Martial Arts-can they be combined?

[LordOfTheFlies]

DS 11yo does Ishinryu Karate at the moment.(He's done karate since he was 5). Would it be a bad or good idea for him to do kick-boxing?
I don't know anything about the sport , but I feel his punches and sparring needs a bit more ooomph.
Thanks for any advice.

does he practise? do you do it too?

maybe he needs to put more into what he is doing already, dont know specifically about those martial arts though, i do t'ai chi & sometimes gongfu

I don't think it's a particularly good idea to do kickboxing as well. What do you feel is lacking about his sparring? Technique? Or power? At his age he shouldn't really be doing much beyond light contact- so his opponent should only feel a touch.

If you feel he lacks power, you could try getting him to practice his techniques under tension- so for instance, stand in front of him and have him do a stomach level punch slowly but with strength. Lean into it and get him to push against you.

Do you train together?

Thanks for the replies.I don't do any martial arts,so we don't train together.
When they pair up in class there is NO CONTACT, unless it's one of those punch boards that the sensi (spell) holds.
I just feel watching him his moves are a bit,well, feeble. I can't suggest he visualises punching his sister
If the kickboxing was practise with a punchbag it would give him a chance to put more power into it IYSWIM.
Bodywise he's got less fat than the proverbial butchers pencil!

Do you have anywhere you can hang a bag at your place? We have one of the back verandah for DP and I and the kids will often give it a workout.
What belt is he? I can understand his punches and kicks would be feeble after only pretending to kick for 6 years. DP is 2nd dan Zen Do Kai and also black singlet Muay Thai so yes you can combine two codes successfully. We do full contact, we wear pads and have kick pads as well.

He's had a bit of a chequered past with his karate. Since 5yo he's been to 4 clubs( no he's hasn't been thrown out!2 of the clubs closed down)
He got up to green belt but then was re-assessed to orange then at his new club started from scratch.He's currantly red belt.
He says he enjoys it but I don't know if he's maybe had enough.He wasn't at all phased to be re-assessed in belts,I think it took the pressure off him.
He doesn't want to do Judo, so that's why I thought of the kickboxing.
I'm not a pushy mum,obviously with children they have days when they can't be bothered,but if he said he wanted to quit I wouldn't make him continue.