Martial Arts for Kids

“My son will turn 5 in Feb. We're thinking he'd enjoy karate, or the like. Can anyone recommend one discipline over the other? The only place in town does Tae Kwon Do, but there are other towns around. I'm sure we could find a place for any of the disciplines.

Thanks.”

“I have had an interest in Ma but never had the time to take classes. TKD is a good style and fairly easy to learn. If I were to take classes I’d prefer Chinese kung fu. Just because it seems to be the most traditional and the most disciplined one.

Hopefully Nowslimmer will check in and give you hands on advice.”

“My instructor has classes in aikijutsu for kids, too.

My instructor has black belts in many of the martial arts, but he feels this one rates high. Each has merit, but this one is great for all-around defense(a good defense includes offense as well). He is a 4th degree black belt and working on a ten year program to the next level.

Here is how he started in aikijutsu. Because of limitations in other arts, he was looking for something that would let him do more. He was talking to an instructor in aikijutsu about it. They stepped on a mat and the instructor told him to take his best shot and hit him in the face. So he threw a hard punch. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back on the mat. Looking up at the instructor, he said, "meet your new student!"

the closest thing to aikijutsu that I know is Compat jujitsu.

For your son I believe just about any martial art be good. There are basic things that will be learned that will be the same anywhere. Once some success has been achieved, then he can branch into other martial arts easily. I suggest trying to locate an instructor who has experience teaching children.

BTW, in my aikijutsu pictures, you see the result of someone throwing a right hook at me. In the third of those pictures, I am positioned to break his arm in a fraction of a second. I only need to swing my right arm forward and strike his arm near the back of his elbow.

Remember, rule one is to avoid a fight, if it is at all possible. Running away is good! Otherwise, the idea of martial arts is to try to end a conflict before it escalates into fight.

Good luck with you boy.”

“Abby (three years old) started taking MA this spring. She got all her colored stripes on her white belt, tested for her yellow belt and got to skip to purple! (The instructor tells us at her level the stripes are just for motivation but thebelt tests are the real deal)
She's taking Tae kwon do at our community center. It's a great program.”

“Thanks for all the info.

What's MA?

The local place seems to be covered up with kids each night. I drive by it on the way home from work.”

“Martial Arts”

“Duhhh, I was just clicking back to this thread hoping to type Martial Arts before anyone noticed what a dope I was. Sorry about that.”

“it's okay. ;)”

“Can I blame it on multi-tasking?”

“Absolutely.”

“My wife and I were both painfully shy as kids. I was very cautious and hesitant and it looks like Reece is the same way. I'm hoping that MA will help with some of that. The other factor is that he's about 5th percentile on growth charts. At hs grad my wife was 5' and 90#'s and I was 5'10 and 125. He's following in our footsteps pretty closely, from the looks of things.”

“Abby's a bit hyper. She's all over the place somedays. We are hoping that Martial Arts will help her learn self control. She really settles down in class and focus'.”

“Reece is the same way, unless it's something he enjoys. Then he can tune out the world. I'm the same way.”

“For kids, I think the quality of the instructors are more important than the discipline. My son did Tae Kwon Do and loved it, when he had a good teacher. When that teacher was promoted and moved to a bigger school, my son's interest tanked until another good teacher came along.

See if the teachers work well with kids and then go with the ones who do.”

“i'm anti TKD...e-mail me for reasons”

“email sent. It's coming from my work account. john@xxxxxx”

“ped's advice sounds good. For this age group it seems like getting the interest is the most important step.”

“dayhiker - Martial Arts may be a good place for you to start. The last paragraph is a list of just some of the Martial Arts that may be available in your area. And I agree with the others. Your prime concern should be the instructor(Sensei) and how well he interacts with the children. If you ask, you should be allowed to observe a class.”

“Thanks for the list.

The local one advertises that the kids can come to the first one free. I thought that was pretty neat. Reece will probably say he wants to go, then the day of, he'll say he doesn't, then he'll try it and go nuts loving it.”

“Suggest you check any local health clubs. My aikijutsu classes are free at my physical fitness club. Only club members are permitted. It may be possible for you to get more for your dollar.

An additional feature at the facility here is the availability of medical help, if needed

1. A large staff with some medical training is always on duty.
2. Many members are doctors and can help in an emergency.
3. The club is affiliated with the hospital and within a block of the hospital and ambulance service.

Also, we have the locker rooms and showers available with free towels, etc., which is something many martial arts facilities do not provide. And, of course, we have all the other facilities of the club abailable.

You might be able to work-out or swim, play basketball or racketaball, while your son is in class. Or, perhaps, you plan to join the class with him.

Good luck.”

“Birch gets to take Abby to class at our city rec center, (I'm at work in the evening). He runs or works out, but is free to watch class if he wants to. The cool thing is if we miss a class Abby can walk-in to another days class or go to all three a week if we want. It's great having the classes at the gym. (And the cost is less too!)”

“This is a small town.”

“didn't get an e-mail..probably got yanked as spam..try again bro”

“I would love for my kids to go back to tae kwon do.

I traveled over an our to find a good TKD studio. Back then it was Shin's in Bellevue, TN.

I think the TKD Studio needs to be world federation in order for your child to compete in the olympics.

Byran got his 2nd stripe black belt in taekwondo when he was 12 years old. He was actually pretty dang good at it, won a couple tournaments and all. I think I spend a fortune on this sport.

All of a sutton he lost interest and I made him go for another year or so. I finally realized that I can't force him because he won't do his best.

Cameron only got to the red belt, 2nd stripe I think. He also kicked some butt. there were some black belts that was scared of tinny little cameron. Like his brother he lost interest.

Dang, I wish they would want to go back. TaeKwonDo is one of my favorite sports.

I think it teached kids responsibility, respect and all the other good stuff.


okay, I'm gonna stop bragging now.”

“OPIE, I've had problems getting email to you before. Just send your comments to the account on my profile, if you don't mind. Thanks.

Thanks for the first hand info Gemini.”