Martial arts, Karate, etc.
 

What is a good age to start kids in martial art or Karate training? My almost 5 year old son is always fighting imaginary foes against his Ninja Turtle action figures. Throwing punches, kicking, wrestling.

I'm thinking of enrolling him in either martial arts or Karate classes. He is bigger than most kids his age, 45" tall and almost 50 lbs.

Take him to visit a dojo. Have him meet the sensei.

Five isn't a bad age if they have other young kids in their dojo or a sensei who is willing to spend time with a younger kid.

I say go for it:

My martial arts instructor (karate) had very specific rules, and they served me well as a developing child, and teenager:

1. Ensure that the Martial Art School you are going to is reputable; you would be surprised how many schools are run by a guy who has seen one too many Bruce Lee films. I cannot give you more specific things to look out for. Basically, do your homework.

2. Ensure that there is adequate supervision. You don't want to put your kid into a class with 200 other 5-year-olds and 4 instructors. Technique and form will prevent serious injury down the road, and I don't have to tell you how bad a groin tear can hurt a kid. Their bones and muscles are growing, and I would recommend someone with a Kinesiology degree in the class.

3. Martial Arts is not about learning how to beat someone up, or how to break a board with your fist; choose an artform (and thus a school) that teaches the full spectrum. By that, I mean discipline, self-awareness, respect for others, meditation, breathing techniques, et cetera.

4. Set clear boundaries with your child; My sensei (teacher) had clear boundaries set up with the kids, AND the parents. He required good grades (he got to see the report cards, and talked to the parents about the effort put forward in school), he required good attendance at class, and most important, he demanded respect for the art! If we turned around and beat someone up on the playground, the school told the parents and the parents told the sensei. Before that happened, we had the opportunity to talk to the sensei and explain what happened. If he thought it was really self-defence, we were fine. If we were trying to help friend out, we were given a strict warning, and we had to think of a way to solve problems without fighting. If we were just causing shit, we were kicked out of class.

You can understand that a little bit of knowledge is a bad thing. I could teach your son how to throw a punch properly, and have him practice that over and over. I could show him the weak points on an opponents body, and how to exploit the natural motion of joints. I could set up obstacle courses, and in doing so train his muscles and balance. What have I created? A child with tools, but no direction.

If I did not teach him how to control his anger, how to talk to people and diffuse a situation, how to use 'just enough force' to get out of a bad situation, about situational awareness and how not to get into bad situations in the first place... Well, I wouldn't be a very good teacher.

Keep these things in mind.

Martials arts is in essence the military - thats is what is was intended for. It is about learning to conform and following rules based on their particular dogma.

My biggest problem with it, is that it teaches that the world is a threat to protect yourself against. Most promotional stuff is a form of fear mongering.

ie Crime statistics therfor you are unsave unless you can protect yourself.

I beleive the world would be better if we saw others as a gift and not as a threat because that is what they are. Therefore martial arts is not going to take us into a better world. We may have more people who have a discipline and more that have made themselves a weapon, but we will not have more compassion.

Your son will be far better off learning art, music, team play, creativity and the wonders of the world. Dance is a great way to learn martial art like skills without the negatives. He needs to see the beauty and the creativity not the fear. The fear is the true threat.

Martial arts can show the beauty of human movement and mental discipline but it exists because of a belief that people need to think of, and protect themselves or others like them. That a weapon helps us.

The world is full of great opportunities for love and understanding.

Compassion iis a far greater skill with far greater benefits for the world and the individual.

We have enough weapons.

I would avoid having them learn any of the more aggressive martial arts. This includes karate.

Judo means "the gentle way" for a reason. You don't kick, punch, jab, slap, or anything of the such. Basically all a 5 year old kid would learn is a little discipline, and how to do some fun rolls on the ground, and maybe learn to take a few falls. I used to work with the little kids at my dojo, and it was always a blast, both for them, and me.

You mentioned his hieght and weight. You realize he wouldn't actually be learning to defend himself at that age, right? Otherwise the last 3 posts were all very good. If it was my kid though, I wouldn't risk making him more aggressive, unless the instructor was a really good person. They are very hard to find though.

Just a little nit pick, sensei is a japanese title, not a martial art's one. So martial arts besides japanese in origin would not call the instructor sensei.

First off: Tachion, I love you for who you are and for saying that. The world needs more people like you in decision-making roles;

Second: Please appreciate the humour I find in your post, my being in the military and all. I think that Martial Arts is a positive, and in no way advocating violence. As my post above noted, the need to select the very best teacher will be rewarded with a meeting between people like you and me;

Third: I fear that you may advocate the Ghandi martial art, and if so, I will have to peacefully (and politely) disagree.

Fourth: Please read the First line again.

I think 5 is right at the edge of where any martial arts training should begin. I began karate with my oldest, who was 7 at the time, he's now 9. My youngest has just started, and is 6. He can be pretty distracted in class There are many 5 and 6 year olds in class, and our teacher is quite good with them. He expects them to be kids, and is quite patient with them. Every child has a different maturity.

You may want to observe several different schools before you start at any particular one. A good school will not teach fear, agression or other self-destructive lessons.
A good school will not mind making an arrangement for you to observe, beware of ones that won't.

Karare should teach one to understand violence, and to avoid it whenever possible, not to meet it head on. Learning this should ultimately help one to learn to control their own actions, and prevent them from needing to use violence.

BigBen, well said !

Wheelbuilder

My 5 year old, despite being in 95%tile in both height and weight, is the gentler, calmer of two, compared to my 3 year old (turn 3 at end of April). First couple weeks at the homecare, he was pretty much by himself, when picked on by other kids, bigger or smaller, he'd just go to the corner and sob.

I don't necessarily want him to learn how to "defend" himself, for god's sake, he is just five, what enemies can he have besides his Ninja Turtles? He will start kindergarten this fall. Asian population is just 2% where we live in Central Indy, so he is going to stand out like a sore thumb. Not saying it will, but it may happen that other kids pick on him just because he looks different.

I'm happy to say that he interacts very well with other kids at the homecare now. He has a couple of buddies although they are either in kindergarten or elementary already.

Of the two schools we have in mind, the Martial Arts school has two of its Senseis inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame. The Karate school was feature numerous times in local papers for its youth programs. Both place strong emphasis on self discipline, respect to other as well as mental and physical growth.

I had practiced Wing-Chun when I was about 6 or 7, though very briefly because my family had to move. I was too into sports later and never went back to the martial arts.

I wouldn't worry about my five year old being agressive or has anger problem. We have witnessed many, many times out at parks, malls, or just playgrounds at McD's, he tolerates being pushed around much better than some of the other kids.

He loves his digital drums and computer games - all educational. We don't have game consoles like XBox or Playstaion 2 at home. His favorite DVD is Animusic 2 although he loves the Ninja Turtles series, too. My wife and I both play several musical instruments, not experts, though. So, introduction to music is to come soon.

I just think that with the right instructors and good guidance, we can help him grow, in terms of self being, mental and physical toughness. We try not to think about it, but it's not exactly a friendly world out there! Sometime even when you are just a kid.

I have been 'involved' with martial arts - it is in my life virtually every day.

Not all of the martial arts - that is true.

I have respect for martial artists as they are disciplined, are in great shape and act very professionally. The same goes for soldiers as well.

My experience is that they, however, are a group that sees the world as a threat and find it hard to understand a compassionate approach to people.

I also place creativity very high on the list for a child and martial arts are low in that area. Everything is creative -I know - but the martial arts is about following someone elses drum. Bruce Lee perhaps was one of the few who broke free of that.

Ghandi took over a country and didn't have to break a single board!

I'm not to sure I am in on the spinning thread thing though....

I would have to say that your experience is very true. I find compassion in the people who are stuck in a war-torn country with nowhere to go and noone but the peacekeeper to help. The people for tearing the country apart, on the other hand; I find it hard to understand a compassionate approach.

I guess this is getting off topic here - perhaps you can start a new thread so your theories can be discussed.

I, for now, am supposing the reason the country is war torn is because someone felt power was a means to accomplish a task. I doubt compassion was one of his attributes.. Had that person been taught as a child to appreciate and respect others I doubt the problem would exist.
Bit of a catch-22, but Ghandi showed it can be broken. One thing for sure we will never get out of it if we do not whittle away at seeing threats instead of respect for the people. Children are a good place to start.

I may be wrong, but I think history has shown making more weapons has not worked. Martial arts is unlikely the solution to a world with less fear.

wtf are you talking about?

I don't know what kind of martial arts you've studied, but a large portion of them are not the fear-mongering weapon-making people you seem to be talking about here. Most of the true martial arts are about being at peace, knowing yourself, having respect for yourself and others, and discipline. Learning how to throw a punch is secondary. Sure, there are plenty that are all about learning how to fight, learning how to kick ass, but those are much fewer and farther between. Generalizing all martial arts as you have is just that, generalizing. Why do you think that all martial arts are about instilling fear and creating human weapons bent on kicking any ass they can? It makes no sense to me.

Somehow you're comparing the current, modern trend of Western cultural fear-mongering with the true values held in most martial arts disciplines... disciplines that have been around for a very, very long time, and do not revolve around propaganda to "scare" people.

I really don't understand the comparison to the military, either. The military trains human weapons to kill- just because they both are strictly disciplined and involve punching, does not make them anything alike. I kinda find this comparison offensive, to tell the truth.

As with anything, there are people who use tools for good and evil.

I took karate as a child for many years. It was a great confidence-booster (not because I felt i could kick ass, but because I was proud of my hard work) for a shy kid like I was- and for my brother, it really helped calm him and ground him (he was a very hyper kid) because of the discipline and exercise.