Thread: Any martial arts practioners out there?

Originally Posted by Kristian

I Agee with Hirlau. I train Wada Rye Karate, with my two girls. I have one that's 13 and one that is 10 years old.

Wado style karate is very close to sports karate and is much more fighting then kata.

We started karate training because my oldest daughter was assaulted my two buys. If anyone tried that today, they'll break their bones in the process.

She is very fast, and talented. We haven't gone to a tournament without medals yet.

Watching her fight is great, she change her fighting techniques all the time and is clearly an offensive fighter.

Today we still train in a dojo where we can train together. It's really fun and it has become a lifestyle. We train 3-4 times a week for two hours. I see the confidence both my kids have and I know that they can look after themselves no matter what.

Recently one of the great masters of Wado came to visit Denmark from USA. His name is Bob Nash. I believe he have 7" Dan. He is a great teacher.

Anyway I can't see anything bad about martial art. Properly trained, the kids learn confidence and self defence. Even my youngest is pretty tough. She broke three of my ribs in a training fight last year. ;-)

Interesting, whereas you get someone like myself, and my old Sensei, who believes you can learn Karate-Do learning two of the the K's, Kihon, Kata, and Kumite. He always said you could learn with Kata and Kihon, but never with Kumite and something else. He also believed a fight was won or lost in the gym, your personal fitness level was vital.

While some "set piece" training (self defense, you get grabbed..do this.etc.,) was given, he felt Kumite (fighting) could never truly be reproduced, you could not substitute a scenario for a real encounter, and scenario's were ultimately dangerous. We didn't do any real free form sparring to the much higher kyu's, but learned the one step and three step kumite practice, which was a fascinating thing to study, especially during summer camp in Ottawa, every summer for 5 years, when Sensei Tanaka, head of the JKA came over with his students, very nice man, loved golf and Crown Royal!

Ultimately, I think anything that can provide a fit body and a fit mind, with the added benefit of maybe providing some knowledge on self-defense is a good thing. For my two kids, who both quit after 6th kyu, it was something we could all do together, they learned some basics, gained confidence and built some character facing some exercises they'd never encountered before, and mainly, enjoyed themselves.

What age would you gentleman suggest children be started in martial arts? My twins are three years old now and My wife and I have been discussing getting them enrolled sometime in the next few years. My wife is a big proponent of martial arts and had earned her brown belt back when she was in highschool. I have never had any instruction in martial arts but fully beleive in the many benefits.

Matt,

Take your children to watch classes after they hit 6-8 and see what they think,

Make SURE you and the wife go and watch the classes several different times to see what is really going on and who is teaching the Kids

In mixed age classes many times the Kids are left to be taught one on one with lower belts, or a newer "Black Belt" see how often the actual Head Instructor is interacting with the kids

Some styles/schools have special Kid Classes that are very good, also there is a National "Kid Safe" program to look into for a starter

You are more then welcome to call me if you have more questions

I think that the age may vary a little upon the art you choose. I can only speak from my side of the house. We tried to stay away from any child under 6 years. Attention span & class control mean a lot,, take your eyes off a group of 5 year olds for just a minute & they will create their own art,,,, & have half the class participating.

We like to get them between the ages of 6 & 10,,, the main reason for this is they (the children) have yet to develop that protective sense of "space". Lets see if I can explain this right,,,, younger children interact differently when placed together in close contact with each other , such as grappling, throwing. They don't mind the close contact required in the art , as much as a 12 or 14 year old, who is starting to develop their Independence more, their "space" as I call it,,,, not that a 12 year old cannot learn well, its just easier with the younger ones.

Picking the right sensei is most important. Go visit the dojo, watch, ask questions of the other parents. Check the background of the sensei & the history of the club/dojo.

But first, you, the parent, must committ to your child's instruction. In all my time I only had 1 child quit,,, the rest of the times, the parents quit on me. Money problems, you would think, would be the # 1 issue, but no, its not. ,,,, Divorce, split custody, moving to another town, parents work schedule changes,, baseball season is here & little Johnny wants to try his hand at that,,etc. ,,,,

There are sensei's that are members here, I'm sure they can give you some good advice on how their system works.

I was wondering when you were going to jump into the thread Glen,,,,

Definitely not this school: Item # 1101-1816 Knife Show (Katana Break) - YouTube