Martial Arts for a 5 year old and her father. - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Apex Shok · 09-25-2003, 11:49 AM

Ok.... My wife and I have decided to get our daughter into Martial arts. I have decided that I will do the same.

My question is there are many programs in our area. But what is the best for her? I really just want to do so I get out and move. Playing witht he dog is about as much activity as I get.

We got Karate, Ty-kwan-do, and Kung Fu. All within about 5 miles of us. If we really wanted we got some Akido and some others I have never heard of. Muy Tie? and Jujitsu ( wasn't this the stuff they taught ninja's?) And then some thing called BJJ. These are over the river in Portland. I just looked these up in the phone book. I plan on visiting before I make a commitment I just wnat o cut down on the going to many diffrent types.

Remeber this is mostly for a 5 year old. I'm just along for the ride.

Chytrak · 09-25-2003, 03:39 PM

Hello Apex! Good to see someone showing interest in the martial arts. Before you sign your daughter or yourself up for anything, try out a class or two. Most martial arts studios will let you try a class to see if you like it. The best way to choose a school is to look at what you want to get out of the class. Most people have physical fitness in mind when they are looking for a martial art. A good martial arts school will offer more than just physical training, i.e. disipline, ect. One thing to watch out for is the student to instructor ratio. If you have one instructor teaching 20 people, it's tough to ask questions or get corrected on techniques.
As for the martial arts you listed: Tae Kwon Do is the most common of them all. A lot of people will join Tae Kwon Do because it's what they always hear of when someone talks about martial arts. Akido is a strictly defensive art that focuses on leverage to defeat an opponent. As for the martial art that they taught ninjas, that is ninjitsu. Jujitsu is different, although I am not very familiar with it. Muay Thai is Thai boxing. That's a bit more hardcore. They use their shins and elbows a lot in combat, so you spend a lot of time beating on your shins to condition them so it doesn't hurt when you strike with them. May not be something your 5 year old would enjoy!

If by Portland, you mean Portland, OR there's a school there that teaches the same martial art I am practicing now. It's called Hwa Rang Do. It's a Korean martial art dating back 1800 years. Very rich tradition and a very complete system. If you would like to look at the school before you go in, here's the website address:

http://www.hwarangdo-pdx.com/

I would encourage you to at least go to the Hwa Rang Do school and watch a class. You would most likely start out in a Tae Soo Do class, which is a bit different than Hwa Rang Do. It's geared for beginners without much prior martial arts experience. Think of it as the undergraduate program to Hwa Rang Do. If you have further questions about Hwa Rang Do, feel free to ask here, or you can also Private Message me if you wish. Good luck in your search!

noodles · 09-25-2003, 06:49 PM

i've been doing martial arts for 12+ years, teaching for 1/3 of that, little kids included. this is what i think.

Quote:

Remeber this is mostly for a 5 year old. I'm just along for the ride.

since its mostly for a small child, i'd suggest tae kwon do (or possibly a form of karate, depends on the school really). most tkd schools have a tendancy to be similar (most have a membership to an organization that trains them in marketing and how to do other things along those lines) so i can relatively safely say that they will do the best job with a small child. tkd is simple. it also does a good job keeping kids occupied, moving, and motovated. if you or your child ever get really serious in martial arts, you might want to consider branching elsewhere. but until then, tkd is a fine solution for you both, given the circumstances. (and i'm <i>sure</i> there's a tkd school somewhere in your area. i call them mcdojos)

yournamehere · 09-26-2003, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by noodles
(and i'm <i>sure</i> there's a tkd school somewhere in your area. i call them mcdojos)

TKD is a Korean martial art; wouldn't it be "McDojangs"?

/Translation Police

Apex Shok · 09-26-2003, 09:48 AM

Cool thanks guys!!! Yeah after I posted here I got some free time at work and started looking up some styles on the net. Yeah the Muy Tie and the Brazillian Ju-Jit-su. Um... Should I say, may be a little hard core. Maybe if I were training her to become a hit woman.

I was talking with my wife last night and she said that she was really into the Akido ideas of defense only. (She is a little worried that our girl will become a little bully. )

But I am going to check out the Hwa Rang Do next week and the tae kwon do will come later next week as well.
Thanks again for all the input.

eagle1 · 09-26-2003, 03:46 PM

We decided to start our son (8 at the time) and daughter (6) into martial arts three years ago. THe dojo that we went practiced Sho-Rin-Ryu, a type of karate. The nice things about this particular dojo is that:

1) The sensei was a female. This helped my daughter become more comfortable.
2) Our sensei taught a whole range of things. Mostly karate, a little judo, and a little ju-jit-su. Self defense from unarmed opponents and gun and knife welding opponents.

It was incredible what this class did to my daughter. Before she would start crying when my son would just look at her funny. Now she could pretty much handle him with no problem. The increase in confidence in her was incredible. She's not bully or anything like that, but she doesn't go whimpering away when something comes up.

After a couple of months sitting at the dojo watching them, I decided to join the class. It was the only exercise I got becides walking up and down the stairs at the office.

We had to stop going because of time constraints, but I still go out in the backyard and to my katas just to relax and keep them in my mind.

Chytrak · 09-27-2003, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by noodles
tkd is simple. it also does a good job keeping kids occupied, moving, and motovated. if you or your child ever get really serious in martial arts, you might want to consider branching elsewhere.

I would agree that TKD is simple and it won't frustrate your daughter because of the difficulty. I have seen a few of the "Little Dragons" classes at my dojang and they simplify the program a bit for them for the same reasons that TKD does. Our supreme grandmaster says: "You can teach a monkey to kick and punch, but it's the spiritual and mental training that sets us apart."
I understand that when you are 5 years old, you don't really understand spirituality or the more advanced teachings, but what you do learn is disipline and respect for elders. That is one of the biggest things that the master for the Midwest schools stresses. He has the parents fill out a report as to how the child is doing at home and if they are not following the rules for home, then he may not promote them to the next belt level until things at home improve. Not sure if TKD schools do that, but I know the Hwa Rang Do schools around here do, and it definately makes a difference in the kids' attitudes.
Let me know what you thought of the Hwa Rang Do class after you see it. I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts are. Good luck!

GakFace · 09-29-2003, 01:17 AM

You have no clue how much I missed going to Tae Kwon Do. Its a part of me that is just a void right now. I'm without a job right now, and thus I cannot afford it. I simply cannot express my love for it. Where do you live? I'm in Fort Wayne, IN.. and here we have some school, and THEN we have Shark Academy. I'm pretty sure he's still only Local. But if you're in my area, I HIGHLY recommend it. That school teaches everything.. Tae Kwon Do, Kick Boxing, I think now Karate, hapkido, Aikido, Tai Chi... everything he learns he encorporates into the school. Whenever I'd mention his name, if people heard of him, I've only gotton good responses. Heck I've had someone bad mouth me about me taking TKD.. once I said my Instructors name, he apologized. (Startin' to figure out why I miss it so much?)

Well, I need sleep, more on this later.
--Gak

noodles · 09-29-2003, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by yournamehere
TKD is a Korean martial art; wouldn't it be "McDojangs"?

/Translation Police

quite
i've never taken tkd myself; i forgot what they called the thing.
but in my defence, i know lots of tkd schools that have a sign outside for karate instead. (i even saw one calling tkd "super karate" and i laughed my ass off)

GakFace · 09-29-2003, 04:44 PM

Dojangs sounds very familiar, you are correct

rogue49 · 09-29-2003, 07:52 PM

I personally think she might enjoy Kung-fu,
it's stylings are much like dancing and tend to be defensive.
It's a more symbolic & flowing Martial Art, one that a little girl might take to,
and still be practical over the long term.

Aikido takes lots of disipline, Thai Boxing is too hardcore
Tae-Kwon-Do might be too agressive, as with pure Karate. (these are considered "hard" styles)
Kenpo might be nice as it mixes in Kung-fu (BTW, I used to teach this & I'm about to start it again)
And Judo is very practical but might not be for a 5 yr old.

I would suggest Jiu-jitsu, Kung-fu, or Kenpo. (these incorporate more "soft" styles)
Those styles are not too agressive and are easily learned.
And the movements within would be interesting to a little girl.
And god-knows keeping the interest of them is difficult.

dragonhawk · 10-03-2003, 12:49 PM

Watch out for the TKD places that are more "Buy-A-Belt" than actual teaching. More not if your kids learn, but how much money you want to spend.

Our local one has really drifted toward that latley. My daughter (10) tests for her recomended Black Belt next week, or we would have bailed and found another place.

cowlick · 10-07-2003, 07:34 AM

You should decide what your goals are in this martial arts program.
* If your goal is to let your little girl have a fun time and move around a bit, then tae-kwon-do.
* If your goal is to learn self defense, find an karate or kung-fu school where it looks like the students in the class are really fighting.
* If your goal is meet other people, join the school with the nicest people.

Overall, the best advice is to visit a bunch of schools, watch classes, talk to the instructors, and make the choice that is right for you.

09-25-2003, 11:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
Apex Shok Tilted Location: Vancouver, Washington	Martial Arts for a 5 year old and her father. Ok.... My wife and I have decided to get our daughter into Martial arts. I have decided that I will do the same. My question is there are many programs in our area. But what is the best for her? I really just want to do so I get out and move. Playing witht he dog is about as much activity as I get. We got Karate, Ty-kwan-do, and Kung Fu. All within about 5 miles of us. If we really wanted we got some Akido and some others I have never heard of. Muy Tie? and Jujitsu ( wasn't this the stuff they taught ninja's?) And then some thing called BJJ. These are over the river in Portland. I just looked these up in the phone book. I plan on visiting before I make a commitment I just wnat o cut down on the going to many diffrent types. Remeber this is mostly for a 5 year old. I'm just along for the ride. __________________ Generic Suburban Dad Last edited by Apex Shok; 09-25-2003 at 12:09 PM..

09-26-2003, 09:48 AM	#5 (permalink)
Apex Shok Tilted Location: Vancouver, Washington	Cool thanks guys!!! Yeah after I posted here I got some free time at work and started looking up some styles on the net. Yeah the Muy Tie and the Brazillian Ju-Jit-su. Um... Should I say, may be a little hard core. Maybe if I were training her to become a hit woman. I was talking with my wife last night and she said that she was really into the Akido ideas of defense only. (She is a little worried that our girl will become a little bully. ) But I am going to check out the Hwa Rang Do next week and the tae kwon do will come later next week as well. Thanks again for all the input. __________________ Generic Suburban Dad

09-26-2003, 03:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
eagle1 Insane Location: Foothills of the Cascade Mtns.	We decided to start our son (8 at the time) and daughter (6) into martial arts three years ago. THe dojo that we went practiced Sho-Rin-Ryu, a type of karate. The nice things about this particular dojo is that: 1) The sensei was a female. This helped my daughter become more comfortable. 2) Our sensei taught a whole range of things. Mostly karate, a little judo, and a little ju-jit-su. Self defense from unarmed opponents and gun and knife welding opponents. It was incredible what this class did to my daughter. Before she would start crying when my son would just look at her funny. Now she could pretty much handle him with no problem. The increase in confidence in her was incredible. She's not bully or anything like that, but she doesn't go whimpering away when something comes up. After a couple of months sitting at the dojo watching them, I decided to join the class. It was the only exercise I got becides walking up and down the stairs at the office. We had to stop going because of time constraints, but I still go out in the backyard and to my katas just to relax and keep them in my mind. __________________ "My wife is a sex object. Everytime I ask for sex, she objects."

09-29-2003, 01:17 AM	#8 (permalink)
GakFace Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go!! Location: IN, USA	You have no clue how much I missed going to Tae Kwon Do. Its a part of me that is just a void right now. I'm without a job right now, and thus I cannot afford it. I simply cannot express my love for it. Where do you live? I'm in Fort Wayne, IN.. and here we have some school, and THEN we have Shark Academy. I'm pretty sure he's still only Local. But if you're in my area, I HIGHLY recommend it. That school teaches everything.. Tae Kwon Do, Kick Boxing, I think now Karate, hapkido, Aikido, Tai Chi... everything he learns he encorporates into the school. Whenever I'd mention his name, if people heard of him, I've only gotton good responses. Heck I've had someone bad mouth me about me taking TKD.. once I said my Instructors name, he apologized. (Startin' to figure out why I miss it so much?) Well, I need sleep, more on this later. --Gak __________________ RoboBlaster: Welcome to the club! Not that I'm in the club. And there really isn'a a club in the first place. But if there was a club and if I was in it, I would definitely welcome you to it.

09-29-2003, 04:44 PM	#10 (permalink)
GakFace Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go!! Location: IN, USA	Dojangs sounds very familiar, you are correct __________________ RoboBlaster: Welcome to the club! Not that I'm in the club. And there really isn'a a club in the first place. But if there was a club and if I was in it, I would definitely welcome you to it.

09-25-2003, 03:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
Chytrak Crazy Location: Madison, WI	Hello Apex! Good to see someone showing interest in the martial arts. Before you sign your daughter or yourself up for anything, try out a class or two. Most martial arts studios will let you try a class to see if you like it. The best way to choose a school is to look at what you want to get out of the class. Most people have physical fitness in mind when they are looking for a martial art. A good martial arts school will offer more than just physical training, i.e. disipline, ect. One thing to watch out for is the student to instructor ratio. If you have one instructor teaching 20 people, it's tough to ask questions or get corrected on techniques. As for the martial arts you listed: Tae Kwon Do is the most common of them all. A lot of people will join Tae Kwon Do because it's what they always hear of when someone talks about martial arts. Akido is a strictly defensive art that focuses on leverage to defeat an opponent. As for the martial art that they taught ninjas, that is ninjitsu. Jujitsu is different, although I am not very familiar with it. Muay Thai is Thai boxing. That's a bit more hardcore. They use their shins and elbows a lot in combat, so you spend a lot of time beating on your shins to condition them so it doesn't hurt when you strike with them. May not be something your 5 year old would enjoy! If by Portland, you mean Portland, OR there's a school there that teaches the same martial art I am practicing now. It's called Hwa Rang Do. It's a Korean martial art dating back 1800 years. Very rich tradition and a very complete system. If you would like to look at the school before you go in, here's the website address: http://www.hwarangdo-pdx.com/ I would encourage you to at least go to the Hwa Rang Do school and watch a class. You would most likely start out in a Tae Soo Do class, which is a bit different than Hwa Rang Do. It's geared for beginners without much prior martial arts experience. Think of it as the undergraduate program to Hwa Rang Do. If you have further questions about Hwa Rang Do, feel free to ask here, or you can also Private Message me if you wish. Good luck in your search!

09-29-2003, 07:52 PM	#11 (permalink)
rogue49 Loser	I personally think she might enjoy Kung-fu, it's stylings are much like dancing and tend to be defensive. It's a more symbolic & flowing Martial Art, one that a little girl might take to, and still be practical over the long term. Aikido takes lots of disipline, Thai Boxing is too hardcore Tae-Kwon-Do might be too agressive, as with pure Karate. (these are considered "hard" styles) Kenpo might be nice as it mixes in Kung-fu (BTW, I used to teach this & I'm about to start it again) And Judo is very practical but might not be for a 5 yr old. I would suggest Jiu-jitsu, Kung-fu, or Kenpo. (these incorporate more "soft" styles) Those styles are not too agressive and are easily learned. And the movements within would be interesting to a little girl. And god-knows keeping the interest of them is difficult. Last edited by rogue49; 09-29-2003 at 07:57 PM..

10-03-2003, 12:49 PM	#12 (permalink)
dragonhawk Psycho Location: In Games.	Watch out for the TKD places that are more "Buy-A-Belt" than actual teaching. More not if your kids learn, but how much money you want to spend. Our local one has really drifted toward that latley. My daughter (10) tests for her recomended Black Belt next week, or we would have bailed and found another place. __________________ ---------------------------------------------- "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

10-07-2003, 07:34 AM	#13 (permalink)
cowlick Insane Location: Seattle	You should decide what your goals are in this martial arts program. * If your goal is to let your little girl have a fun time and move around a bit, then tae-kwon-do. * If your goal is to learn self defense, find an karate or kung-fu school where it looks like the students in the class are really fighting. * If your goal is meet other people, join the school with the nicest people. Overall, the best advice is to visit a bunch of schools, watch classes, talk to the instructors, and make the choice that is right for you. __________________ "It's a long story," says I, and let him up.