Which Type of Martial Arts Class is Good for a 6year old? What do I look for when choosing one?

Answer 1

Look for a good instructor. Visit schools (with your child). Talk to the instructors & get a feel for their philosophy & temperment. See how the instructors relate to your child. When you meet the right instructor, you will know.

Answer 2

First of all Ma'am, what YOU need to do is research local schools by looking in the phone book or internet search engine to find out if there ARE any Martial Arts schools in your area.

Second, if you can find at least 3 schools that interest you or your child, watch a few classes at each one and decide which one out of those 3 schools that interested you the most.

Third, the next thing you should do is find out if they have some trial classes (up to a weeks worth to help you make a decision, hopefully without being hassled to join or sign a contract to join the class), and if you find that you like the school, then enroll your child in the class.

You just need to find a Martial Arts School that will provide a safe, "family like" environment for you (or your child/children). The discipline DOESN'T MATTER because there is NO discipline that is better than another, because they ALL have their strengths AND weaknesses

What matters is that you (or your child/children) feel comfortable in the classes (and like the classes) and feel comfortable that the instructor and the instructor's TEACHING style (and not the discipline itself) can properly teach you (or your child/children) self defense without the "smoke and mirrors" aspect. The instructor should also like to do it more for the teaching aspect rather than the "making money" which it is a business to make money after all; but it should not be the only reason for teaching the discipline.

The biggest problem you should worry about in finding a school is being aware of schools that're a "McDojo's" or "belt factory" type of school.

These schools usually do a lot of boasting; particularly about how soon their students make their 1st degree black belts. A prime example of this: having several "young black belts" that're usually 9 or 10 yr old kids, which should be a rare thing to see unless the child started learning the discipline when they were 4 yrs old, or promising that as a student you’ll be making your black belt in about a year’s time (the average should be between 4 to 5 years or better) which often means that they have a high student turnout rate. This is a Red Flag

They may also try to get you to commit to (by signing) a contract, usually one that's 6 months long or more or try to get you to pay down a large sum of money for that kind of time period. This is a BIG red flag

And don’t be fooled by these schools telling you about how many tournaments or competitions their students have entered and placed in or won a trophy, which is NOT a necessity in Martial Arts. Tournaments/competitions can be good to test your own skills at point sparring but again, it’s not necessary because they are the LEAST important aspect to concern yourself with in Martial Arts.

Answer 3

a program like Lil Ninja's or Lil Dragons would be a good thing to check out. these programs are run in many martial arts schools, so just call up a few schools in your area and ask if they have this program or click on the link below and find a school near you through their locator.

any good school will let your child try a class for no charge/no obligation. you may want to watch to make sure the teacher in the class is someone you would like teaching your child.

the class times are generally around 30 minutes, which is good for children of that age/attention span. it's high energy, so they leave class actually having spent some of that infinite energy they seem to have. they learn balance, coordination, flexibility, strength, basic blocking punching and kicking, but also learn things like how to listen, how to respect others, how to cooperate with others, how to behave properly, fire safety, home safety, and traffic and weather safety.

they get patches for areas they do well in, so they are also given that sense of accomplishement they love to earn as well.

here's a link for ya...

http://www.lildragons.com/

best of luck!

Answer 4

Watch how the kids play around. What do you notice? They're a natural grappler. They tend to grapples more than striking. Plus have you see kids try to strikes?

My suggest would be calling around at some schools and stuff ask about wrestling club. That way you'll know the wrestling coach work under school dist. So you will have more peace of mind that way. Wrestling club for kids will be good for kids to get in shape and build up good foundation for other styles. I believe it's lot cheaper as well. Also if the kid decide he want to wrestle in high school, he'll be incredible good and can get good scholarship for college. It's probably the best and most economically martial arts you can do in long run.

Or you can try have him/her doing Judo, it's a fun art with lot hands on experience and good foundation for both stand up and ground matrial arts.

Keep in mind last thing you want to do is have your kids stand in rows with instructor yelling out command repeatly. It'll get boring quickly and soon he'll feel like it's more of a chore. Or worse... He'll get curious and wants to test out what he learn in the class and he'll start to do it on playground which isn't a good thing.

Answer 5

My son started taking kung fu at 4 but had to "try-out" to be accepted. The school had a great instructor/student ratio and got as much personalized attention. Sifu has been practicing kung fu for 35 years and is still training under a grandmaster in NYC. Keeps things interesting as you find out that here is a lot of new things to learn.

Answer 6

I started taking Hapkido when I was 5 and earned my Black Belt at 14 years old. Hapkido taught me self discipline, and SO much more. It helps with self esteem and you see the rewards in school and at home because it teaches a child to always give 110%. When looking for a studio go in and see how they interact with the students. Also go to a couple and see which one your child is most comfortable with

Answer 7

I sugest somthing that spicaly is for young children it will be more interesting for him. the school i attend has a Little Ninjas class that is ment for kids 4 to 7

Answer 8

send them away to a wushu academy for about 12 - 15 years.
when they come back theyll make all kinds of cool movies and become famous.
Kids are brats anyways, so let someone else deal with them.

either that or if its alittle boy sign them up for ballet tap dancing and chess. this way my little brother has someone to support his lunch costs when they go to school

Answer 9

I suggest Tai Qwon Do. There are a lot of good stretching techniques in it and that would be good for him. Then after a few more years if he really got interested in something else he would have a good physical foundation to rely on.

Answer 10

tae kwon doe is a good class and so is just regular karate but try 2 find a gym were there is a child class so that he will feel ... welcome i guess u would say. i got into karate when i was 4 and quiting was probly the worst idea i ever did.

Answer 11

aikido is a great style for all ages 6-99
it is not a aggressive art but it is a very effective one