My brother has ADHD had we have been sending him to Kudo a type of martial arts, and I have noticed a change in his behaviour, like controlling his anger and concentration has increased too. So I would say these kind of excersises helps.
I highly recommend the martial arts for both children and adults with ADHD. It is a wonderful way to build self esteem and focus. The most important part of the training is to find a school with instructors that are patient with their students. They need to have a mind set that the child with ADHD will learn what they teach but not always at the same pace as others, if they don't, there is no need to embarrass the child in front of other students. I have seen this happen and it completely derailed any of he child's progress.
A good school will teach all the different movements using many of the learning styles and will provide a good workout that gets the brain's attention system going. Some schools even teach meditataion which research has shown has tremendous benefits for the ADHD brain.
There is a defined structure and reward system that provides feedback and presents the child with different color belts and stripes along the way to the highest designations of black belt. They always know what they have to work on and they also know when they are performing the different movements and self defenses correctly. It is a very encouraging and enriching discipline that stays with you and supports the child in a variety of other aspects of their life. It builds character, compassion and camaraderie.
I know it works because I have a black belt in Budokai Karate and taught. I know how it can significantly improve concentration and many other important facets of a person's life. I have witnessed kids' school grades significantly improve as a result of their dedication to martial arts training.
I work in a kindergarten, where the children are divided by sex. I teach the oldest boys, but they are 5 and 6 years old. Part of them, according to all should be ready to get ADHD diagnosis but they need that yet. I saw that they were in great need to play games in which contacts, rivets, punches and were more dependent than in spoken communication. Most often these games considered to be behavioral, but I think if you try to prevent this expansion then it would develop further problems just as in those with Tourette's if they do not get the expansion it will exacerbated the symptoms later.As I leave them to play these games more often then they better learn to set boundaries. They have also increased Somatosensory and it increases their confidence and concentration. They play these games under supervising where I guide them as best I can. As they grow older, it would be highly desirable that they learned martial arts to develop even better this skill so that they can utilize in the future.
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Hi Eileen
In our community they have family classes in martial arts. We were very lucky to find such a class because we could be there with our kids. You are right that what is learned is not violence but how to be disciplined in mind and body. In Taekwondo the forms one learns teaches attentiveness and concentration. Hyperactivity can be focused towards purposeful movement. I have seen many children transform in such a class.
I would highly recommend martial arts for kids with ADHD. We also had great luck with a gymnastics class early on.