Martial Arts for kids?

Question

Just wondering at what martial arts are good for kids, if it matters, and what is a good age to start classes?

What's wrong with TaeKwonDo?

Answer 1

I have been teaching martial arts to kids for the past 13 years. As you know a child's level of learning will vary with each individual. Without generalizing too much I would recommend a child start no earlier than 5 years old, maybe 6. It is at this time that they are mastering their fine motor skills. Any earlier and they are still trying to understand balance and coordination. I teach for a company named Young Champions, self defense for children and our age limit was 5 years old. They recently changed it to 4 years old and many of the 4 year olds are nowhere near being ready. They are very unfocused, uncoordinated and disruptive....but cute! However, no knows your child better than you so do some exercises with your child and make an evaluation on how coordinated your child is....be honest. :)

As for which martial arts is better for kids....they are all pretty good. Sorry for these general statements but I'm more of a "gray" person than a "black and white." What is more important in choosing, is finding a systematic discipline where the instructor is organized and consistent. As you know children need consistency and a good instructor, regardless of his art, doesn't jump around without a systematic teaching method. The instructor should also be "kid friendly" and focus more on the kid's attention than the art.

I hope this helped and was not too confusing. Feel free to e-mail me and I will give you more details and clarity. Good luck.

Answer 2

I believe the problems with having children in a martial arts class are generally caused by the instructor trying to appease parents. Watering down the art to make it "safer" or churning out belts to keeps the parents pleased with their child's progress hurts everyone in one way or another. That aside, I believe a child can be taught the same as an adult provided you are patient and capable at dealing with them. Having training partners that the child can realistically work with would be an important point. Training against an adult the child will never get use to a resisting opponent; as the child grows they should always be exposed to larger and stronger opponents to keep their progress up. Children may not have the size and strength necessary to fend off an adult attacker but they would still be better off than a child with no training. Even watered down training will give them a better chance than nothing and so from a self defense perspective I believe children have a lot to gain. Structure and discipline can also be taught in class, but should always be the responsibility of the parents. For minimum age, I can't really say. Assuming they are being trained well they shouldn't be reach black belt until they are close to 10. While this is quite young, if trained well I believe that a kid could be ready for this; besides many here are quick to point out that a black belt is just a indicator that you have the basics down, what's the problem with a child having the basics? Just my opinion. I'm sure I will read over this later and think about it a little differently but there it is.

Answer 3

There is no "best" Martial Art for anyone, only the discipline that the individual person thinks will suit them the most.

What you need to do is see what schools are available in your area and take your child (I am assuming thet you are a parent or legal guardian) to watch the classes to see which one they like the most, then let your child participate in a trial setting of classes (like a week or two) if the school allows it to see if he or she is comfortable with it.

then you'll need to find out the background of the school: like how long the instructor has been teaching, how long the school has been in business, the history of the discipline, what local, national, or world organizations they belong to.

a good Martial arts school will emphasize practice, and working towards perfecting the students techniques, as well as teaching them the origins or history of the discipline they're studying. A good school will also work with the student to earn his or her belt instead of just "give" or "sell" the belt to them just because the school is getting whatever the monthly fees are.

A good age to start is often between 6 to 9 yrs old, this way the child is less distracted by the things going on around them and they can stay focused on what's being taught in class, and he or she will still have time to attain a 1st or 2nd degree blackbelt about the time they are in high school or ready to graduate high school (if the child stays with the class and does well, they'll prob'ly have it within 4 to 5 years).

I'd reccomend any of the traditional forms of Martial Arts for a start or a discipline that sticks closely to the founders original vision of the discipline.

good luck

Answer 4

There is a lot of debate on which martial art is the best from a physcial prospective. However when it comes to children I really do not think it is relevant. A lot of parents want their children to be able to look after themselves. Granted there are going to be martial arts which will be able to physically teach them to do this. However when it comes to children more emphasis should be put on the mental conditioning a martial arts offers rather than it physical qualities. I.e. you could take your child to a centre which will teach your child how to be physically tough, but it results in them becoming a bully, whereas you could take your child to a centre which teaches self discipline and respect and how to defuse a situation without resulting into physical actions. In my view the right balance has to be obtained. Children are very impressionable and you shouldnt base them enrolling in a school purely from which is the best martial art standpoint. You should go to a school, irrelivant to the martial art, and look at their teachings and how the children attending that school behave. Martial arts are becoming more and more popular. A lot of "so called" instructors have jumped on the bandwagon are teaching badly. Parents should vet the schools they intend to take their children to with respect to school reputation, instructor qualifications, class behavior, etc.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Couldn't agree more with the person directly above me.

It's funny now that I train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Judo...you'll frequently hear guys say about their training background "....oh, and yeah I have a black belt in tae kwon do too but you know what that means" and then they roll their eyes.

So while Tae Kwon Do might be good for children, once your kid hits 12, get him the heck out of there and sign him up in something else.

Answer 7

Traditional Martial Arts are good for children.
TKD is perfect for kids, and thats about it. so thats a good start, but I wouldnt suggest they make a lifetime of it, or they risk self delusion.

Answer 8

My son started Judo this year (he is seven) and he loves it.
Judo is mostly wrestling type moves and has no kicking or hitting, also teaches respect and discipline like all martial arts.

The older they are the more they will get out of it and some classes, like karate (at least in my town) have age restricitons (here 8yrs for karate, 5yrs for judo).

Answer 9

VOVINAM - VIET VO DAO
you may not hear about it, this is a very powerful vietnamese martial arts, its very good and not only teach kids to fight but also teach them how to behave as a good man, not just like an aggressive love-fighting bloke. They have different trainnings suite different ages.
It not as popular as Karate or Taekwondo, but if you type Vovinam + "name of your area" you may find out.

Answer 10

All martial arts are good for a childs self esteem and physical conditioning. Start him off in karate or tai kwon do (korean karate) and later when he gets older and wants to learn another style he will have a good base.