Oh help! I'm confused. Calling mums with boys doing a 'martial art' or anyone that knows about these things.

[TinyGang]

My little ds is 5.5yrs and wants to do a martial art. Our community centre seems to offer lots: judo, karate, ju jitsu and kung fu.

Since my only knowledge of all this is watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kill Bill I have no idea really what the differences are nor what would be best for him.

Help! All advice most welcome. Thanks!

OH lawks, I dunno. I keep wanting to put my ds1, similar age, in to something like this but I've heard they should be 7 or so before they do it properly as it strains the joints. I can't give any advice but will gawk at your thread. HTH. Not

I've been recommended judo as the most all rounder.

But I have no knowledge whatsoever to back up that statement.

Oh you're most welcome Suzy - hopefully we'll learn together

Ds spent yesterday topless covered in his tranfer tattoos kicking the air and shouting 'Heee-YAH!!' with an old scarf tied round his head.

I think he's trying to tell me he's had enough of being married off as the prince in his sisters princess games

DD (10yo) has been doing judo since Sept/Oct. We chose that because DH did judo as a child and there is a club just down the road. We went along to observe a class and put her on the waiting list.

The instruction is great - a great blend IMO of discipline, serious training and fun.

This is quite a useful article .

Judo is the best value activity DD does - £2.50 mat fee for 1.5 hours of activity!

DS1 did karate from 5, but I didn't agonise over "which one" as the karate club was just over the road! I was a bit reluctant to put a lively 5 year old into a class where he would learn to kick, but I was very impressed with the discipline that surrounds the whole thing and the way the children are taught that there's a time and a place to use their new found skills (i.e. in karate class only!!!). I was quite disappointed when he gave it up aged around 10, I thought it was good for his concentration as well as general fitness. Good luck with your choice.

DS2 has been doing karate for about 5 years now (he's just turned 11) and is a brown belt. He has also tried ju jitsu.

One thing which has struck me watching all the children over the years is that they must have the ability to concentrate. 5.5 years might be too young - you know your child. I have seen lots of little ones start and then stop because their concentration wouldn't hold during the lesson - and the instructor is brillian with children, knows how to hold their attention, etc., so it is really the child not a boring lesson. And the problem then is that, if a child starts and then stops, they are unlikely to return because they remember it as being "boring".

Another think to consider is that karate - in the early years - is very much a non-contact discipline. Both judo and ju jitsu are contact sports. Obviously they are done under close supervision and with strict instruction, but it might be something you want to think about.

Thanks for replies so far and Sue that link is really helpful.

I need to check these classes out I think, just to see what's going on. I quite fancy it myself too actually, but heaven help anyone if I fell on top of them. Perhaps I'll just stick to the gym for now.

DS1 (nearly 7) has just gone off to his Karate class. he started when he was 5 and a bit, although he could have started at 4 (bit young IMO). he goes to a specific class for under 7's and has gone from white belt to brown belt 1st kyu (don't ask me what that means). he enjoys it although when you get past the first few belts it becomes a bit more 'serious' and you are supposed to go 2 or 3 times a week, which he doesn't as he doesn't have time. It's good for teaching discipline and concentration but as he's a bit 'physical' anyway and doesn't really know his own strength I'm not sure it has helped teach him self restraint. He will probably give it up within the year - although he likes it I think he'd sometimes rather be playing footie or doing other things outdoors. I don't mind as long as he enjoys himself but at £30/month I'd rather he really loved it than was lukewarm about it!

A firend of mine who is a judu teacher says it's best to start kids on martial arts at around age 8. I can see what he means - I don't really think DS really understands the philosophy behind karate at 6.

Blimey, Wordsmith, your son's karate must be very different from mine. Mine has gone from white, through white with red stripe, red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple and now brown (which is one down from black belt) in 5 years. There is no way anyone could have gone from white to brown in 2-ish years. I assume your belt sequence must be different.

I do agree that, if you can bear to leave it for a year or two, your son is likely to enjoy it more. Children have better coordination as they get older and can whizz through the first 2-3 belts quite quickly, and then get on to the more difficult stuff when they are more capable of managing the moves and remembering sequences of moves.

Mine attend a Wado Ryu dojo locally. They progress through the belts extremely s-l-o-w-l-y. They love it and it is certainly a thinking childs sport. Lots of dedication and concentration required.

It costs £4 per session or £7 per week. The older boys pay £7 and take, on average, three classes a week. The twins do two. Lots of exercise and mental stimulation for the money IMO.

We had a short go at Judo and frankly I was very alarmed at the difference in professionalism between the two classes. Not a reflection on the sport but on the owner I think. All of the martial arts can be spendy initially so enjoy having a few free trial sessions first.

Actually the suits don't have to be expensive. If there are bigger children there, ask their mums if they have any suits their children have outgrown that they would like to sell. DS2 wears karate shoes, but they can be purchased for a few pounds in one of the outlet centres (his instructor was selling Blitz ones for about £35-40 a pair, but I buy Lonsdale ones for £15!).

You will have to buy a licence annually - but that's good because it also carries insurance in case of injury (although the possibility of injury in karate is virtually nil until you get to black belt, and even then everything is so controlled that it is rare for anyone to get hurt).

The gradings, when they go from one belt to the next, cost £15, but that includes the cost of the new belt.

My dd has done Wado Ryu karate for 3 years, since she was just 5. At first I thought she'd never stick it because she couldn't concentrate, but they are very lenient with the littlies and she kept wanting to go, so I kept taking her.

I've been amazed to see her gradually focus and become more attentive. Her older cousins all do karate which helps to motivate her - when they visit they sometimes train with her.

She's now a second blue (the order of belts differs from school to school) which means she has to do a set number of hours' training before she can grade again. Training is stricter and more is expected of them at this level. But still she sticks to it and asks to go on a Saturday as well.

Mind you I sat through every session for the first 2 years in case one of the big shouty instructors was nasty to her (they never were).

I've watched so many karate training sessions, I'm sure I could grade up to blue belt myself straight away!

DD has been doing kickboxing since she was 4 and enjoys it. Maybe he could try each one out over a few weeks and see which he likes best?

I am amazed, tbh, how quickly children seem to fly through the gradings in martial arts these days. I'm sure when I was young it wasn't anywhere near as quick to get through them - and brown belts were something you might get onto when you were grown up.

Is karate mainly sequences/moves performed alone then? Although judo was our default through ease of access to class and DH's experience, I had always thought karate was far more brutal (influence of Karate Kid films probably!) and so never even considered it for DD. Shows how important it is to go and watch classes if pssible to get rid of preconceptions.

DD's judo classes incorporate a lot of physical contact and gymnastics - handstands into forward rolls, backward rolls into handstands, diving forward rolls, cartwheels, etc. This week they were doing diving forward rolls over another child curled up into a ball. The best kids could dive over five children curled up in a row. I just closed my eyes....

If the instructor knows his business, children should not go through gradings very quickly. It takes time to acquire the skills and basic moves to accomplish each kata and combination moves. Some schools seem to require children to attend more than one class a week, plus attend specific kata courses, but I've never come across that personally. Obviously most instructors do these classes to make money, so it is worth investigating whether additional classes are required, as this may be a means to make more money.

Any martial arts discipline is going to take a long time to master. If it were that easy to go through the grades, there wouldn't be much kudos in achieving the higher grades as anyone could do it.

Any school which suggests that your child could become a brown or black belt relatively quickly, or through attending lots of compulsory additional classes, should be avoided. Competence only comes with time - and a lot of practice.

Best thing I can suggest is that you go along to watch a class for each discipline and see if it is the kind of thing you want your son to do.

Judo is predominantly floor work and is very physical. Karate and ju jitsu are mainly striking arts (ie punching and kicking) Kung fu tends to be a bit of everything. How much contact is involved varies from style to style in each of the arts and depending on the governing association for the instructor.

All instructors should hold a first aid certificate and a CRB. I wouold be wary of anyone starting children below the age of 5, who want fees paid upfront or who will not let you watch to see if your child is settling in and happy.

Hope this helps.

Fantastic advice from you all - thank you all so much. I feel a bit better informed and think the advice you give mummyhill, about going with him to watch a class or two, is very sensible. I think that's what I will do.

The Judo class does not look like a possibility because I notice it's on rather late for my little chap. I am going to investigate properly though befoore I sign up for anything. This is the first time he will have done any regular class type thing, apart from swimming.

Thanks again everyone

I agree with whoever said (sorry) that they shouldn't go through the gradings quickly. It should be a slow and steady progress and they shouldn't be put up for grading until they are totally ready. My son has been going for years and is only now going for his first colour - I watch him and I am totally stunned by his abilities - really complicated moves and he is so strong and flexible. His confidence in this area is so much better than anything is school but he is modest and quiet about it (most unlike him) His teacher tells me that he was a slow learner but now he is doing amazing things - he simply couldn't concentrate enough when younger. I am now delighted that we encouraged him to continue when he went through a phase of wanting to stay at home and slob on a Sunday morning.

I think that different schools of karate have different grading methods. A friend of his goes to a different school and is on a brown belt but has only been graded a few times.

Suits are cheap if you can get them second hand which we have. I don't think they are too expensive new TBH but we'll find out as DS is growing out of his. They need licencing from the moment they start classes these days and it lasts 12 months.

I'm starting classes soon. Not quite sure what that will be like but looking forward to it.