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Thread: Training Kids

  1. #16

  2. #17
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    I don't mean 8 is too old for a person to start! I am saying that my boys are kicking and I don't think they should wait until they are eight. Since it seems two is too young, then what could I show them at home until they are three or an age where they could begin a school? Is it more discipline, form, or fun that I should have them mimic?
    **********************************************


  3. #18
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    start em whenever they are willing to cooperate. theres no set answer on this one .... just gotta play it by ear.

    no one knows your boys better than yourself.
    where's my beer?

  4. #19
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    a motivated kid is hard to find at an age below 10 or so.

    an absolute rarity at under 8 years old.

    Most "training" of kids at ages below twelves is little more than romper room in a gi.
    if you want to do daycare martial arts, then that is up to you.

    Im not saying there isn't a special kid out there who can really excel at it, Im saying that kid is very hard to find, if at all, especially here in North America.
    The time and effort investment in most kids is only worth it if their parents are paying you.

    In my experience, 1 in 100 kids is motivated and the rest are sent there by their parents who want them to do something after school, or maybe the kid gained an interest in it from cartoons etc etc. Like anyone, when the realization of what hard work it is kicks in, kids will back away just like adults do.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  5. #20

    Help

    So an unexpected thing happened. On Saturday, I had my son and daughter doing animal drills, tiger vs. crane, leopard vs. snake, etc. They were totally into it.

    So what do you think happened Saturday night? They were horsing around all over the house doing animal drills.

    Same thing Sunday morning. Same thing Sunday afternoon.

    So last night I totally freaked out and sat them down and discussed the appropriateness of martial arts outside the home, school, etc., and they shouldn't be doing that at school.

    I think they might have understood. My daughter seems to get it.

    But now I am extremely afraid my son is going to be going to school trying to do drills with people.

  6. #21
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    tell him if he does santa will shoot and eat the easter bunny.
    where's my beer?

  7. #22

    Talk with principal

    So the principal at my kids school called, because I'm leading one of the projects that's doing some improvements around the school.

    It's a pretty small private school. So she goes, "Yeah, I noticed this morning at recess that --- (my son) was playing some new game today with some of the kids, play fighting like animals."

    I'm not really knowing what to say, so I go, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. He was watching that Disney Movie, Wendy Wu, so I taught him a little bit of martial arts."

    She's like, "Well they seem to be having fun and nobody seems to be getting hurt. My daughter watched that, and now she wants to take kung fu. I didn't know you were a kung fu teacher."

    I'm like, "I'm not ... I was just teaching them the stuff that my teacher taught me when I was a kid, which is an animal style like they were doing on that show." So she asks me how long I've been doing it and stuff.

    Yikes!!! Methinks this might have been a big mistake.

  8. #23
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    if santa shoots the easter bunny jesus will write him off and this will start a celestial war the likes of which we've never seen.

    the skies will cry with the blood of the fallen.
    where's my beer?

  9. #24
    Some kids at school already told them about Santa and the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy. Kids are pretty sophisticated these days about stuff like that.

    Maybe take away all the Star Wars stuff, and if that fails, threaten the Playstation and X-Box ???

    Oh, boy ... at least the principal's daughter watched that thing or it might have been Ritalin for poor little guy.

  10. #25
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    Neil, sounds like you've got a good attitude to it.

    They'll probably obsess over it for a while and then get into dinosaurs or drugs or something as they get older. And as long as you can keep showing them bits and bobs to keep them interested they're more likely to get into it more and less likely to get into drugs.

    You could even use it as a bribe... "If you're good, I'll show you how the bunny rabbits fight...". Well, perhaps not the bunnies, cos Santa seems to have the tactical firearms advantage there.

    Ahem, anyway, as other people have said, it can't hurt to have htem start as young as they are interested. I've taught and helped teach tens of kids and it's been great seeing them develop and mature.

    And as others have said, be careful what you teach them... certainly until 12 or so, their joints are still knitting, and punching things shouldn't be encouraged, nor should most of the joint locks or extreme flexibility training. Sure, I know Thai boxers start at 5 or so in Thailand, but a lot of them are in a lot of pain and effectively unemployable by the time they're 30, and I know a lot of trad fu-sters and gymnasts start young, but again, I wouldn't want their joints when they get older.

  11. #26
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    all i know is the little girl in pink has got a vicious rear naked choke

    and her tai kicks are comin along nicely too. she owes me a pic of choking daddy out for fathers day so ill see what i can do.
    where's my beer?

  12. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Mat
    extreme flexibility training.
    My daughter is so flexible she can do the splits and bend completely over so her heads between her legs. My son, however, is a complete klutz ... very funny klutz.

    One of my son's friends was over and now he wants to learn martial arts too ... I'm not sure I want the liability, though. One little hooligan running around with tiger claws is bad enough.

    I talked to another parent on the improvements committee, and she didn't hear anything about the play-fighting, so perhaps it will blow over.

  13. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by GunnedDownAtrocity
    all i know is the little girl in pink has got a vicious rear naked choke

    and her tai kicks are comin along nicely too. she owes me a pic of choking daddy out for fathers day so ill see what i can do.
    The taller one looks a lot like my daughter, except now when she plays with my son, she's always knocking him over backwards.

    Oh, what have I done. I think the training is going to have to stop. I hardly got them to bed tonight because they were playing Shaolin showdown all over the house.

  14. #29
    Kids will always be kids. They would play fights one way or the other.


  15. #30
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    It's never too early to start teaching your own kids, but putting them in a class is another matter.

    Some kids are mature enough at 5+ and some aren't. We have this one 5 year old who acts retarded, and would require my full attention the whole class to get him to learn half of what the other kids learn. His mom's sits and watches, wondering why we don't run over and correct him every time.

    We have another little girl who is about 7 and puts the other kids to shame. She's better than many of the older kids and adults at her rank, but she is not dedicated to the art or class.

    If they can't pay attention during class or otherwise need special attention, it's too soon.

    Personally I don't like teaching kids, because most play as much as they learn. When I open my own school, I won't personally teach those below 12. I might hire a special "kid's instructor" if I need the extra income, but other than the money why waste my time and effort trying to teach someone not ready to learn? What's good for the bank account isn't all ways best for the school.

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    or...
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    - 三和拳

    "Civilize the mind but make savage the body" Mao Tse Tsung

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