What age do you think is a good one to start kung fu?

[SPJ]

if you are a boy and try to lift something heavy or strain too much.

there could be herniation of the testicles etc.

one of a few things I heard that not to train too hard for kung fu when you are young.

--

also you may not grow too tall etc. wonder why Jackie Chan (Kung Fu opera) and Jet Li (wushu champ at 13) are not tall

people lifting heavy stuff in the olympics are kind of short athletes, too.

--

[Crushing Step]

What are your opinions then on heavy bag training? I'm sure young bones wouldn't react well until a certain age. I have my opinion, but am looking for something possibly back with fact.

[David Jamieson]

What are your opinions then on heavy bag training? I'm sure young bones wouldn't react well until a certain age. I have my opinion, but am looking for something possibly back with fact.

fact: bone is not fully developed until the age of 18-20 in humans.

It is the way that skeletons are aged in archaeology. Prior to bones being fully fused and the skull no longer having a soft spot the skeletons can be aged accurately to early teens and pre-adult.

impact and force that is delivered steadily to developing bones can deform them over time. (children who ride horses all the time, like daily, invariably wind up bow legged)

however, there are age appropriate equivalents in all sports and martial activities.

for most young children, martial arts is about listening, learning to work in a group and by themselves and so on.

For adults it can be about self defense, fight training in a sportive capacity, esoteric ritualistic rumination with the body and so on.

giving adult lessons to young kids is indicative of not knowing how to teach and not understanding the progressive learning model that must be applied to long term martial arts training.

[Crushing Step]

Outstanding response, thank you!

I do know as a 14 year old starting TKD, I had an issue hitting heavy bags. It hurt and I was afraid to go full power. I didn't come back to heavy bag training until I was 19 or 20, and was able to build up slowly to full power with no problem.

So would you say that a younger individual training on a heavy bag could damage their hand structure permanently, or just be more susceptable to injury?

[David Jamieson]

Outstanding response, thank you!

I do know as a 14 year old starting TKD, I had an issue hitting heavy bags. It hurt and I was afraid to go full power. I didn't come back to heavy bag training until I was 19 or 20, and was able to build up slowly to full power with no problem.

So would you say that a younger individual training on a heavy bag could damage their hand structure permanently, or just be more susceptable to injury?

continuous force delivery is not good for a young person.

a great number of bones are in the hands and repetitive stress upon soft bone can deform it and can lead to problems when it does ossify to a great extent later on.

the hand bones can be developed later when they harden.

striking and force drills are not really encouraged except on very pillowy type shields and such for kids where force is not being returned to them.

with a heavy bag, everytime you hit it, force comes back into you. for an adult, that will increase density in soft tissue and cause microfracturing in bones which will in turn make the bones harder in the long run (a by-product of iron skills as well)

for kids, not a great idea. eye / hand co-ordination can be trained without force feedback.

a soft hanging bag can serve this purpose.

force conditioning children is really not a good idea.

[PlumDragon]

however, there are age appropriate equivalents in all sports and martial activities.

This is right on. Regardless of activity (whether it be sports, martial arts, gymnastics, chess, fishing, etc etc), there is always a proportionate level that is suitable for children--finding that level is the job of the teacher...

My child is 1.5 years old, and while he is still a *long* ways away from serious training, he absolutely loves holding a pair of sticks and flailing them around. So right now, his training consists of doing whatever he wishes with a pair of foam sticks...hes building very very basic muscular coordination and he will be way ahead of the power curve by the time he is 10 or 12.