At what age can children start to learn MA?
usually around 8.
but just some posture and basic stances mostly.
and no serious “power” issuing training yet.
3 years old is a good time to start.
LPS You do exist!
The twins act out my kicks and they aren’t two yet. Guess they watch me too much! I know 8 is too old to start. Should I encourage them kicking with me even though they are just 19 months?
-Lee
the other relevant Q is that how young you let your kids to spar.
The Hong Kong San Da association let 6 year old to spar with San Da rules.
The parents started heated debates.
Not so much worried about the physical but mental/psych aspects.
will kids starting to spar at 6 become violent when grown up?
It depends on the child. My boys came with me to bjj class ( ages then of 5 and seven)because my wife was working. They would mimic the adults in class while off in a corner. When the instructor watched them rolling he asked me to put them in gis and he has no problem with them in class. In fact they have the best cardio of anyone when doing the conditiong drills. They do the push ups,sit ups etc. faster than any of the adults. The instructor said they look like adults when they roll and that my eldest son has a natural sense to always better his position without thinking.
However they both like to play more than they like to learn a form. It is too much like school for them and I don’t push it. Bjj is easier for them to do and is more fun. They also like to hit the shields and bag, swing the staff.
They both competed at Ed Clay’s Nashville open(youngest got 1st in Gi,3rd in No-Gi and the eldest 1st in No-Gi, 4th in Gi), The Music City Submission wrestling & bjj open( youngest placed 2nd in open weight class No-Gi, 2nd in Gi, Eldest placed 4th in Gi)Bluegrass bjj Open twice ( each got 1st the first time,youngest 1st second time) Folk wrestling and the youngest also does Free Stlye where he placed 2nd at a tournament in Ohio, 2nd in Kentucky, and has placed 1st twice in Indiana events.
I only wish they had the continuous sparring for kids in Shaolin-Do tournaments instead of point sparring. They both have good Gnp :eek: .
Depends on the kids and the teacher. Also a the style, in my oppinion. Some kids “get it” younger than others. I started my oldest off at 6 but had to take him out for a year, as he wsn’t ready. My youngest has been wrestling since age 3, though, and the older has just barely gotten interested in it. It really depends on the kid. But mimicking your kicks is a promissing sign.
8 is too old to start? :eek: doesn’t bode well for me, I started at 21 
When I was dateing Debbie, her 2 yearold Son picked up the entire first form of my system, and got it pretty good from just mimmiking me. After some corrections, he was really doing good even though he was only 2.
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soon as they get a serious mind they would do my style not bad. (i know that sentance is totally filled with errors) which depends on the person but i think starting when they are in the teens is good
The sentence with 2 verbs has to be broken down into 2 sentences.
There can be only one verb in an English sentence.
It seems like kids at least 5 can start learning. My son is 5 now, and is learning but he is a bit uncoordinated.
I found that it helps with him to keep his interest if I break the form down according to animals. My daughter who is 7 likes that too, but she doesn’t get as excited about it as he does.
Right now we do animal vs. animal, tiger vs. crane or leopard vs. snake or tiger vs. snake, for instance, and they’re really getting it, which is really surprising to me.
I haven’t taught them punching against bags or anything, though, because I don’t want to mess up their hands while they’re still growing.
starting at 5 or 6 if they are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ysmcFIoS9c&search=kung%20fu
I think there is a 6 year old in the promo clip.
Chu Go Ku Bu Ju Tsu.
I think around 10-12 years old. Any younger and they are too difficult to teach.
It seems like you have to make it interesting for them. Of course what do I know, I’ve only been teaching them for 2 weeks now.
But my son’s attention would wander, which is why I started bringing the animals into it, and he really gets that. Like teaching tiger, Growl like a tiger, make faces, hiss like a snake, whoop like a crane, then mimic the animals when doing partner work.
“Okay, so I attack with the tiger claw, GROWL!!! And you use the crane wing, and then attack with the beak.”
It’s kindof scary, they were really getting it yesterday so I didn’t teach them any attacking the eye stuff because I’m afraid they’ll use it on somebody.
I don’t mean 8 is too old for a person to start! I am saying that my boys are kicking and I don’t think they should wait until they are eight. Since it seems two is too young, then what could I show them at home until they are three or an age where they could begin a school? Is it more discipline, form, or fun that I should have them mimic?
start em whenever they are willing to cooperate. theres no set answer on this one … just gotta play it by ear.
no one knows your boys better than yourself.
a motivated kid is hard to find at an age below 10 or so.
an absolute rarity at under 8 years old.
Most “training” of kids at ages below twelves is little more than romper room in a gi.
if you want to do daycare martial arts, then that is up to you.
Im not saying there isn’t a special kid out there who can really excel at it, Im saying that kid is very hard to find, if at all, especially here in North America.
The time and effort investment in most kids is only worth it if their parents are paying you.
In my experience, 1 in 100 kids is motivated and the rest are sent there by their parents who want them to do something after school, or maybe the kid gained an interest in it from cartoons etc etc. Like anyone, when the realization of what hard work it is kicks in, kids will back away just like adults do.
Help
So an unexpected thing happened. On Saturday, I had my son and daughter doing animal drills, tiger vs. crane, leopard vs. snake, etc. They were totally into it.
So what do you think happened Saturday night? They were horsing around all over the house doing animal drills.
Same thing Sunday morning. Same thing Sunday afternoon.
So last night I totally freaked out and sat them down and discussed the appropriateness of martial arts outside the home, school, etc., and they shouldn’t be doing that at school.
I think they might have understood. My daughter seems to get it.
But now I am extremely afraid my son is going to be going to school trying to do drills with people.