Children Program   Children are our future. Our goal as a martial arts institute is to train children to defend themselves against actual physical attack and to better prepare them to cope with the pressures and problems of growing up. As a result of this training, the martial arts student develops confidence. This means confidence in their ability to defend themselves, confidence in setting realistic goals, and confidence in the decisions they make in order to achieve the goals they have set. Confidence is fundamental in the development of leadership.   In Choi Kwang Do, personal development rather than sports competition is paramount. Living in today's world is highly stressful; society is plagued by a fear of personal violence, amplified in the media. Too often, the available alternatives to stress and peer pressure are negative coping mechanisms such as drug use. Combined, these factors decrease the ability to learn, to be creative and to reach a full potential as a human being. Enrolling in a program such as Choi Kwang Do counters these harmful trends of stress and violence. Participants immediately discover that Choi Kwang Do movement profoundly improves learning, health, and creative stress management. Stress is the root cause of many of the learning problems found in people labeled hyperactive, ADD, ADHD, and emotionally handicapped. In America today, all age groups experience stress. Research at the University of Akron in Ohio has shown that martial arts may be an effective treatment to combat ADD, rather than Ritalin. Over a 10-week period, researchers studying a small group of clinically hyperactive children found that those who took martial arts lessons, for unexplained reasons, learned to control their impulsive behavior better than children of the same age who did not receive training. Choi Kwang Do teaches students to reduce the effects of stress. Strategies found only at Choi Kwang Do include learning to use more exercise, particularly integrated movement requiring balance and coordination that assists nervous system development and function. Physical movement from earliest infancy through adulthood plays a vital role in the creation of nerve cell networks that are the essence of learning. Choi Kwang Do is a highly refined and scientific martial arts form, distinctively different from all classical martial arts in concept and movement. It should not be put into the same category with many of hundreds of substyles of existing martial arts systems.   Leadership training is important in teaching the student to realize his or her own self-worth and unique role within a group. The student learns that leadership must go hand in hand with respect and the ability to cooperate with others. This means respect not only for their senior and fellow students in the Dojang, but also respect for their parents, their teachers, their country, and themselves. The traits of confidence, respect, cooperation, and leadership are developed and reinforced through constant discipline and encouragement from both parents and Instructors.