Kids and MMA

[1bad65]

Wookie, MMA is a sport, and legitimate MMA programs are run in the same vane as organized programs like wrestling, boxing, football etc.

If those programs can provide character building for youth, so can MMA. My concern is that young kids should be performing submissions on one another because their joints are not fully matured.

Your perception of MMA schools seems to be based on your exposure to fanboys online more than experience in a sport gym.

That was a very good post.

Every youth sport has the potential for injury. Even non-contact ones like gymnastics and swimming for example.

Like I said, my instructor is legit and keeps a very close eye on the kids when they perform submissions. Unlike an adult class, only 1 pair is rolling at a time for safety reasons. But again, is an instructor who really is not qualified to be teaching able to teach safely?

SW, what is your experience in MMA? Did you play youth sports? Does your gym have a kids class?

[Shaolin Wookie]

Explain this to me then, b/c I don't see it in the video--

Are there KO's and bloodied faces in kids' MMA? Now, even TKD tourneys have those happen every once and a while, but they're accidents--they're not the modus operandi of the actual sport.

Do you prevent those kinds of injuries by circumventing the usual "pound into submission" platform of MMA?

Yeah, kids have gotten hurt sparring at the school I attend. But again, they're accidents, and you can chalk them up to the "casualties of chance" that you can chalk up to any sport (there are injuries in every sport I've ever played, all of them by accident).

But we're talking about something different, if the point of the match is to hurt the other opponent, are we not? I'm saying, a kid is not physically or mentally in the same state as an adult, and requires a different agenda. It's why point-sparring is legit for kids--it's not about hurting someone, so much as playing a game of tag.

It's just a shame when adults never mature beyond that paradigm.

[1bad65]

Now, even TKD tourneys have those happen every once and a while, but they're accidents--they're not the modus operandi of the actual sport.

You know nothing about MMA or the training for MMA and you are showing it.

Do you prevent those kinds of injuries by circumventing the usual "pound into submission" platform of MMA?

You don't train 'alive' either do you? Newsflash: sparring is done at a much lower intensity that an actual bout. No one at my gym has ever been KO'd in training, but they have KO'd people in actual bouts. Amazing how that works.

[MasterKiller]

Explain this to me then, b/c I don't see it in the video--

Are there KO's and bloodied faces in kids' MMA? Now, even TKD tourneys have those happen every once and a while, but they're accidents--they're not the modus operandi of the actual sport.

Do you prevent those kinds of injuries by circumventing the usual "pound into submission" platform of MMA?.

If you noticed in the video, Pankration rules doesn't permit the kids to strike the head at all. Hard to KO someone and bloody their face when you can't hit their head...

So, in that respect, it's not much different than wrestling + Olympic TKD, which are two very safe sports for kids.

[Ben Gash]

I find it somewhat disturbing to see kids doing stuff that wouldn't be allowed in many adult sub grappling tournaments. I mean that 6 year old got head spiked from a DDT, you can't even do that in UFC! I certainly have real issues with kids doing heel hooks, standing guillotines, neck cranks and G'n'P, all of which we saw there.

[1bad65]

certainly have real issues with kids doing heel hooks, standing guillotines, neck cranks and G'n'P, all of which we saw there.

Like MK said, that 'gym' is a bunch of idiots.

[MasterKiller]

Like MK said, that 'gym' is a bunch of idiots.

No, the video on the first post is kid's pankration. It's not the Garage Boys.

[Becca]

Kids do judo and BJJ and wrestling, these sports don't effect the joints??

Do you really think parents would still be taking thier kids there en-mass if the kids' joints were getting destroyed? The schools would have been shut down due to law suites. A school that's been open for 20 something years with no lawsuiets from former students is one of my favorite ways to "check out" a school. Do the traditional arts affect joints? yes, but so does walking. My point was that the kids will have healthy joints if they wait till late teens to use the skill sets needed for MMA. This is the same reason I don not think children should do any sort of weight program untill thier late teens.

[Black Jack II]

Because of the submission issue, I am against it for kids this young. Not just that but yes, MMA like all other combative sports can help build character, but the other sports have a MUCH LONGER track record of doing so and in my view are much safer from a psychological and physical perspective at this time.

Not to say you can't have your kids do MMA when they are older, teens, but younger that that seem's to be more of a macho play.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Do you really think parents would still be taking thier kids there en-mass if the kids' joints were getting destroyed? The schools would have been shut down due to law suites. A school that's been open for 20 something years with no lawsuiets from former students is one of my favorite ways to "check out" a school. Do the traditional arts affect joints? yes, but so does walking. My point was that the kids will have healthy joints if they wait till late teens to use the skill sets needed for MMA. This is the same reason I don not think children should do any sort of weight program untill thier late teens.

Again, Judo and wrestling do it, sure their are rules in place to keep certain moves out.
Point being is kids can do boxing and KB ( strikes) and they can do judo and wrestling ( grappling) , there is no reason that they can't do both is there?
Adapt the same rules that keep kids safe in those sports to MMA and eliminate the GnP or any striking when down.

[GeneChing]

This is becoming our Kids & MMA thread. Should I change the title?

Mixed martial arts growing in popularity with kids
Posted: March 28, 2008 01:32 PM
Reported by: Rob Carlmark

Mixed martial arts is among the fastest growing sports in America and it is attracting fans of all ages, including kids.

YouTube has dozens of videos of younger kids fighting in the organized sport that some people find shocking.

At The Pit mixed martial arts training center in Arroyo Grande, kids' colorings are right next to the gear. They have more than 300 kids training locally at their gyms, and their "Pit Master" says he helps them get strong physically and mentally, while staying safe.

"It is not a very dangerous sport. It is very well regulated, just like the pros. MMA is much safer than boxing or other sports, and our kids just don't get hurt," said John Hackleman, mixed martial arts trainer at The Pit.

John Hackleman says he has seen only one minor injury in seven years of training with kids.

More Children Learning Mixed Martial Arts
POSTED: 5:55 pm CDT March 28, 2008
UPDATED: 6:23 pm CDT March 28, 2008

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Ultimate fighting isn't just grownup guys trading punches on Pay-Per-View anymore.

The sport is so popular that children as young as 6 are learning, KMBC's Maria Antonia reported.

Instructors at Xtreme Couture Fitness in Independence said there is a right way and a wrong way for children to get into mixed martial arts, which is a combination of martial arts, wrestling and boxing.

Lead instructor John Cornett said that when children start out, they are not allowed to hit each other.

"We don't allow our kids to even spar or make contact with each other," Cornett said.

Medical experts said if children are allowed to cage-fight, it can lead to significant injuries to the neck, bones and ligaments.

Cornett said martial arts requires a lot of training and teaches children discipline.

"If they're able to sit in class, and learn how to read, learn how to do critical thinking, I think they're able to learn how to do a martial art," Cornett.

Meanwhile, the adult version of ultimate fighting is incredibly intense.

"It's raw competition. It's two men in a cage, going at each other, and it's whoever's the best athlete," Cornett said.

One critic of ultimate fighting called it "human ****fighting."

An Associated Press survey found that Missouri may be the only state that explicitly allows youth fights. In other states, it is a misdemeanor, and some states have no regulations.

[Becca]

Again, Judo and wrestling do it, sure their are rules in place to keep certain moves out.
Point being is kids can do boxing and KB ( strikes) and they can do judo and wrestling ( grappling) , there is no reason that they can't do both is there?
Adapt the same rules that keep kids safe in those sports to MMA and eliminate the GnP or any striking when down.

Yes, they can. but they, by and large, do not have the mental framework to stop before maiming. kids shoot kids with guns because they don't spo and think of the outcome before the outcome is in thier face. with some pscycotic sport-parent behind them, a kid with MMA skills would, not could, would be much worse becuase guns are obviously weepons and MMA is sport when used right... but a weopon when used wrong. Some 10-year-olds have the mental framework to tell dad to shove it when dear old dad tells little johnny to "slip" and take out a knee... but most don't. and that kind of disgusting behavior is already prevelant in kids TMA. So by all meens, lets add even more variables, even more technically demanding techniques and see how well little johnny can juggle before something gets missed and he or his opponant end up in a body cast.........

[sanjuro_ronin]

Yes, they can. but they, by and large, do not have the mental framework to stop before maiming. kids shoot kids with guns because they don't spo and think of the outcome before the outcome is in thier face. with some pscycotic sport-parent behind them, a kid with MMA skills would, not could, would be much worse becuase guns are obviously weepons and MMA is sport when used right... but a weopon when used wrong. Some 10-year-olds have the mental framework to tell dad to shove it when dear old dad tells little johnny to "slip" and take out a knee... but most don't. and that kind of disgusting behavior is already prevelant in kids TMA. So by all meens, lets add even more variables, even more technically demanding techniques and see how well little johnny can juggle before something gets missed and he or his opponant end up in a body cast.........

That view must be applied to ALL sport systems for it to hold any merit whatsoever.

Fact is, those things don't happen in Judo, or boxing or wrestling, why would they happen in MMA ?

Again, if one follows the rules of the major sports that have been formulted for kids to keep them safe and competitive, there is no reason not to have the same results in MMA:

Allow strikes with protective gear - Boxing and KB
Allow throws and takedowns - wrestling and judo
Alow pins and submissions(after a certain age and "ranking" - wrestling and judo.

You are not doing anything that isn't already being done.

[Oso]

you're going to have psyco parents in any sport (not to mention things like 5 year old beauty pagents) and the one that suffers the most from that is the kid.

bad kids are going to do bad things with whatever they know, just like adults.

i think the most cogent point is that limitations need to be placed on techniques based on the physiology of kids and there are probably not enough people paying attention to that who can really make a professionally based opinion.

[Becca]

That view must be applied to ALL sport systems for it to hold any merit whatsoever.

Fact is, those things don't happen in Judo, or boxing or wrestling, why would they happen in MMA ?

Again, if one follows the rules of the major sports that have been formulted for kids to keep them safe and competitive, there is no reason not to have the same results in MMA:

Allow strikes with protective gear - Boxing and KB
Allow throws and takedowns - wrestling and judo
Alow pins and submissions(after a certain age and "ranking" - wrestling and judo.

You are not doing anything that isn't already being done.

I do hold that veiw with every sport. Kids need good teachers, more so than adults. If I felt an MMA teacher was very good at teaching children, I'd let my kids do MMA at a young age. I only know a few matial arts teachers who I trust to teach my kids, and only one of those does MMA. He even recomends kids start off with wrestling or other, more traditional arts.

I have also seen kids in sports who shouldn't be in them because of thier parents.