BlackCat

That seems really fast to be getting his next belt considering you go once a week. At my son's dojo he got his white belt pretty fast but they have a minimum requirement of classes you must attend before you even get pre-tested. He had to go to 23 classes just to be able to pre-test to green. Only if they think you're ready will you test. He's a green belt now and the requirement for pre-testing is 30-40 classes. It's getting harder as he progresses I like it this way because I want him to learn MA and not coast through the belts not knowing what he's doing. They also have set days that they do things like on Tuesdays and Wednesdays it's self-defense or the one-step. On Fridays it's sparring and on Saturdays it's Katas. They're very organized which I like. My son is in what's called "The Black Belt Club", where basically it cost me more money monthly but he can go up to 4 times per week plus I never have to pay for his testing. Even when he tests for black belt. One of the masters told me that it can run a couple of thousand to test for black belt. Do you think your son is learning anything there and deserves to move up? I would probably look around at other schools just to see how they run them and compare them to the school he attends now.

I would definitely look into another school. My son is 6 and has been doing karate for 2 years. They have about 10 minutes of warmups. His classes are 45 minutes but he goes 3 or 4 times a week. Good luck!

I kind of like the idea. I wish they would give out the kata moves on paper. When my son was an orange belt he had to learn two katas. One he was doing right and the 2nd one he was practicing it with a couple of mistakes. I had no idea he wasn't doing it right since I don't know all the moves. It took him a while to do it the right way after practicing it wrong for a while.

Thanks everyone! He spars tonight so I'll see how it goes.

I agree with you and I'm not to happy about him sparring so young but it's the way the school is run. They need to spar at orange and green but they get tested in sparring at green to move up. He started at 4. That's all I do is encourage him. I'm not one of those crazy karate mothers who think their child should move up the ranks fast. As a matter of fact I had a talk with his master when I knew he would be testing for green and questioned whether he was ready. They assured me he was but personally I'd rather him move at a slower pace and be able to take in what he's learning. But that being said he does seem to absorb what he's being taught and still remembers his 4 katas and all the one steps. I know his school will not move you up unless they know you're ready but that doesn't make me feel much better. It's just hard for me as a mother to see him get in there and spar so I try and spar with him a few times a week to learn about blocking.

Thanks! I'll try the push ups. One of his instuctors told me when he drops his hands when we're sparring to hit him off the top of his head. I'm not sure if I agree with that one though.

Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to teach my son to keep his hands up when sparring? He seems to be doing pretty good at sparring but when he goes to kick his hands drop. I'm a little neurotic about the whole sparring thing anyway. Since he became a green belt there's not to many kids his size and age (6 1/2), so he's sparring with kids much bigger than him. This isn't a problem for him as much as it is for me because I don't want him to get hurt. They wear full equipment but still... I have to say that I'm very proud of him. He's gained so much courage and confidence and has no problem getting in there and sparring but as for me watching him well that's a whole different thing! Lately I'm working on him blocking more than hitting since he doesn't have much kicking or punching power yet. But when he does go to kick for some reason his hands drop and he gets hit. Any ideas on how to help him? Thanks.

Oh no! Well watch out, I've got a pair of styrofoam Kamas I can use! I better get out of this white belt status fast.

Thanks for the welcome! Here's a little more information about his school. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/2/prweb340231.htm He recently attended a kamas seminar and enjoyed that alot.

I decided to join this site since it looks so informative. My son is almost 7 and he's studying US Black Cat Kenpo Karate. I haven't seen it mentioned here. Is anyone familiar with it? His school was recently named Karate School of the Year. He just received his full green belt and is doing very well. He LOVES karate and even though he's very young he hopes to be a Sensei someday. Looking forward to learning alot here. Giannamaria