Our kids have it, and we typically don’t embrace it. The simple education of learning how to use that energy in a productive outlet that it is fun and healthy as a child, and is addictive in a POSITIVE way.  Similar to a runner’s “high”our children learn to crave the endorphins of activity and how it clears our brains to work at a higher level. 2. Confidence – NinjaZone recognizes that kids have unique barriers. We make it our mission to create a challenge that is appropriate to the child and the myriad of progressions  that our sport provides, enables us to do that. Skill progressions are broken down in such manor that each progression is a success! 3. Impulse Control – This applies to boys a bit more than girls, but is SO important in today’s parenting. We teach them to own the control over their actions & their decisions. We teach our young Ninjas that the control over their body is “their ninja power”. Their mind will ALWAYS be more powerful than their body. 4. Creed (Core Values) – We have a 10 point creed that instills self – responsibility, perseverance, mentorship, respect, and discipline. NinjaZone is another voice for strong values. Busy parents need to be able to trust the influences on their children's’ lives, and NinjaZone supports them. 5. Work Ethic – NinjaZone teaches our students that it’s OK to feel a bit ‘taxed. It’s OK if  your arms shake a bit, or you’re a little out of breath. NinjaZone teaches kids to see the value in doing things that aren’t easiest – but you do them because that’s what a real ninja does. Ninjas are good at hard stuff! Ninjas are good at trying new things.  Ninjas find success in working through adversity. 6. Self-Responsibility – NinjaZone knows the importance of making our kids independent. It’s our duty as adults to challenge our children to do tasks they are capable of. Many times it’s easier for US to just to do it ourselves. This teaches our kids nothing. The more capable they are the more opportunities life will present them. We are limiting our children’s growth if we are doing things they can be doing for themselves. Our job as parent’s is to surround our children with welcoming adults that value the same things we do! NinjaZone welcomes you. Click Here to find a NinjaZone Club near you!

As a parent, there’s always that recurring thought: “Am I doing it right?” Well, we all know the answer to that: there is no right and wrong! As kids get older, it becomes increasingly more difficult to try to wrangle them, and the best we can do is hope that the influences in their lives are guiding them in a ‘good’ direction. Everyone has their own idea of what a ‘good’ direction is, but I think that most of us can agree that we want our kids to grow up to be productive members of society, who are also kind and confident. The sad part? Parents can only do so much. We all have that one teacher. The one that, as kids, we thought was put on this Earth to torture us. Yeah, you’re picturing them, aren’t you? In many cases, that one teacher is also the one that had the heaviest influence on us as adults . Mr. Smith may have been a bear in class, but thanks to him, you now understand the importance of a strong handshake. The same goes for coaches. The coaches in our children’s lives are one of the biggest influences that they may ever encounter. Why is this? Think about it. Coach isn’t mom or dad. Coach isn’t brother or sister. Coach is not grading papers. Coach is there to challenge. To encourage. To nurture when necessary, and lay down the gauntlet when there is no other way out. COACH is instilling confidence. COACH is challenging these kids. COACH is a soft place to fall, if it was a bad day. Most importantly, COACH is there to remind our kids that they CAN DO IT. Parents can only do so much. Parents can love their kids through almost anything, but coaches—they’re a special kind human. They not only love kids through it, but they won’t allow kids to beat themselves up, and they are often the first person to high five our kids when they overcome a hurdle. Coaches are instilling grit in our kids, and we owe them one. Next time you see your child’s coach, thank them for what they do. They are a direct extension of the parents. Coaches, parents salute you.

We all want our children to perform at their personal best academically and in this world of constant screens and sedentary lifestyles, being on top of his physical game is a great way to ensure your child is topping his academic potential, too. One would assume that more studying and less time “playing” would help with academics, but the research suggests even if physical activity takes time away from academics, test scores go up. More time spent on physical activity is linked to no adverse effects on academic performance. Physical activity is good for the mind According to the CDC , “Researchers reported that participating in physical activity was positively related to outcomes including academic achievement, academic behaviors, and indicators of cognitive skills and attitudes, such as concentration, memory, self-esteem, and verbal skills.” Many parents would agree their main concerns with school center around grades, behavior, and self-esteem making it exciting to see such that enrollment in high quality physical activities can positively impact these factors. Wait, tell me more… Even though the link between physical activity and greater academic performance is clear, parents may be wondering, ‘why?’ How does physical activity help my child in the classroom? Specifically, it has been shown to have a great impact on cognition and learning. Charles Basch, PhD, explains, “Recent literature reviews on physical activity or physical fitness and cognition have all reached the same conclusion: physical activity (or aspects of physical fitness) favorably affects cognitive functioning.” In other words, getting active will actually help your child learn, help him grasp new concepts, and try new things. Furthermore, your child will perform better than he would have on standardized tests when he is more active. Wow, what else? In addition to cognition and test scores, being active helps improve attendance at school simply because your child will be healthier. Especially among children with asthma, it is shown that children who engage in regular physical activity have less absenteeism at school. Improved cognition, better best scores, and a lower number of sick days can all happen by getting your child more active!