Training with younger students

[sensei8]

Please define "training"! I've always trained young and old students.

[pinoy_1]

hi guys, i'm just new to karate.. just 3 weeks and we are just 2 adults there. sometimes i'm bored. but sometimes we are lucky our old sensei is there and focus on our training. its boring like hell training with them.

[Uechi Kid]

Normally no. I've always tried to stay away from the youth classes.

[Slayer2004]

I offer separate as well as joined classes. Some of the reasons for joined classes are:

The way we instruct younger members is a lot more basic and broken down. I have found a lot of adults have actually benefited from this at times as well.

Junior members naturally look to adults for reassurance and when seeing an adult trying the same as they are it helps to encourage them.

Children tend to have a go get em attitude that is lost for some in adulthood and it shows even adults that sometimes they should try new things.

One of the best things I like about those lessons are the adults who are not too keen at the pace of the younger members (only been told once) and I just reminded them that part of good karate-do is patience and that learning to be patient is sometimes more important than learning how to punch or kick an opponent.

What do you think?

[pinoy_1]

Our Sensei instructed us to join the kids when they are doing the basic exercise..

But after that he would separate us from the group and start a different traning for adults, which is... i think good.

nweiz, the kids are our inspiration because some of them got brown belts already.. its like a motivation to us adults to push ourselves in reaching the same level as them.

[SeishanGirl]

In our club, adults and children train together. It teaches the adult how to control their contact level and the children find it useful to train with someone more understanding, knowledgeable and mature than themselves. I don't know how long you have been training, but I'm sure that if you haven't been training since you were a child then you wish that you had. I know I do, and I'm still fifteen. I achieved my black belt earlier this year and I would never have done that without the help of adults in the club. For children, being able to compare with adults allows them to stand out of the crowd and makes them have higher determination, self esteem and a better sense of karate altogether. Hope this helps.

[sensei8]

Also, please define "young" because I'm 53. Are you speaking in children as young, OR, are you speaking as those who are adults that are much younger than I am??

Train with means to me...an exchange of ideas and/or a reinforcement of things already learnt. So, define "train"...please!

[etali]

The main class that I go to is mostly a children's class (there's only a couple of adults that train there), and to be honest I'd prefer to train with adults.

I don't mind working with children sometimes. Some of the kids there work really hard, are fit, skilled, dedicated, well mannered, and generally awesome - it's a pleasure to work with them and learn from them. Some of them, however, are rude, flighty, and and annoying. Kids are held at a lower standard for Kyu gradings, and it sometimes grates when they make it obvious that they are just doing what they need to do to pass, rather than get it right - they're going to get a nasty shock when they go for black.

I'm only a blue belt, and I have a lot to learn, so I can't really say anything to a brown belt kid with an attitude problem (last week, Sensei had to leave so had one of the 2nd Dan take the class, and this kid kept back answering him and messing around in line!)

My main sparring partner hates sparring. We get paired up because we're the closest in belt and size. I don't like sparring with her because she doesn't even try. I freely admit I'm not GOOD at sparring, but how can you get better when your partner won't even attempt to hit you?

One week she wasn't there, and I got paired up with a ten year old JR Black Belt that actually deserves the belt she has. She's a foot shorter than me, but I learned more in a few minutes with her than I did in months with the other girl.

It's sometimes nice to work with kids, but I feel like I'm getting a lot more out of Karate now that I've started attending the occasional adult centric class. Those classes involve more conditioning work, more technical work, and more sparring. I still do the kids class as my primary class (it's on a better day for me, and easier to get to), but I do feel like even at my low belt, training primarily with kids is a hinderance.

[bushido_man96]

Working in mixed classes is ok, but I truly believe that the majority of them need to be seperated by age group, for the benefit of both groups. Adults simply benefit more from training with adults, and kids tend to learn differently than adults, thus changing the focus and atmosphere of the class.