It's a rare feat to find a group of children this quiet, but the group held the silence for seconds before the instructor called out. 

"Kick!" he shouted.

"Kick" a dozen younger, louder voices cry back at him. 

In a mesmerising display of coordination, the children all complete their routine, the display of a rise in popularity of martial arts in Orange and the country. 

High Impact Gym's Renshi Anthony Wharton said it was a noticeable trend for all ages, but especially for young children.

Classes for those aged between three and four are becoming increasingly popular. 

"We've been running under-5s classes for a bit over five years, but the emphasis from those under-5s is to develop structure," Mr Wharton explained. 

He said there were various reasons parents signed their children up for martial arts. 

"People join for a lot of reasons," he said.

"The kids sign up and keep doing it because they enjoy it, they want to have fun and for the parents it a lot of other factors."

Mr Wharton said self-confidence, discipline and social interaction were big factors, especially for younger children.  

"Often the only interaction some of these kids have had is with their mum and dad, immediate family, or with people at daycare and they might not have needed to follow directions." 

"They like being a part of it.

"There is some physical development but more on structure and cognitive development. It's very basic martial arts, with a few kicks and punches but focusing more on balance." 

He also said more girls than boys were joining the younger age groups, a trend which has picked up in the past few years. 

Rachael Thurn's two children Soren and Evie, aged eight and six, started martial arts 12 months ago.

"It was mostly for fitness, Soren needs a bit more confidence and I've found it's brought him out of his shell a bit and Evie wanted to join in after seeing Soren join class," she said, adding her third child Toby has also joined. 

"He does mini ninjas because he's seen his siblings do it and he loves it," she said. 

She said there was no concern about the violent perception which used to hang around martial arts and said the training had been good for them. 

"They know when they're in uniform that's when they're in karate mode and ninja mode," Mrs Thurn said.

"If it did come to it they would know how to defend themselves if anyone tried to cause them harm."