Any martial artists here?

[StreetMedic]

Wondering if anyone's got any experience/opinions.

We're toying with the idea of signing our son up for judo.

He's not quite six, but he still hasn't really done any type of organized sports, yet.

I've got a co-worker whose son has been going for a few years to this one school nearby, and he couldn't say enough good things about it.

Without belaboring the specifics, we began looking into it several weeks ago, and were impressed. This is no fly-by-night operation; the owner is a former olympian (bronze-medal, IIRC). We brought the little guy over there for a visit, and he loved it.

Anyone done this sort of thing before? Judo specifically? Your kids?

Can anyone recommend, maybe, a different martial artform?

Thanks for thoughts, if any.

[Coach Owens]

I took Tae Kwon Do for a couple of years. It was pretty fun.

[StreetMedic]

I took Tae Kwon Do for a couple of years. It was pretty fun.

How old were you, at the time, Coach, if you don't mind my asking?

TKD's got an even heavier emphasis on actual self-defense techniques than other martial arts, no?

[reflections]

Akido, Judo, Sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are all going to be grappling type martial arts which are going to teach patience, discipline and endurance.
I took Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a year and their were kid classes. Not sure what kind of teachings your looking for, but I would start with any of those.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

I took karate for a while when I was 7 or 8 or so, I was too young to be able to remember any specifics now though.

[BINGLEBOP]

I have my black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I started it when I was 11, a little older than your son. I think I have all those years of Tae Kwon Do to thank for my high metabolism. It was not only a good way to learn self-defense, but a great way to learn self-confidence. There's a lot more that goes into it than just the physical aspect. At our school, there were requirements (the "tenets of Tae Kwon Do") which were anything from "respecting your parents and elders" to maintaining a certain grade point average in school or we would not be eligible to participate in tournament action - which was the fun part for us (ah those roadtrips)! Our school in Grand Rapids (MN) had so many talented performers that a few of us, including myself, were going to go to the Junior Olympics in 2000, but I ended up injured before that in a non-related injury, so that ended those hopes.

That's an excellent idea that you're getting him involved at a young age. When I was in Tae Kwon Do, there were three sets of classes, divided by age group, so everybody was able to train with people around their age (or skill level, if they were advanced), but at the same time, the older members were still there to help out and instruct the younger members when they needed assistance. I couldn't speak for judo personally, but I have a couple of friends who practice judo and they say positive things about it as well.

Regardless of what branch of martial arts you choose, you are doing the right thing by doing your research beforehand, learning the instructor's credentials, and so on.

[WHAK0985]

I took Tae Kwon Do for years and am currently a second degree black belt. I would highly recommend tae kwon do, especially for young kids. It's not just the physical aspects, but all the other stuff that comes with it. Sure, it's a great workout. It increases flexibility, builds strength, and keeps you fit with the regular workouts several times a week.

But most importantly, it teaches you discipline, perseverance, endurance, teamwork, patience, etiquette, among other great character building traits. It's not anything like The Karate Kid or any of those movie dramatizations where it's all about trying to hit/injure/maim people. Sure there are definitely competitions and sparring is a big part of tae kwon do. But those are just processes to reach the overall goal of making you a better person. I know it sounds really cliche, but it really does help instill good qualities, especially in young people.

I started when I was in fourth grade and kept it up through college. My little brother started when he was around first/second grade too. If you can find a great, friendly community setting that teaches beginner's classes, I would highly recommend it.

[WHAK0985]

Regardless of what branch of martial arts you choose, you are doing the right thing by doing your research beforehand, learning the instructor's credentials, and so on.

Great point. DEFINITELY make sure the instructor(s) are credible. There are martial arts instructors out there who are nothing more than glorified brawlers.

[BINGLEBOP]

Great point. DEFINITELY make sure the instructor(s) are credible. There are martial arts instructors out there who are nothing more than glorified brawlers.

Yep, exactly! Or "belt factories", where you pay your monthly dues and you can just buy a belt with little or no requirements to earn it.

Regardless of what you decide, I think a great question to ask any potential instructor would be what your son will get out of it besides self-defense skills. That's a given, but if that's all they teach, then I think you (and your son) could do better.

[StreetMedic]

I couldn't speak for judo personally, but I have a couple of friends who practice judo and they say positive things about it as well.

Thanks for your thoughts, Bing, and everyone.

Yeh, we liked judo, and this school, for a couple of reasons:

• much emphasis on respect and discipline

• statistically, judo is one of the safest sports in which youths can be involved

• emphasis on conflict-avoidance and deescalation, first, in this school

in terms of the self-defense aspect (which was not the foremost consideration, but definitely something we weighed):

• judo, at least as taught in this school, has no striking

• judo has a heavy emphasis on ground-fighting. In my experience, most playground- and street-fights end up on the ground pretty quickly

• in training, judo is practiced at full-strength and full-speed (ie., no slow-mo or "pulled punches"), which I think would be advantageous if he ever needed to use his skills "for real", in an actual dust-up

[BINGLEBOP]

• emphasis on conflict-avoidance and deescalation, first, in this school

This is another excellent point, and a positive sign about the school you're considering. We had the same thing in our Tae Kwon Do school. In fact, if any student was found to have started a fight, they were kicked out immediately... regardless of what rank they achieved or how talented of a student they happened to be. Our instructor was an adolescent psychologist as well, so he knew most of the teachers, as well as the principals, in each school and would know if somebody was written up.

[ragecage]

Not much of a kung fu master, but I did master the E. Honda Hand slap.

[boomboom]

That's an excellent idea that you're getting him involved at a young age. When I was in Tae Kwon Do, there were three sets of classes, divided by age group, so everybody was able to train with people around their age (or skill level, if they were advanced), but at the same time, the older members were still there to help out and instruct the younger members when they needed assistance. I couldn't speak for judo personally, but I have a couple of friends who practice judo and they say positive things about it as well.

Regardless of what branch of martial arts you choose, you are doing the right thing by doing your research beforehand, learning the instructor's credentials, and so on.

I would do your research, I earned my Blackbelt in March of 1999. I was 16 years old. I started at age 7.

The one thing about Martial Arts is that I can walk away from any fight and still have my honor, thou I won't walk away if one of my loved ones (friends or family) is hurt or in a fight. I also learned respect, honor, indominal spirit and many other intangable things that have made me very successful in my life. The school I attended was True Martial Arts,

www.truemartialarts.com, My instructor died in 2001, and that is when I quit.

[mtg712]

i learned krav maga when i was in the navy. they teach it to Israeli Defense Forces. its pretty fun.

[rogue9]

Thanks for your thoughts, Bing, and everyone.

Yeh, we liked judo, and this school, for a couple of reasons:

• much emphasis on respect and discipline

• statistically, judo is one of the safest sports in which youths can be involved

• emphasis on conflict-avoidance and deescalation, first, in this school

in terms of the self-defense aspect (which was not the foremost consideration, but definitely something we weighed):

• judo, at least as taught in this school, has no striking

• judo has a heavy emphasis on ground-fighting. In my experience, most playground- and street-fights end up on the ground pretty quickly

• in training, judo is practiced at full-strength and full-speed (ie., no slow-mo or "pulled punches"), which I think would be advantageous if he ever needed to use his skills "for real", in an actual dust-up

I took Judo for a few years starting when I was in 8th grade. I earned my 1st green, and was almost ready to test for brown when I stopped due to being too busy.

Judo is great. My instructor taught real world, self defense type Judo, not sport Judo (which you may encounter with an olympian instructor). Nothing wrong with sport Judo though. It sounds like this instructor you are looking at has all the right things going, with conflict avoidance and such.

My instructor taught us how to punch and kick properly, although never on each other. He also taught us how to parry and block punches/kicks, which I think is important. If you can parry or block a couple punches, to give yourself time to get close to use the throws you have learned, that is important.

Your son will likely first learn the basics of rolls and falls (tumbling essentially). And then starting learning basic throws, such as Osoto Gari (i think thats how its spelled, been a long time) and Ogoshi. The first is a throw using your leg, and your arms to put your opponent off balance and sweep his leg out from under him taking him to the ground. The second is a hip throw, taking your opponent completly off the ground and then putting his whole body there.

I have a 2 year old son and I plan on putting him in Judo if I can find a studio I like in a few years. Its an excellent way to learn self defense, self control, and confidence.

My advice would be to make sure that you approve of the instructors methods and teachings. I don't think there is anything wrong with Judo itself, but you could have problems with the way its taught.

From the sounds of what you have posted though, you probably have a pretty good instructor there. Just observe a few classes, even some advanced classes, even though your son won't be in them for a while, to see what he will be taught and how, later on.

Good luck.

**edit**

Also, my instructor taught young children the same age as yours. So I don't think age should be an issue. The younger he starts, the easier it will all come, and the faster he should advance. It should be a great experience.