Age you let students begin...

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

This is just a general question, im wondering because i have had my share of talks with parents about how young is too young to start. so instructors, school owners....what's the age requirement to begin training at your school? (And Why)

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

my apologies, i should probably explain my own too. ours is between 4 and 5. they must know their left from right, and we usually run test classes for young kids to see if they can handle it. our kids classes are only an hour long, so if they can hold attention we will let anyone above four do it. but we usually recommen five years of age before enrolling.

[Rateh]

We split up our young kids from the rest, with their own program. Monkeys is the 3-4 year olds. Tigers is 4-5 years. And Dragons is 6-7 year olds. Age 8 and up learn the same as the adults, and often are in the same classes as the adults.

Currenlty I teach the Monkeys. They earn a stripe for every 16 classes they attend. They do not earn belts. I teach them basic kicks, strikes, and blocks, as well as safty and a bit of self defense. The focus is mainly on developing the skills to go into the Tigers program. (listening, following directions, standing still, balance, agility, etc.)

Oh and class times are shorter for the younger ones. 30 mins for Monkeys, I'm not sure how long for Tigers and Dragons.

[DWx]

We usually let the start from 4+. The young kids are in a separate class to the adults and do things slightly different. The 1st couple of normal belts are subdivided for the young ones so they earn the grade in stages doing mini-tests every few weeks in class. The lessons are also 45 mins instead of 1hr.

[bushido_man96]

Our school starts at 4, but between 4 and 7, the kids are placed in our Little Lions program. In this program, they wear white belts with a colored stripe through them; orange, yellow, green, blue, brown, red. They earn stripes on their belts each week for a different aspect of training; balance, fitness, coordination, listening, focus, etc. I can't remember how many stripes they earn, but they earn 1 per week, and must make both of the classes to earn the stripe. Every 2 months is a belt testing.

[Montana]

My rule used to be ages 6-8 could try the class for a few weeks, then I would sit down with the parent and tell them whether or not I felt they were ready for the class. I don't condone martial art "baby sitting", where they play games while wearing gi's, and call that karate training. My young students learned nearly everything that the adult classes do, and have the same requirements for testing. If I felt the young student wasn't ready, I would advise the parent to try the local TKD class down the street, as they take anybody that has the money. I don't teach for the money, or try to make my living at it.

In the last 10 years or so, I've changed my classes and only teach adults, or older children that can, and are willing, to train with, and like adults. It's a much harder work out, including full contact (with protective gear) sparring.

[chuck7413]

In our school we have the Tiger Cubs classes for 4 - 6 year olds.

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

i also forgot to mention the system. its the same belt system with the same requirements for children as we do adults.

[Rateh]

You can teach a kid martial arts while keeping in mind their developmental level. This isn't babysitting, it's teaching to the person, which is what any good instructor does with adults as well. I do know that some schools "babysit" but having young kids programs does not automatically = babysitting. It all depends on the instructor. My .02 cents

[AikiGuy]

When I taught kids I started them at 6. (My instructor starts them at 4.) Although they can learn younger than 6, they don't learn very well in my observation. It takes much longer to pick up a skill or to even learn to pay attention for several minutes at a time when you are 4 or 5. I determined this by teaching my son at home. I noticed at around 6, he would learn faster, remember longer, and be able to do most of the basic movements without tripping or losing balance.

Armed with this (limited) knowlege, I started a kids' class and noticed that most 6 and 7 year old kids had a similar ability to learn as my son. This is sufficient proof to me that this is common. I made the age a rule to keep parents from feeling like their kids weren't getting their money's worth. And to keep kids from feeling like they failing at the attempt to learn what they (at that age) saw as very complicated movements.