Martial Arts for kids

BoardsMember

Hi. Anyone know what martial art would be good to do with my son. He's nearly 5, thought it would be a good thing to do together, and a good discipline for him to learn. Living in Dublin 6 area.

Finian123

BoardsMember wrote: »

Hi. Anyone know what martial art would be good to do with my son. He's nearly 5, thought it would be a good thing to do together, and a good discipline for him to learn. Living in Dublin 6 area.

try sbg ireland.long mile road
bjj
great for discpline and for father-son bonding

truebluesac

jimmys kenpo acadmey is in ballyfermott . great classes there and can cater for both adults and kids . many familes already train there .

Zen65

BoardsMember wrote: »

Living in Dublin 6 area.

Personally I think 5 is a little young to learn a martial art. Kids can find it very hard to concentrate, though there are exceptions.

Scott Langley runs a very good karate club in Ranelagh, you'll see signposts for it on the main street. I suggest you chat to Scott about the suitability of your son to train in that club. My experience with JKS instructors has been good so far, and they do turn out good students.

Best of luck,

Z

Dave Joyce

Best thing for a child that young would be Judo. I started my two lads in Judo at a similiar age and it's stood to them in a great way. Although I come from a completely striking background, I think that striking arts don't work for kids that young. As a matter of interest, how many of the guys that posted suggestions are actually parents??

Zen65

Dave Joyce wrote: »

As a matter of interest, how many of the guys that posted suggestions are actually parents??

I am. I put all my kids to karate from about the age of 7. Their interest has waned now (in their teens) and they continue mainly because I insist (otherwise they would spend all day on internet & XBox). I can see it has helped them with general coordination, and they have thus far passed through the teenage years without that hot-headed rebellious phase, which I partly attribute to their training. They do rebel of course, but in a more calm manner than myself and my own siblings at that age.


Be at peace,

Z

BoardsMember

Thanks for all the responses people. So it would seem that Judo might be the first one to look at. I'll have a look round the local area and see what is going on in the parish hall etc.

yomchi

Dave Joyce wrote: »

I think that striking arts don't work for kids that young.

Curious as to why you think this Dave?

arybvtcw0eolkf

BoardsMember wrote: »

Thanks for all the responses people. So it would seem that Judo might be the first one to look at. I'll have a look round the local area and see what is going on in the parish hall etc.

Dublin clubs, CLICK HERE.

Dave Joyce

Sorry guys, my laptop's been driving me crazy and couldn't get online.

Curious as to why you think this Dave?

Well, in my experience, I've found most parents start their children training primarily as a help to stop them been bullied BUT I've found the kids that are in this position are seriously lacking in confidence so no matter how much punching and kicking their taught, it still leaves them with a big doubt ESPECIALLY when sparring can make this situation worse. Contrast that with kids beginning Judo, who are taught breakfalls almost immediately and get pulled and dragged as part of the "game". I have always found that this toughens up the kids much quicker and in a better way. Hope that makes sense as I'm tired and not really sure what I'm writing

Barry.Oglesby

Good post Dave.

I teach a self defence/martial arts class in schools to primary kids and have been doing so for about 5 years. Actually this is the first academic year I haven't done it. One of the primary concerns for the parents is the anti-bullying issue. If you ask parents what they want, most of them aren't sure, but the more you enquire the answer is usually confidence. They want their kid to not be put in their box by a bully.

First off the notion of a "bully" is a comic one. There usually isn't a kid with a catapult in his back pocket going around stealing lunch money. What has to be kept in mind is that at primary school level in particular, there are two kids involved in any confrontation, both of whom may be grappling with confidence issues. If you resort to striking, what is the best possible outcome? That one of them gets smashed and bloodied? And what does that teach either kid? I don't think that's right.

So I think the best thing in the world is to teach a kid a rough and tumble grappling art. I believe this is especially important for young boys. The whole notion of "maleness" is a topic for another day but I think young boys spend far too much time with women in their formative years (most primary school teachers are women). Without meaning to denegrate the role of women in grappling sports, I think grappling is a good manly pursuit for kids to take part in. Real confidence isn't gained by smashing a bully, real confidence is built through hours and hours of learning new skills and discovering new things that you can do, be that football, tennis, judo or playing chess.

smacl

Good couple of posts there, got me thinking.

I've two girls, 7 and 11, both who do Karate and the elder girl also does a boxing fitness class with me which includes a lot of padwork. While I take Barry's point about martial arts being important for boys, I also think it is very important for girls, particularly if they have no male siblings. A challenging workout is good for any kid, as IMHO they all get cranky without a lot of physical exercise, and always come home buzzing after a hard class. I don't know any child psychology, but challenging physical exercise also seems to leave my kids more mentally relaxed and robust. I suspect this leads them to be less prone to bullying, where the bully tends to pick the easier targets.

I take the point about grappling being more suitable than striking for the younger ones, but couldn't find much available in my area. I rate play fighting as being very good for the kids, and grappling certainly lends itself to this. Oddly enough, my 11 year old loves the boxing class and has no problem cycling a mile in the rain to get to it. Scott Langley's Karate class in Renelagh also gets a big thumbs up from both kids, particularly since the new Japanese instructor (sorry can't remember his name) has started taking the kids class. He works them hard, takes zero BS, and they seem to adore him for it.

If anyone knows of any kids grappling classes in the Rathfarnham / Ballyboden area, please let me know.

TKD SC

BoardsMember wrote: »

Hi. Anyone know what martial art would be good to do with my son. He's nearly 5, thought it would be a good thing to do together, and a good discipline for him to learn. Living in Dublin 6 area.

Hi,
Close to Dublin 6 is: http://www.terenuretkd.com, great kids class from 7-8pm on Mon and Thurs. Not sure what age they start at though, but give a call and discuss. They seem to love the class and a lot parents sit down the back and enjoy watching it too! Good atmosphere and relaxed fun environment!

Re grappling / judo in the area, I live in D6 too and don't know of anywhere nearby...
Maybe try out 1/2 diff clubs before final decision too...

BoardsMember

TKD SC wrote: »

Hi,
Close to Dublin 6 is: http://www.terenuretkd.com, great kids class from 7-8pm on Mon and Thurs. Not sure what age they start at though, but give a call and discuss. They seem to love the class and a lot parents sit down the back and enjoy watching it too! Good atmosphere and relaxed fun environment!

Re grappling / judo in the area, I live in D6 too and don't know of anywhere nearby...
Maybe try out 1/2 diff clubs before final decision too...

Great, thanks

yomchi

Dave Joyce wrote: »

Sorry guys, my laptop's been driving me crazy and couldn't get online.



Well, in my experience, I've found most parents start their children training primarily as a help to stop them been bullied BUT I've found the kids that are in this position are seriously lacking in confidence so no matter how much punching and kicking their taught, it still leaves them with a big doubt ESPECIALLY when sparring can make this situation worse. Contrast that with kids beginning Judo, who are taught breakfalls almost immediately and get pulled and dragged as part of the "game". I have always found that this toughens up the kids much quicker and in a better way. Hope that makes sense as I'm tired and not really sure what I'm writing

I see what you mean and you're coming from a different perspective than I originally thought. My own perspective, I wouldn't be teaching a 5 year old anything within the context of self defence. If the child at 5 is being bullied the parents really need to fix that through the right structures.

For me the most important aspect of training a 5 year old is motor development (coordination/balance and agility). The motor skills developed through striking arts (albeit with a coach who knows a thing or two about kids and sport) are the exact same learned through football, tennis, baseball and other such sports. Therefore it's my own opinion that striking arts are better arts for children to develop motor skill more effectively. Having said that grapple arts would certainly be miles ahead in the development of tactile awareness, equally important of course.