Which martial art should my kid do?

dibs101

Just looking for some general advice and not looking to start a which martial art is best debate or row but would appreciate any general input.

I'm looking to start my son in one if the martial arts on offer in coolmine. They offer wing-tsun-kung-fu, judo, karate and something else I think. I know nothing about martial arts so have no insight into what would suit best.

My son is 6, a talented gaa footballer but lacks confidence and can be quite timid. I would like him to start a martial art for both discipline and confidence reasons to compliment his football and keep him active. I also want him involved in different sports as he grows up.

Anyway in summary, any advice on which of the above martial arts to choose would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone can personally vouch for any of the classes in coolmine I would be delighted if you would pm me.

Thanks for any advice in advance?

Doug Cartel

You should probably check them all out and see which ones he likes and which instructors you feel most confident in, but...

I am a judo guy, so I accept I am probably biased in saying this. Coolmine has one of the best judo clubs in the country. Judo is very hands on, so he would very quickly progress to the stage where he is actually pushing and pulling at someone who is trying to push him back - the other styles might be years before he has to deal with an adversarial situation. Also, it is an Olympic sport that he could compete in if you consider competition important.

Gumbi

I too would recommend a grappling art, Judo or BJJ, for a child.

Peetrik

Gumbi wrote: »

I too would recommend a grappling art, Judo or BJJ, for a child.

I'd agree with this. As someone who does striking myself, kids seem to naturally like grappling more.

As Doug said though, let him try them all and see what he likes best

CIARAN_BOYLE

I do karate myself but would recommend judo or bjj because I fìnd them more fun for a child. Mightnt quite impose the discipline you are hoping for.

dubdamo

The judo club in Coolmine is run by one of the top judoka in the country, Kieran Foley, ex Olympian , highly recommended.

Zen65

dibs101 wrote: »

Anyway in summary, any advice on which of the above martial arts to choose would be greatly appreciated.

I'm in the Shotokan karate corner, but for a six-year-old I recommend Judo.

dibs101

Thanks for all the replies to date lads. I'm gonna go up and get some details on the judo classes in coolmine and contact them. Still have an open mind on the whole thing so would appreciate further inputs and advice. Thanks again for advice all...

arybvtcw0eolkf

Children take to judo & BJJ very quickly, I know when I was a kid I spent most of my time wrestling with my buddies.

When I done my Judo coaching course we had two classes from a local school come in one day for us to practice giving a lesson to beginners ~ I got the primary class.

Basically I started my lesson with 'lads you know how you trip your mates up to put them on their backs in the field' (everyone said YES) 'Well thats Judo'

And as has been stated Coolmine is a great club and has produced many champions.

CWMeloncelli

Personally, I'm a fan of Kenpo for younger kids. It's pretty fun. And I also love to get my older kids into Capoeira.

cowzerp

Judo, BJJ or wrestling, maybe even TKD as many of the skills they learn can be adapted to real fighting when their older easy enough

You could put them into karate and its fun etc, but youth clubs are fun also, that's my take on it

biko

I started out with Judo around that age and loved it.

gonko

Almost any martial art at that age will be of benefit. I would suggest something with competitions too as they get a little older as it will focus their mind and training, and they will get to see the benefit of hard work paying off while having fun.

Plus they will typically learn respect etc.

Mellor

If building confidence for GAA is one of the main issues. Then I'd recomend grappling also. Wrestling or Judo would translate better to GAA than a striking art imo.

Niall Keane

Mellor wrote: »

If building confidence for GAA is one of the main issues. Then I'd recomend grappling also. Wrestling or Judo would translate better to GAA than a striking art imo.

Shaolin!!!!...... no damn, that was soccer! ;-)

Michael O Leary

dibs101 wrote: »

Just looking for some general advice and not looking to start a which martial art is best debate or row but would appreciate any general input.

I'm looking to start my son in one if the martial arts on offer in coolmine. They offer wing-tsun-kung-fu, judo, karate and something else I think. I know nothing about martial arts so have no insight into what would suit best.

My son is 6, a talented gaa footballer but lacks confidence and can be quite timid. I would like him to start a martial art for both discipline and confidence reasons to compliment his football and keep him active. I also want him involved in different sports as he grows up.

Anyway in summary, any advice on which of the above martial arts to choose would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone can personally vouch for any of the classes in coolmine I would be delighted if you would pm me.

Thanks for any advice in advance?

Hi,
I teach the Wing Tsun class in Coolmine. We only take students from 13 years upwards however at some stage in the future we will start a kids class. However I know Kieran Foley who teaches the Judo and he seems to run a great school.

Tom Ward has a successful Karate school and teaches kids also. I think they might be more formal when it comes to discipline whereas the Judo might be more informal.

There is also a Taekwondo class but I know nothing about them.

Finally I think the relationship between discipline and confidence is a bit of a grey area especially in relation to kids and too much imposed discipline can undermine confidence.

Regards,

Michael

dibs101

Michael O Leary wrote: »

Hi,
I teach the Wing Tsun class in Coolmine. We only take students from 13 years upwards however at some stage in the future we will start a kids class. However I know Kieran Foley who teaches the Judo and he seems to run a great school.

Tom Ward has a successful Karate school and teaches kids also. I think they might be more formal when it comes to discipline whereas the Judo might be more informal.

There is also a Taekwondo class but I know nothing about them.

Finally I think the relationship between discipline and confidence is a bit of a grey area especially in relation to kids and too much imposed discipline can undermine confidence.

Regards,

Michael

Hi Michael, thanks for your input. I was in coolmine on Tuesday and had a look around the notice board and saw that the youngst that they take boys seems to be at age 7 and upwards. The judo school there has got great reviews so I suppose that I will prob have to wait until he turns 7 next summer. Do you now off the top of your head why some martial arts would take students earlier than others? I see that there is a taekwondo club that takes them at 5. Is it to do with the grappling nature of judo whereas contact only happens with other martial arts much later?

Thanks again for your input. Want to make an informed decision on this instead of which class is on at the mist convenient time.

Michael O Leary

dibs101 wrote: »

Do you now off the top of your head why some martial arts would take students earlier than others? I see that there is a taekwondo club that takes them at 5. Is it to do with the grappling nature of judo whereas contact only happens with other martial arts much later?

Don't know, sorry. Maybe some of the other posters who teach kids can shed some light on it?

Regards,

Michael

mannequinhands

Probably judo as it is more hands on as he progresses he will be become more confident plus the grappling might have some knock on effect to ducking and diving up a gas pitch

SVJKarate

dibs101 wrote: »

Do you now off the top of your head why some martial arts would take students earlier than others? I see that there is a taekwondo club that takes them at 5. Is it to do with the grappling nature of judo whereas contact only happens with other martial arts much later?

It depends very much on how the instructor organises classes. You can accept kids of any age into your club, but you have to be able to offer age-appropriate training to them or they get bored quickly and leave. If you have a class of kids aged 4-6 you can do exercises, games, some simple drills etc with them, but you cannot teach them to punch and kick in a meaningful way. Maybe 20% of kids that age will manage more difficult MA techniques, but mostly they wont. Grappling techniques are more appropriate to kids that age as there is less chance of an injury and they are more intuitive.

With those classes however you can't easily include kids who are older, as they want more challenging things to do.

SVJ Karate Club will only take kids aged 7 or older, because we don't have enough class time in the week to dedicate to younger students.