Why to young to start?

[ramymensa]

Story: last week a young mother brought her very young child to our karate class. It went well. He stood in her arms almost all the time. He didn't give a d..n there's a "circus" going on. "Momy I want home" that's all we could hear from him. When the instructor took him by the little hand and placed him among his kind, hell broke out. He cried and wanted mack to his mommy. She was smart enough to leave home and promise to get back .. in few years

 

And now my POV. A child should be old enough to understand what karate means and if it answers his needs. There are lots of people who trained in chilhood and left, because they felt it was a wrong decision. Like all karatekas who are quite obsessed with this thing I dream of having my kids step on my footsteps and become martial artists. On a second though I remember I'm stuborn and always liked to have something to say when it came to my destiny and my future. I don't want them to suffer what I never had to face: stuborness of the parents who are too "fixed" to see the "thing" is a human being with feelings and the capacity of resoning.

 

Thus I guess I'll be happy to have children who are BB in what suits them best: if it's karate or math, medicine, painting, driving ... It's their choice. I'll be always beside them doing my best so they'll be happy as I am doing Karate.

[hobbitbob]

I agree. My friend Ron Doughty has a "soft rule" and a "hard rule" for starting age. the "soft rule" is no younger than 8 years old. the "Hard rule" is old enough to understand what is going on and to pay attention.

[DokterVet]

I started at 11, and I'm still going stong. I turn 18 next week.

 

I think I started at a good age because it helped me develop into a pretty strong and healthy guy, and now that I am starting to have the maturity to have a black belt, I am also starting to have good enough technique for a black belt.

[Gloi]

I go to a gym that has a (mainly) kids karate class on a sunday afternoon. I train with the sensai in his other classes and go in hope of joining in as I am usually at the gym at that time anyway. What usually happens though is I am given a bunch of 4-6 year old white belts to keep under control while sensai takes the rest of the class (I am a brown belt). These kids aren't really interested in karate and the real reason they are there is for some free babysitting while their parents use the gym equipment. I think that they shouldn't let kids in till at least they are able to tell left from right and obey instructions, and actually know what they are there to learn not just because their parents want an hour off looking after them.

 

Alison