I am training now! And my son is wanting more...

[AdamKralic]

Well if you have read my posts you know I have been a dedicated karate dad to my son Zach. Anyhoot...I have a good friend who is twelve years deep into JKD and also a personal trainer as well. Long story short...I make websites...he needed a website...viola.

Been fun learning some basic JKD while getting a bit more fit...and my friend (who has done a few training sessions with my son and seen his videos) wants my son to consider a discipline outside of karate. Not JKD per se but Jiu Jitsu or boxing. (My friend has done a good bit of MMA at a fairly high level and is not a fan of the sport karate)

Zach has the AKA Grands in January but after that we might just enroll him in a Jiu Jitsu class for a year or two. Do not know if he'll stay on karate national team or not...but I kinda feel that he needs the change of pace/goal just to keep the entire MA journey fresh and exciting for him.

Anyone ever do something similar? Thoughts? Ideas?

[tallgeese]

Engagment is important for continuing the journey. If he's attaned goals he's happy with in karate then I'd say go for it. In fairness, I'm biased. Being a bit of a JKD guy and mainly focused these days in BJJ I think you'll find that he (and you) will enjoy the adventure.

With jits, you'll see martial arts from a whole new aspect. The methods and techniques will be new and exciting and present a world of their own to work thru. With JKD, there's such a wide range of skills and focuses to experiment you'll never get bored, and might even find something unexpected that you'll each fall in love with to develop more. JKD will also give you a frame work to insert your karate background into, so it's not like you'll be writing off years of study.

When you start digging in to JKD you'll find things that you'll want to explore. For instance, I got the chance to take a formal look at JKD after lots of years doing stand up based arts. I liked it, but REALLY loved the FMA aspect. This led me to my currect obsession with PTK. I've kinda moved on to train it in place of persuing JKD, but that's okay. JKD was my portal to that aspect of the MA's.

I think you'll find each (or either) an expanding experience. Good luck and keep us posted.

[bushido_man96]

I'm a big fan of doing what you want in your MA journey. Talk it over more and more with your son, and see what his goals are. Perhaps you can get some of both in, if that is what he wants to do.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Speak to Zach about it. Because he may or may not be interested in it.

If he does take up jujitsu he will evolve his karate to the next level as he will see things differently and will be better equipped to think outside of the box

[AdamKralic]

Zach was talking up krav maga...but really I personally feel that is something one should learn at a bit older age for two reasons:

1. It's short...many places around here that seem quality say that one can learn krav maga in 6 months max.

2. It's very violent in a dirty combat way. I have no trouble with that as one needs to do what one needs to do in such situations...but a 13 year old does not need to be thinking about eye gouging imho.

My son wants to go into some sort of law enforcement. CIA/FBI/Detective/Police/...heck we even discussed customs agent. (that's my vote...we live 10 minutes from O'Hare airport...they make really good money...he gets a gun that he likely will never have to use)

Good news is that all of them require the same exact degree to dramatically increase your odds of getting the job. Bachelors in criminal justice.

So Ju Jitsu to me seems a logical progression from karate. Which of course is not to say that he will not go back to karate at one point...I just want my son to be very well rounded. He's got a knack for the martial arts...why not?

[tallgeese]

Zach was talking up krav maga...but really I personally feel that is something one should learn at a bit older age for two reasons:

1. It's short...many places around here that seem quality say that one can learn krav maga in 6 months max.

2. It's very violent in a dirty combat way. I have no trouble with that as one needs to do what one needs to do in such situations...but a 13 year old does not need to be thinking about eye gouging imho.

My son wants to go into some sort of law enforcement. CIA/FBI/Detective/Police/...heck we even discussed customs agent. (that's my vote...we live 10 minutes from O'Hare airport...they make really good money...he gets a gun that he likely will never have to use)

Good news is that all of them require the same exact degree to dramatically increase your odds of getting the job. Bachelors in criminal justice.

So Ju Jitsu to me seems a logical progression from karate. Which of course is not to say that he will not go back to karate at one point...I just want my son to be very well rounded. He's got a knack for the martial arts...why not?

The good news is that jiu jitsu will be a great choice for a background going into LE. It's an art that deals with control to a great degree. Physically putting a resisting human being into a negative position and holding them there while you are safe. This is a critical skill for LE.

We can talk about this or that combat art, but when you look at the expectations of LE in America grappling arts really come to the forefront of what's acceptable and even what needs to be done from an operational level.

A large portion of my work hands on is my jiu jitsu while my other arts take a bit of a background based on what I can and can't (and even what I need) to do.

If he's serious about LE then jiu jitsu is going to provide an excellent building platform for the hands on aspect of his training.

[bushido_man96]

1. It's short...many places around here that seem quality say that one can learn krav maga in 6 months max.

I don't think this means that you finish after 6 months. I think it means more along the lines that you become proficient in it within 6 months. But that doesn't mean you stop training.

But I do agree with what tallgeese mentions about the use of a style like BJJ in LE. Its a very valuable skill set to have.

If a good BJJ school isn't available, then you might look into Wrestling.