Which discipline do you think is best for 5 year olds? My daughter just turned 5 and we were looking to put her into an individualistic sports. She did soccer last year. It seemed like she somewhat enjoyed it; but I think I would like her to try something like karate, etc. She is still small in stature and will probably be for the rest of her life, so the self-defense is an added bonus. There is an open house at a Taekwondo school this weekend. Don't know much about martial arts outside of Bruce Lee movies.
Parents with young kids in martial arts
- Thread starter Fijimn
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I have three granddaughters involved with ATA. They have studios all over. It has been great for them. Their self-confidence and maturity is amazing. The two thirteen year olds are second degree black belts, the eighteen year old is a third degree and is now a part-time instructor for all except adult black belts.
I wish this was available for my kids (maybe it was and I did not know it). I cannot recommend it too highly. Because a family membership was cheaper than individual memberships, my daughter and son-in-law also got involved. Both now have their black belts. Ages 50 and 47.
I asked our daughter if she were attacked if she were comfortable that she could defend herself and she pointed to the element of surprise, no one expects a 47 year old housewife to put them down.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Ron
I wish this was available for my kids (maybe it was and I did not know it). I cannot recommend it too highly. Because a family membership was cheaper than individual memberships, my daughter and son-in-law also got involved. Both now have their black belts. Ages 50 and 47.
I asked our daughter if she were attacked if she were comfortable that she could defend herself and she pointed to the element of surprise, no one expects a 47 year old housewife to put them down.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Ron
It'd be pretty sweet if she got a teacher like Sho'nuff from The Last Dragon.
Tae Kwon Do is great for young kids. It is a workout, memorizing stuff, build confidence, performing your Kata to get a belt etc. It seems like Tae Kwon Do has done a really good job of catering to young kids. Now she won't know how to fight worth a darn, but pretty sure you are trying to make your 5 y/o Jason Bourne by 7.
I really like Judo too, but hard to find a good place for that young and it is a little more physical IMO.
I really like Judo too, but hard to find a good place for that young and it is a little more physical IMO.
My son will be enrolled in Krav Maga as soon as he is old enough, hopefully he likes it.
The daughter did Muay Thai for a couple of years. She liked it a lot at first, but eventually it came time to spar and there wasn't anyone there her size to go against - so it was either going against adults, or little kids - neither of which were a good match. The Muay Thai was great for her though. She was learning a lot about self defense and getting good exercise in a really positive environment.
What is their age requirement? I know when the Army sent a team out to develop a martial arts program Krav Maga was hands down the preferred program; the only issue in 1990 there weren't enough real instructors out there, so they went with BJJ hybred. I know Krav has spread over the years I like the system; just be careful and make sure you get a real guy.
BJJ is hands down the most effective martial art in a 1 on 1 situation.
If you're talking about a 5 year old though, exercise and making friends are the main things they will get out of it so a lot of martial arts can deliver that.
If you're talking about a 5 year old though, exercise and making friends are the main things they will get out of it so a lot of martial arts can deliver that.
The one by me is 4 years old, and the head instructor has been practicing since 2002. I want something that will prepare my son for real world scenarios while building confidence, not something that's about chasing the next belt.
When my son was young, we had him in Taekwondo. It was good for physical exercise and for learning some discipline but it didn't teach him how to fight. He earned his black belt by the time he was 15 years old. He could probably handle himself against other 15 year olds but that would be about it. We joked that it should be called Take-my-dough since that seemed to be the most important thing in the discipline.
I studied and taught Karado back in the '70's. It was a style originated by a man named Warren Siciliano. It was an offensive form of self defense. I also kick boxed. Steve Shepard was a kick boxing pioneer from West Palm so it was an easy transition.
I studied and taught Karado back in the '70's. It was a style originated by a man named Warren Siciliano. It was an offensive form of self defense. I also kick boxed. Steve Shepard was a kick boxing pioneer from West Palm so it was an easy transition.
Our son is 8 and started karate when he was 4, but preferred more contact (not much sparring at younger ages), so he stopped after a couple of years and started wrestling.
IMO, wrestling is a great sport for young kids, it’s physically demanding but also has mental aspects that are extremely valuable (honorable behavior, depend upon yourself, learning the difference between being hurt and being injured, keeping calm when walking out on a mat in front of hundreds of people to scrap with another kid, learning to quickly deal with disappointment). He loves it and so do we. Several girls on his team, and other than getting ready in a different locker room, everything else is the same.
I would like to get him into judo, because judo techniques (e.g., some throws) can be applied in wrestling, but I can’t find a good looking spot around here.
IMO, wrestling is a great sport for young kids, it’s physically demanding but also has mental aspects that are extremely valuable (honorable behavior, depend upon yourself, learning the difference between being hurt and being injured, keeping calm when walking out on a mat in front of hundreds of people to scrap with another kid, learning to quickly deal with disappointment). He loves it and so do we. Several girls on his team, and other than getting ready in a different locker room, everything else is the same.
I would like to get him into judo, because judo techniques (e.g., some throws) can be applied in wrestling, but I can’t find a good looking spot around here.
I'm not hating on Krav Maga, but to me that's something that should be trained as a supplement to a different base. I strongly feel that wrestling is the best base for fighting and BJJ is the best base for "self defense". Then you branch out to things like MT, boxing, & Krav Maga. You can train Krav Maga for years and some 10th grade wrestler is still going to tackle you in a real situation. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it's true.
If you choose ATA and have a good school it's all you need. Don't do the tournaments they are nothing but a money grab.
I was going to check out this dojo this weekend. Them seem to be successful and have well disciplined kids. Unfortunately, some Yankee and his single mom moved to town recently and started harassing the kids from the dojo.
Fiji, nothing to add as my kids never did martial arts but I do have a quick question for you about the Houston legal landscape. Where can I email you?
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Its rooted in self defense and will teach her alot about discipline, as well as strategy. It becomes a chess game and is incredibly challenging.
Of all the martial arts I took back in my day (80s and 90s) I enjoyed Taekwondo the best and ended up a brown belt. I definitely would have become a black belt but the instructor moved about 40 miles away and my parents were unwilling to drive my 13yo %*% to the new location. After that and until I left for college, I tried various martial arts for a couple of months including judo, wrestling, jiu jitsu (Japanese not BJJ), Chun Kuk Do (Chuck Norris karate), Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee kung fu), Shorin-ryu (Okinawan karate) and American Open Style Karate. Of those, I stuck with American Open Style the longest, but it was probably because I had high school friends in the class to spar with not because of the instructor or techniques (it was a cheap, county government course rather than a more expensive private dojo so it had a lot of people in it most of whom were terrible).
Yes and when that wrestler drags her to the ground, she’ll flip him over and punch his nads into pulp.
Wrestling and BJJ are incredibly useful when following the unrealistic rules set up in MMA. But Krav Maga teaches small joint manipulation (ripping and breaking fingers, toes and small bones in the foot) and how to destroy soft tissue (eyes, balls, throat, ears, nose etc...) from a standing situation and while being held from front or behind as well on the ground. Holding someone close in a wrestling or BJJ hold works great in MMA where you can’t do anything except try to break the hold or land weak punches to hard spots like ribs and head. But when you can gouge their eyes out or break their fingers to get out of the hold, suddenly being close on the ground with a Krav Maga expert is about the dumbest thing you can do.
I found this post on Sherdog and I agree completely:
"Krav Maga brown belt.
Want to know how I got into JiuJitsu?
A guy came in to the gym and during sparring sessions was just ripping everyone apart. People called it really cheap, but I was fascinated. Throw a punch and he ducks under for a trip into mount. Bear hug him and he tumbles for a leg and hits you with a foot lock/knee bar. I thought he was a black belt in jiujitsu because of how hard it was to deal with him once things got on the ground.
When I found out he was a blue belt, I wanted to learn more of that system.
I really think Krav is a great system if you're already good at something else, or you're practicing against people who like to play rough. But lots of people didn't want bruises, scratches, or sprains... so we could never really drill at high speed.
Also after doing both, I'd say the ground defenses are really inadequate. It's about how to get up and get to fighting, but do you know how hard it is to get even a 4-stripe white belt off of you if you're only training ground defense 2 hours a week?
You cover a lot of defense against 1 or 2 handed chokes from mount, head locks from the side, and 2 handed chokes from the rear... slight problem.... how many BJJ people have you ever seen use a 2 handed choke or head lock? And even as a blue belt, I still can't get out of some triangles and arm bars. So how are you going to learn that in Krav 1-2 hours a week?
My only problem with Krav is that everything they do, someone else does better.
Striking? Boxers do it better, and they don't ever get hit full speed, so good luck taking a punch
Kicks? Karatekas, soccer players, and TKD do it much better
Ground work ? Bjj guys do it a lot better
Wrestling? Non-existent so any martial artist person does it better.
So if it ever came down to it, where exactly would a Krav guy take someone where they hope to have an overwhelming advantage?
I know Krav pretty well, and BJJ at a very very average level. One on one if things hit the fan I'd rather fall back on BJJ. I'm not outstriking or out kicking anyone...
I've seen guys come on and just out punch everyone because of their size and toughness from day 1. And I've seen what I can do to new guys, even wrestlers, on their first day of BJJ. But that doesn't mean I'm above doing an eye gouge and nut grab from back mount. It's my new over-under control
"
"Krav Maga brown belt.
Want to know how I got into JiuJitsu?
A guy came in to the gym and during sparring sessions was just ripping everyone apart. People called it really cheap, but I was fascinated. Throw a punch and he ducks under for a trip into mount. Bear hug him and he tumbles for a leg and hits you with a foot lock/knee bar. I thought he was a black belt in jiujitsu because of how hard it was to deal with him once things got on the ground.
When I found out he was a blue belt, I wanted to learn more of that system.
I really think Krav is a great system if you're already good at something else, or you're practicing against people who like to play rough. But lots of people didn't want bruises, scratches, or sprains... so we could never really drill at high speed.
Also after doing both, I'd say the ground defenses are really inadequate. It's about how to get up and get to fighting, but do you know how hard it is to get even a 4-stripe white belt off of you if you're only training ground defense 2 hours a week?
You cover a lot of defense against 1 or 2 handed chokes from mount, head locks from the side, and 2 handed chokes from the rear... slight problem.... how many BJJ people have you ever seen use a 2 handed choke or head lock? And even as a blue belt, I still can't get out of some triangles and arm bars. So how are you going to learn that in Krav 1-2 hours a week?
My only problem with Krav is that everything they do, someone else does better.
Striking? Boxers do it better, and they don't ever get hit full speed, so good luck taking a punch
Kicks? Karatekas, soccer players, and TKD do it much better
Ground work ? Bjj guys do it a lot better
Wrestling? Non-existent so any martial artist person does it better.
So if it ever came down to it, where exactly would a Krav guy take someone where they hope to have an overwhelming advantage?
I know Krav pretty well, and BJJ at a very very average level. One on one if things hit the fan I'd rather fall back on BJJ. I'm not outstriking or out kicking anyone...
I've seen guys come on and just out punch everyone because of their size and toughness from day 1. And I've seen what I can do to new guys, even wrestlers, on their first day of BJJ. But that doesn't mean I'm above doing an eye gouge and nut grab from back mount. It's my new over-under control
"
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