Children Martial Art Training

[Jimbo]

...see where that's got me? You'd think I'd be more skilled..

It's very different in elsewhere where martial arts is more a part of the culture. All those kids at Shaolin starting super young - that's so impressive. Here in the U.S., we're a gun culture. Firearms fueled our revolution and are such a political issue. That puts martial arts in a different light, one that begs the question - when should gun training begin?

I know there are plenty of militant gun nuts out there, but there are also a lot of people who were taught proper gun safety as kids. Most often those who grew up in rural areas. I’ve known people from such places who started learning proper firearm safety from as young as age 6 or 8, and it is especially common in families that rely on hunting to supplement their food supplies, and field dress and eat what they kill. Such kids are far less likely to become gangbangers or mass shooters, and less likely to be fooling around with a gun and accidentally shooting someone. Not only have they learned proper gun safety, but there is no ‘forbidden mystery’ around guns. In many cases, in states where CCW is easier to obtain, such a person is probably more likely to be someone who stops (or tries to stop) a mass shooter.

I say this, and I’m not a ‘gun guy’ myself. Like anything else, whether habituating a young person to firearms (or martial arts) is good or not is an individual thing. The important thing is the character of the child him/herself.

[Djuan]

I say this, and I’m not a ‘gun guy’ myself. Like anything else, whether habituating a young person to firearms (or martial arts) is good or not is an individual thing. The important thing is the character of the child him/herself.

Fair enough.