There is a reason why Oprah, Dr Phil, Dr Laura Schlesinger, Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser), Tony Robbins, pediatricians, child physiologists, and educators the world over all have alluded to the fact that Martial Arts is one of the most valuable things you can involve your child in.

Our martial arts journey began for all of the right reasons, which turned out to be wrong.

Typical childhood anxiety can be broken down into 2 parts, experiencing a fear and not feeling okay about oneself. When our kids have a fear of something, we can help that fear be accepted or we can make that fear get suppressed inside and potentially develop into anxiety.

As your children kick off a new school year it’s common for new classroom placements to mix up who they were friends with from the year prior. They might see their friends from last year on the playground but they will most likely formulate new attachments this year with the kids in their new class as well.

Another school year is upon us which means students, parents and teachers transitioning away from summer and facing fresh challenges.

The idea of self esteem can sometimes seem nebulous and is a concept that is easily misunderstood. What is it? How do you measure it? Actually there are many things we can do as parents to cultivate positive self esteem in our children.

We know all too well through social media and stories in the news that bullying continues to be a major issue. Research shows that bullying peaks in the 5th, 6th and 7th grades, but can come about at virtually any time.

As our children become more independent, it's important to help them understand the following phrase, "My safety is more important than their feelings." This means that if they ever feel uncomfortable with someone or someplace, they should leave and find help.

With so many stories of bullying and combative incidents from kids and distraught parents, it is clear bullying is still widely prevalent in our communities today.

Kovar's Martial Arts, a well-known chain of martial arts schools in the Sacramento Valley will be celebrating its 40th year of business in the coming year.