should young kids do a martial art?

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hey,

 

i guess its always hard in the beginning, though what i really do find funny with the beginners, is how in my club particular, all the no belts and white belts, with the old men, have tatoos all over the body, with all chinese symbols, with like a dragon picture tatooed on their chest, but when they come to fight, there terrible, hehe

 

thnx for the replys

 

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[SaiFightsMS]

errryymmumm no tattoos or excessive hair here.

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hey,

 

i hope my post wasnt offensive to anyone, i was jus talking about some particular people in our club, they feel that if they have a tatoo, there instantly stronger than me, i feel that is wrong,- thats all im sayin

 

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[SaiFightsMS]

Just kidding with you Ad.

[NinjaX]

3 years old is too young, here in new orleans ive seen kids that young go to these tae kwon do plus schools and become black belts by age 5 or 6, you cant understand the art at a whole at that age

[SaiFightsMS]

Does this thread resemble a question someone just asked?

 

 

[Ryukyu1]

"It is not necessarily the 6th birthday that is the big indicator as much as whether or not little Johnny had been to first grade yet. Spending all day in school vs half a day of kindergarten makes a difference - a big difference. "

 

I agree with Sai about this. A 3 year old definetely too young...Both of my sons have been in school from 9am to 2pm in Ireland and are now aged 7 and 5. The oldest started MA at 5. Both do MA but only because I felt they could handle the training and the consentration required. I watched them carefully in the Dojo for a month before deciding them to continue their training and after consulting with their Sensei. The reason I put my oldest in was because he had been bullied and beaten up by a bigger boy in the school playground and was afraid to go to school, nightmares etc. He has now fully regained his confidence and fully appreciates what he is learning and just how dangerous it could be if applied wrongly. He trains 5 days a week in Karate and Kickboxing and is very dedicated and sensible about what he is learning. I overheard one of his little friends asking him to demonstrate some moves and he refused as he had been warned against such behaviour by his Sensei. I do believe that for a child to begin training at this age it requires good solid positive input from parents and the MA instructors and based heavily on the childs behaviour and attitude over a trial period.

 

 

[three60roundhouse]

Hmmm....well, I assist at my school a lot, and we have what we call the "tiny tot" classes - these kids are age four, and some immature five year olds are also in this class. They cover very basic kicking and punching, but for the most part it's fun and games...They start off with a white belt, and instead of prograssing through belts, they get colorful tape stripes on the belt to indicate getting better. Some kids stay in the tot class for a long time, but mostly the five year olds are transfered into the more serious training. I think we should be teaching the young kids that the martial arts are fun - while not pushing (classes are only 30 minutes long) them or giving away belts.

[Phantasmatic]

I think if you have a young child that cannot take the discipline of a well kept dojo, the parent should teach (if he or she has the right to). IMHO.

 

 

[Cory Reynolds]

I haven't read through all of the pages in this thread, so I'm probably repeating what others have said.

 

Studdies have shown that children usually start developing their motor and balance skills at the age of 3. It's good to offer children ages 3-5 half hour classes that help teach these skills once or twice a week. Turn every activity into a game to help keep their attention. Then from age 5-6 and on they can usually start learning the basic movements and lessons that can be molded into a finer state in the future.

 

Also, it's been proven that kids who learn their motor and balance skills earlier in life tend to do better with their academics in school. Nobody has really been able to make the connection as to why this happens, but it does and should be another good reason to offer these kinds of classes.