Very good point!

apologies if anybody's posted this before, but you should check out this crazy stuff.

crazy 6 year old

We recently had a lady call into our dojo and ask "Hi, I have an 18 month old kid here and i'm wondering if I can sign him up for karate lessons". My sensei asked "Ma'am, is this a joke," and she said "no". And he began to laugh and said "lady, did one of my students put you up to this. Seriously, you have to be kidding", and the lady said "no i'm not kidding".

He then asked "does he know his left from his right", and she said "well no, hes 18 months old" and he said "Lady, this is a KARATE school. This is not day-care. Go sign him up for other activities, but karate isn't appropriate until hes AT LEAST 6 years old".

Ok, 18 months is obviously too young.

But still, you need to think of the other benefits of martial arts, like confidence and self control. Whether kids can handle your class depends on the expectations of your class.

Our school teaches a lot of kids, some beginning as young as 3. It is a family-centered style, where parents and kids often attend the same class. Discipline is mild to moderate in our classes, and always positive. The pace of the class is kept high, to sustain the interest of the young ones, and to teach us all to be alert and responsive to the events of the moment. Some kids' attention will drift away, then be drawn back in by a new activity or lesson. Teachers allow them to do this, but may ask them to do something else if they are being distracting or getting too close to other students practicing. I have seen some impressive displays of self control from preschool or early elementary age children. And, it makes us "big people" more careful about where we are striking and who is in our space.

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And, it makes us "big people" more careful about where we are striking and who is in our space.

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You see, that's exactly the kind of thing I DON'T want to have to do when I'm practicing.

Having kids in a MA class with adults is detrimental for both of them in my opinion. The adults have to take lots of easy fights, and have to cope with the kids' discipline issues; the kids have to practice in an environment they are simply not old enough to be able to fit in with.

That's not to say kids' classes are a bad idea, it's not my kind of thing personally, but I think that for many kids such things can be very beneficial, just like football, basketball etc. However, any kids under the age of maybe 14, I feel is just too young for them to cope with a group of adults, and it puts the adults in a difficult position of thinking more about being careful with them than focusing on our own training.

Hello Vegantkd:

How does one determine "maturity" specifically? You walk through the door and take a blood test??? How do you instantly filter out a child (or adult) determine maturity I wonder???

Jeff

Hello Supermor:

Could not agree more!!!! Kids & adults in the same class are a very bad idea for precisely the reasons you mention plus one or two I think I could add to that "list". Regardless prefer 15, or 16 before even offering the option to integrate into the adult classes myself... but not guaranteed by any means

Jeff

Hello Eage:

<<18 months obviously too young...

Foolish, foolish man.... A huge unutilized market in DIAPER DANS

Jeff (Running for cover FAST)

hello Olga:

How large a class...? Forgive me, I too am shocked. How do you integrate the physical abilities of 1st graders with the lack of development of the pre-k kids?

Jeff

BTW Jeff, you probably won't get answers for all that, there have only been a couple of posts within the last year.