To force DS to do sport?

[winnybella]

DS will be 8 in a week. He did judo last year and then had a few months break as we moved.
I found a great judo club. DS does not want to go. He is afraid of not being good at it, at getting hurt etc. Thing is, he does not want to do do any other sport either, is scared to learn to ride a bike...
I don't have any ambition to make a great athlete out of him, but I don't think sitting with your DSlite or in front of tv is the way to go either. We live in a city, so I can't just let him go and play outside for few hours to spend some energy and get some fresh air.
I also thought judo is good as it teaches you some self-discipline. He was not bad at it last year, but whined all the time about going, though. He is also the tallest in his class and strong, so any objections are of a psychological nature iyswim.
I feel that if he goes twice a week and sees that he's improving at it ( teacher there seems v.good with kids) it will do wonders for his self-confidence, which he is really, really lacking.
AIBU?

Mutt

Do try karate. You learn at your own pace and it is quite "intellectual" as well in that you learn some japanese and there is lots to remember. Good for flexibility, strength and fitness and it looks cool!

I think let him choose.

And if he doesn´t want to, don´t make him.

But go swimming/cycling as a family.

morning paper- no he is not chubby at all.
Ok, point taken, it doesn't have to be judo.

I still think doing one kind of sport is good for kids, it's not about him exceling in it etc.

If we lived in a countryside and I could just let him out to run around with other kids in the fields, I wouldn't bother, I think.

It's also about him being afraid and having huge confidence issues.

If we lived in a countryside and I could just let him out to run around with other kids in the fields

you would have to live in the countryside in 1850 to do that

if you did that around here he'd be shot

I just checked with DD, Karate is non contact till brown belt and even then they only do it half speed. So if your DS has said he thinks its cool, give it a go.

(having said that, DD was just trying her moves on me and kicked my shin but I think that was my ineptitide and it was barefoot so didn't really hurt)

Its not hugely physical, TBH, but it is disciplined.

Mutt- it's true we are not doing any a lot of sport as a family. I used to do kick- boxing and loved riding my bike,but haven't really done anything since I moved from NY. Except barre au sol, but that is not likely to be inspiring to DS ( it's a ballet workout, but on the floor). I was thinking about signing up for Krav Maga classes, as I thought that might convince him that if his mother can do it, he can also.

morning paper

Grimma, thanks a lot for checking, I will take ds for a class this week and see if he likes it.

I would go for something away from the mainstream. As said, do some research with him and see what he fancies.

There are soooo many - what about fencing? We used to live next door to a very "unsporty" kid who loved it.

Table tennis? Have a look at all the Olympics sports - there are some really out there ones we don't normally consider.

Starlight, really?
It's great for the mind, because it's satisfying to do it and makes you feel good about yourself, because a workout releases endorphins and makes you happy...

I don't know, but even if I just go for a long fast walk, I just feel so much better afterwards, my head id clearer, I have more energy, I'm in better mood...as opposed to seating on my ass, where if I do that for long enough, I just feel more tired, both in mind and body.

Am not talking about training for Olympic Games, you know.

ruhavingalarf- yes, someone had mentioned fencing to me recently, it sounds really cool.

Starlight I haven't been ignoring your posts- just replied a minute ago!
I took the first one about sport being a work of devil to be tongue in cheek!

He has all the stuff like ds lite, Pokemon cards etc that other boys play with, so I don't think it's that.

Good question about what will motivate him...hmmm...will have a think.

Well, dancing is a form of sport isn't it?

ds is very resistant to trying new sports/clubs too, he was worried that he wouldnt be any good and about meeting new people.

managed to get round it by agreeing that if I'd like him to try something and he went 4 times it was then completely his decision if he wanted to continue or not. by the time he did the 4th class he'd got to know other kids and was looking forward to it. he goes to karate and football now and loves both, he's even suggested trying more but there's not enough time in week!

Hopefully if you manage to get him to go a few times he might get hooked.

(confession - also bribed him that if he went 4 times he would get a new game for dslite, but, he forgot about it)

he'll discover that pretty soon

SpringHeeledJack- that's what I thought, too!
I feel like he just needs to see that he can do it and then it will be fine.
I don't want to make him do something he hates, but at the same time he's likely to hate anything, by the looks of it.
Maybe I'll try few things, but then he will HAVE to choose one- does that seem fair?

ooh! ooh! what Lindax said!

[excited]

...do four times rule, plus bribery

yes, he will(sigh)...but surely not for another 6-7 years?

Thanks, Lindax, you're giving me some hope.

Bribery might work! Not sure how ethical it is, but hey, if it works...