Will enrolling my 5yo son in Taekwondo help him to harness his excess energy?

I believe it will. My wife and I enrolled our son when he was 5 (bordering on 6) in Tae Kwan Do. It taught him discipline, to say "Yes Sir", to follow orders, to be a part of an organized group, and to set goals (get from the white belt to the yellow belt to the orange belt to the purple belt, etc). Those things did not take away his energy, but it has taught him to focus and to have self control. Try it out for a period of time, you may be surprised. We've loved what Tae Kwan Do has done for our son (now a few months away from 7 yrs old and having just gotten to a purple belt).

Taekwondo, in watching my 4 and 7 year old cousins go through it, does not really expend energy like a traditional sport. It does however teach calming techniques and how to channel that energy. It also teaches disipline and many dojo's require that students maintain certain grade requirements. My 7 year old cousin even has a contract with his dojo that limits how much time he can watch tv.

Both love it and I'm thinking of sending my 7 year old son as well. Best thing to do, just go into a dojo and talk to the parents who are waiting with thier kids.

On a side note, Taekwondo can get rather expensive, but so can soccer and such.

If he enrolls in taekwondo he should learn good self-discipline along with a good understanding of defensive move, taekwondo is good because it focuses more on self defensive than aggression. It should also help him to find some friends in which he can play with and burn off some of that energy, besides that I would say make sure he stays away from anything with sugar or caffine, get him to drink more water. And if anyone tells you he has adhd and thats why hes hyper jsut let him be a kid dont med him out :)

Taekwondo when I was a kid was the best thing for me. It depends on the kid actually. I needed discipline and a way to let excess energy off and this was perfect. Not only did we learn a martial art but we also had sleep overs and parties where we watched an exhibition of someone performing their belt's test form. I think he would have fun, but not knowing your kid I can't really answer this question for you :)

Yes it will help, but it'll take some time to see a difference.

My 7 year old son (who is a blue belt) has been in it over a year now. He's more confident, more responsible, gets better grades, and is more polite. If your son likes it and sticks with it, I think you'll be happy with all the benefits of taekwondo.

There are many benefits, but keep in mind it can get expensive--uniforms, sparring gear, tournament fees, class fees, ATA fee, testing fees, weapons, extra TDKO activities...We also had to sign a contract with our school. I'm finding it to be beneficial for my son, but I feel like it's very demanding for the family--we have fund-raising events to participate in, TKDO class 3 times a week, Black Belt Club once a week, every 2 weeks they have fight nights (for sparring), every so often they put on demonstrations, and then there's tournaments every so often. If your son is in soccer and ball TKDO could end up being too much for him right now.

Good luck on your decision!

Oh yeah, martial arts always focuses a kid. But it's mostly due to the strenuousness of the excercises (team sports at kid levels are tame).

It might help him. I'd try taking him to the local park in the afternoon. Don't drive the car walk. By the time he's finished playing he'll be more relaxed.

It'll definately help, if not at first, in the long run. The discipline will also help him a lot.

Yes, all those fighting techniks have a lot to do with self control of our basic instict.And they teach us how to control that energy that we poses.

All normal 5 year olds go non-stop!Any way to keep him physically active is good.