Kids in the martial arts

[unknown warrior]

Are kids using the martial arts in the propper manner oor are they using the skills they learn to harm other people? how old should the children be before they start to learn a martial art? Afterall the kids of today will be the instructors of tommorow, so we as martial artists need to make sure that the kids today are learning the correct lessons. Also tradition should play a key role as well. If all instructors taught there students how to fight in competition then the traditional arts will be lost.

Tell me what you think.

[Crouchtig]

it depends on your definition of "proper manner"

martial arts are about fighting and harming people. how can we teach a child to fight and tell them not to use it?

tradition?
dont let tradition restrict you: "why do you hit like that?, it is pointless" answer: "we've always hit that way. we cant break from tradition now can we?"

teach them tradition if thats what they want to learn if not forget it

teach them when they want to learn, they should be old enough to be able to decide for themselves if they want to do martial arts

[terry]

I think that we underestimate what kids are capable of learning. They may not always have the judgement of where to use it and where not to, e.g., I'm trying now to get my 2 year olds not to Thai kick each other. But they can soak up knowledge like sponges. I wouldn't recommend teaching them something you do not personally feel is valuable.

Terry

[Kingston]

First off i think it would be best to let the kids be able to deside wich martial art they take, so however old that is, is when they should start.

if its a family thing for example your teaching your kid, depending on what type of art you train in and how you train, you should start them off disguising it as a game. (the less "harsh" the martial art the lower the age to start them in a regular class, for example TKD could be started 2 weeks after birth BADA BING!)

games are fun i think kids would respond to it better. i would wait until there teens before i would start training them seriously in a martial art. ("the good stuff" in other words)

But it does depend on the type of your martial art and how you teach personaly......

[kengar]

When I was a kid I used to get into fights quite often, after I started TKD the fights went away. I started learning the right reasons to fight, respect for others and everything else fell into place.
I say it is a great thing for kids to grow up doing.

[Hulk]

Ironically, the same can be said for adults. I was dumber than my brother, and he is only 10 years old.