should young kids do a martial art?

BKJ1216 · Black Belt

I don't think really young kids should do martial arts. Mostly because they don't understand what they're about. When I first started when I was 7 I thought it was all abotu fighting. So as you would predict I quit after the first two classes because we never fought. So you should probably wait until they're atleast 12.
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White Belt- Shudokan Karate

Martial_Artist · Pre-Black Belt

I learned martial arts at a very, very young age. I was wielding nunchaku at 8 and wakisashi at 9. I was also using firearms at 8. I was punching and kicking well before I was taught weapons. At 10 I was taught the spear. When I graduated elementary school I was pretty well rounded in the martial arts. (I was also using light-weight compound bows). All of that early training was for my benefit. As my body learned to adjust to itself and better its coordination the martial arts were there right along side that development. I learned to kick the time I learned to walk. Both are just as effortless. Do you think about walking from one point to another? It's pretty much instinctive.

My point is that starting young is a good idea, but it shouldn't be done without forethought. Each child is unique and that should be taken into consideration. I have a nephew 4 yrs. old. He isn't being taught because he isn't ready.

However, both of my sons 2yrs and younger are being taught. The eldest, 2 yrs, can punch hard enough to cause a nose to bleed, and can kick on his own without holding on to anything. He does it naturally. Sometimes he just walks around kicking, without even really thinking about it. As they grow older they will learn the art behind the martial. I have no fear that they will grow up to be anything other than fine martial artists.

Teaching young children, however, in a school is something I would not do. It's something that must be done at home. A child that young won't learn what he must from a stranger in the same way he would learn from his father or mother.

MA.
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"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." Einstein

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