Teaching your own kids???

[shotochem]

I said I would not do it. No! Never!!! Well I just started to teach my son and 2 of his friends. (I was volunteered by the wife. ) I am going to train them once a week possibly twice until their regular instructor starts up his next sessions in Jan. My problem aside of my son driving me crazy (he's the annoying one) is that they all study TKD and I study Shotokan. Do you think it would be detrimental for me to train them in Shotokan or should I just stick to the basic blocks, punches, kicks and bag and focus work. I do not wish to confuse them or make it harder on their instructor.

[ninjanurse]

Teaching your own kids is definitely a challenge ( I've been through 4)!!! If you must, stick to the basics and try to keep it generic or the TKD instructor will be hearing "But my dad said.....", etc. Your son will probably "drive you crazy" all your life so get used to it!

 

[kenpo4life]

I learned primarily from my pops. I say, keep it generic, and let the good times roll.

[shotochem]

Well, I got through my first session .

 

It started out a little rough, my son wouldnt listen. It turned out his friends were really into it and he had to knock it off. I just stuck to basics and working the bag and target pad. They seemed to have had a good time and cant wait till the next time. I also demonstrated a few katas and explained some of the differences within my style. It only took about 10 min for them to get used to me and it was smooth sailing from there.

 

My son also gained quite a few cool points with his friends for having a dad crazy enough to do it in the first place.

 

I just have to be careful not to fully Shotokanize them by Jan!!!

[kempocos]

My only question would be is more legal than style. The two that are not your kids , do you have a letter from the parnets saying they are ok with what you are doing? In this day and age it would be a shame to lose your house because of a freaked out mom/dad if thier son gets hurt or hurts someone. Then says Mr * taught me. I know they train however waivers were signed. Its the DAD in me. As for your boy driving you nuts, he is just hyped up he's got the cool dad , knows karate and stuff. It's that he is so proud he can not contain it. And thats great.

 

Style wise do not reinvent the wheel , a kick is a kick and a punch a punch. The pad /bag is good, work on conditioning and streatching. I would just breakdown kata you show them so when they go back to class they will still give what the instructor wants for the form breakdown.

[shotochem]

My only question would be is more legal than style. The two that are not your kids , do you have a letter from the parnets saying they are ok with what you are doing? In this day and age it would be a shame to lose your house because of a freaked out mom/dad if thier son gets hurt or hurts someone. Then says Mr * taught me. I know they train however waivers were signed. Its the DAD in me..

 

Yikes, I hadn't even considered that. We are close friends with them and I already did 1 session at hy house and one at their house.

 

I do not allow them to spar or really hit each other I let them hit the bag and pads or do the heavy contact on me. Im just sticking to that and basics. They study a different style than I do so I just correct their technique and body mechanics. (ie. a bad punch is a bad punch ect...)

 

This is just for a few months to keep them sharp and ready for their classes to start up again.

 

I have no plans to continue with it after they start up again, just with my son every now and then. It would be great if I could get him to come back to train with me in Shotokan again. Funny thing is that his old TKD instructor never could take the Shotokan out of his punches.

 

I guess thats my fault.

[Darce]

He he.

[shazaam]

The only way to teach your own kids is to not make it a "classroom" session. Just incorporate some basic drills into their regular play and then have them strecthc gently when they are watching cartoons.

 

Also, "Playstation? How about ten pushups and twenty frontkicks first?"

 

Good luck to you! You'll need it!

[ramymensa]

It's a challenge

 

One of our instructor has got his 7 years old girl with us and she's quite good and respectful. I found out she was his girl when a coleague told me, because their relation in the dojo was strictly "professional".

 

He told me at home she calls him daddy (of course), but when in the car to go training he's sensei ... sensei did this, sensei told us

 

She's adorable and very hard working

[MichiganTKD]

I would never have my own children as actual students in my organization. The son of our Founder practiced Tae Kwon Do under one of his black belts and became a 4th Dan under him. It would have been very easy to just teach him himself, but rather than cause a lot of jealousy and friction with other black belts, the son was taught by a separate Instructor in the organization. Our Grandmaster has worked with him on various drills and techniques, but as far as being his actual student, no.

 

I will also say this: Being asked or allowed to teach another man's child is a high honor and should not be taken lightly.

 

One more thing. A big reason why I would never teach my own kids as students is that our relationship would be far too emotional to risk in a teacher-student relationship. For example, if I yell at him too strong, or hit him in the context of teaching class, he would be very upset with me and it might conceivably damage our relationship. As a result, my best bet is to make him someone else's student.