Teaching kids Karate?

[scohen.mma]

I've heard before that when running a kids Karate class, you need to make it very active and let them get a lot of their energy out. That makes sense to me, so I was wondering if anyone had any methods of doing so that they like specifically?

Also, how do you go about teaching them Kata? I've noticed that lots of kids have a hard time staying still and focusing on one thing for a certain amount of time. I figured it would be wise to just do kata towards the end of the class after they've gotten rid of most of their energy.

Anyway, this post is purely out of curiosity. Thank you in advance!

[Spartacus Maximus]

If I think back to when I was a youth, I remember that the most effective way is to make everything into a game. It has to be fun, exiting and a little bit competitive. Children have very short attention spans and cannot understand on the same level as teens or adults. Most of the time they just want to play into their fantasy and emulate their heroes (TV, movies, stories etc).

Trying to teach them anything other than the most basic and gross motor skills is a waste of time in most cases. It is also impossible to judge their ability the same way teens or adults are judged. This requires at least a general familiarity with children's physical development stages. Everything should be broken down to the simplest parts. Kata for example, should be taught no more than two or three moves/steps at a time. The bulk of the training time should focus heavily (80%) on stances and transitions and punch, kick, block.

It may sound boring but it is up to the sensei to be creative enough to come up with several games or activities to practise the same small number of techniques. How many exciting ways of practising/drilling punches could you think of? Also the teaching curriculum should be only a part of the regular one. If, for example the regular curriculum has 15 kata plus bunkai; the kids should be limited to basics(kick, punch, block) plus the two or three first kata. That is more than enough for kids.

[sensei8]

Just keep it fun! By that I mean, don't bore them with to much technical stuff. Stuff that usually goes over an adults head! The younger the kids, the shorter the class duration, and the smaller the amount of what's being taught that day/night.

Kids don't sit well for to long; ants in the pants isn't conducive to learning.

As far as kata is concerned, I use the method of self-defense techniques OVER the aspect of Bunkai because a lot of kids haven't grasped the concept of Bunkai...yet! As far as the number of kata's kids should or shouldn't learn is that I'd say, keep the kata's to the rank. After all, I was a 13 year old kid when I received my JBB, and that means I had learnt 11 kata's by then.

Lastly, be a kid on the floor with the kids, and not some stuffy gi on the floor. The younger the kids, the more I play; after all, my wife says I'm the oldest kid she knows! Thanks, honey...I love you too!!

[Lupin1]

We like to do relay races, especially for special occasions (classes before holidays or vacations when the kids are extra riled up). We'll just split them into two groups with either bags or an instructor with mitts and do something like "three left leg front kicks, three right leg front kicks on one bag, move to the next bag, three left leg roundhouse kicks three right leg round house kicks, sprint to the end of the floor and meet the instructor with mitts then front kick, roundhouse kick, spinning hook kick on the mitts, then sprint back and tag the next person" or something like that. We mix up what they need to do every round and do maybe four or five rounds before they're all exhausted. On days we don't want them waiting too long to go, rather than one person at a time going down the line we'll have the next person start as soon the one before them moves on to the second bag.

[jaypo]

We've recently changed up our "karate cubs" classes. We now have an obstacle course that they go thru. For example, they stand in horse stance and do 2 face blocks. They jump over the 1st obstacle, then perform 2 chudan ukes. Then, jump over and do 2 gedan barais. Etc. They have a crawl space to go thru, then situps, pushups, and light weight press. But what it does is teaches them to do the basic blocks. The 2nd course is for hand strikes- same principle. And the endgame is that their 1st "kata" is comprised of the basic blocks with a reverse punch after in a certain sequence.

It keeps them engaged because it is fun for them and there is no time to lose focus!

[Nidan Melbourne]

At my school we don't have a specific way of teaching our juniors.

Often to keep them interested we will do a game or two.

A small thing to keep them interested is for us to do something wrong (on purpose obviously) and have them correct us. That always gets them excited to correct us on it, and it motivates them + it helps them get better with their own training

[yamesu]

Just keep it fun! By that I mean, don't bore them with to much technical stuff. Stuff that usually goes over an adults head! The younger the kids, the shorter the class duration, and the smaller the amount of what's being taught that day/night.

Kids don't sit well for to long; ants in the pants isn't conducive to learning.

As far as kata is concerned, I use the method of self-defense techniques OVER the aspect of Bunkai because a lot of kids haven't grasped the concept of Bunkai...yet! As far as the number of kata's kids should or shouldn't learn is that I'd say, keep the kata's to the rank. After all, I was a 13 year old kid when I received my JBB, and that means I had learnt 11 kata's by then.

Lastly, be a kid on the floor with the kids, and not some stuffy gi on the floor. The younger the kids, the more I play; after all, my wife says I'm the oldest kid she knows! Thanks, honey...I love you too!!

This sums it up I think.

Add dodgeball to the equation. I bribe the kids with dodgeball.

If you can get through this kicking exercise we will play dodgeball at the end of class"

Seems to work well, plus I get an extra workout.

EDIT: Oh, and Sensei8, my partner say's the same thing

[Zaine]

Just keep it fun! By that I mean, don't bore them with to much technical stuff. Stuff that usually goes over an adults head! The younger the kids, the shorter the class duration, and the smaller the amount of what's being taught that day/night.

Kids don't sit well for to long; ants in the pants isn't conducive to learning.

As far as kata is concerned, I use the method of self-defense techniques OVER the aspect of Bunkai because a lot of kids haven't grasped the concept of Bunkai...yet! As far as the number of kata's kids should or shouldn't learn is that I'd say, keep the kata's to the rank. After all, I was a 13 year old kid when I received my JBB, and that means I had learnt 11 kata's by then.

Lastly, be a kid on the floor with the kids, and not some stuffy gi on the floor. The younger the kids, the more I play; after all, my wife says I'm the oldest kid she knows! Thanks, honey...I love you too!!

Bob hits the nail on the head. Kids classes are more about being having the children be active while learning some discipline. They're supposed to be fun while teaching them concepts like safety, the importance of staying active and (again) discipline. So play MA related games and have a great time. As for the kata, like Bob suggested, keep a 1 kata to rank ratio.

[ashworth]

Add dodgeball to the equation. I bribe the kids with dodgeball.

If you can get through this kicking exercise we will play dodgeball at the end of class"

Seems to work well, plus I get an extra workout.

Exactly what I do with my kids class! they do anything to be able to play dodgeball at the end!