My son is 3 (almost 4) and started TaeKwon-Do a few months ago. He is very focused and well behaved in class and really enjoys it (is almost always really positive about it). My biggest fear though is that by introducing him to it so young that he may 'burn' out and it may put him off it in the future. I should also note that we don't put any pressure on him to train, if he is tired etc and doesn't want to go then we don't force him to. I personally started when I was 11 (for reasons explained in another thread) but I trained in the garage with my Dad before starting a formal class, probably from around 5 years old. Do you have a minimum age in your school and any thoughts on how it impacts long term development? (Clearly it will vary by each kid, but more interested in trends that you may have observed)
I think the minimum age at my school is 4? I notice that a lot of the kids who start that young seem to stick to training until they become teens. It seems like a lot of teens start to explore doing other things and sometimes MA is no longer their priority. But some do stick to it. But whether that is because they started so young, or just a teen thing regardless of the age they start, I don't know.
A lot of teens will begin turning away from things they associate with childhood. I think if one is in a serious school as opposed to a McDojo, the chances of continuation are greater. My oldest son who's 13 now started out in Tae Kwon Do. He spent a year and one-half in a large TKD franchise that is widely considered to be of the "kiddie karate" or McDojo persuasion. From time to time, we'll drive past one of these school's franchises and when he see's it, he laughs it to scorn; absolutely ridicules the place despite its well-funded, slick and organised way of doing things - kids begin to see what's real and what isn't by 13 and anything that smacks of bollocks sticks out like a sore thumb in their minds at that age. We had pulled him out of the 'kiddie karate' place and placed him in a TKD school run by a no-nonsense Korean woman who made the kids earn their belts, had full-contact (minus punches to the face, of course) sparring sessions that left the kids soaked in sweat and oftentimes tears. Her studio was too small, she had nothing to sell and we had to reminder her at times to take our payment as it was all month to month. He still speaks of her in reverent tones. He doesn't use the word 'respect' but he still respects her - the memory that she left with him - though its been 3 or 4 years since he last took TKD. He moved onto boxing and BJJ but you can see that each school of the art left its own (probably lifelong) starkly contrasting impression. I can tell you if we'd not put him in another TKD school, he would've stopped going before he reached 13. If we still lived near Master Park's little studio, he'd be very amiable to begin training with her again. BTW, she would not take anyone under 5 and there were only a couple that were that young in her school, IIRC. Whatever you put your child in, make sure its real - a real, honest representation of that sport or art and chances are very good they'll stick with it and if they do leave, they will return on their own accord.
Our normal 'rule of thumb' has been to limit training to kids who are at least 5 (although if they don't have the focus or maturity to train, we sometimes recommend delaying for another year).
The school we train at starts at 4.5. My son was 4.5 when he started and he definitely had to overcome some maturity issues. He was also the youngest kid in the school (small dojang). A year later that has gotten much better. Will he stick with it? Probably not, but I kind of expected that. Thankfully our school does not make you sign contracts.
That's an interesting question. When we first took him in, the Master was very upfront about this and said he won't move up the grades as quickly as others (I took that to mean he would have to meet the same standards as the other kids and given his age that it was likely to take longer to meet those standards). Now I've been a 2nd Dan Kukkiwon for 11 years and counting so moving up the grades has never been a particular fascination of mine, and my son is just excited to put on his Dobok right now (to be honest, I never even thought about my son moving up the grades which might seem strange to some but never even crossed my mind). At the same time, as he gets older and more aware of the belt system is this going to discourage him? Honestly, he's a very easy going kid so I don't think it will bother him and I'm of the mindset that some of these 7,8,9 year old blackbelts is a farce anyway (think there are already plenty threads on this); my primary goal for him is to get him some exercise and let him do something he enjoys in a structured way... As an aside, at this school jr Blackbelts wear the poom belt (red/black belt).
There is no age limit at my dojo AFAIK, but the teaching method is adapted for the really young ones (from the kids' classes I've observed). The youngest kids there are literally only slightly more than knee-high to me. Also, kids can do kobudo, but can't do sword until Shihan determines they're mature enough.
I assume you are responding to my post? Yes, he is grading like the other kids. I talked to the instructor before because I thought his kicks needed a lot of work but she told me that at this point she was not worried about it because at that age there are limits to a kid's body control (generally, I know there are kids that are the exception). He's learning the different kicks and forms, self-defense and step sparring and a bit of Korean. Over the year he's been training he has definitely made a lot of improvements. Whether this is the best way to teach kids I don't know. I know that at least a reasonable time between gradings offers an incentive for the kids to keep going. All that being said, there are definitely some issues I have with the way we train but honestly, at least for TKD, there is probably not a less McDojo'ish place around.
I'm a it concerned his training partners & friends will move without him. You'll just have to let him know but it'll be an issue I feel? Good luck to him though
My little boy starts TKD in April on his third Birthday. My wife thinks it's too young. At age three the actual amount of TKD he will be doing will be minimal, he already has a cool little side kick as i teach him that all the time and his sister also does TKD. It will be mainly fitness and fun for him so i don't think there should be any age restriction on starting TKD. What it might do at a young age is inject a little discipline. In my last dojang all the guys were very articulate at school universtity etc, nearly all had good jobs and healthy lives that they attributed to TKD. Most of them started from a very young age so i think TKD can be helpful for all aspects of life regardless of age. I don't think it's too early to start. Baza
Where I currently train is adults only. When I was a kid it was 7-15 for our class. I believe the reason was younger than that is difficult to teach within such a wide age range. I don't see any reason why they can't if there's capacity to teach them and there's no expectation to grade as quick as older kids. I started at 9 or 10 then quit when I was 13- but started again in my 20s. In my experience, the reason for teens stopping are either they not enjoying the training or the social aspect. My experience is based on me and my friends who I trainnd with as a teen. TKD and martial arts are not for everyone. If they don't enjoy it because of that then nothing you can do. I think the other not enjoying it is a general it's not cool any more. They might go do something more MMA and that is a branding thing, I don't think there's anything to do about that either. But if they have been well taught hen they will understand TDK well after a few years so be well placed to decide if they want to go back to it once being cool is done with. The social aspect can be dealt with. I think teens need to have people their own age in the class. A lot of classes have pretty broad age ranges (which can't be helped) and they'll enjoy it less if everyone is a few years older or younger. But if there's a few schools around then that can be a factor in which you go to. Though a teen might not totally realise/say that's why they aren't enjoying it as much any more.
I have been debating this regarding my son who I want to enrole at my Kyokushin dojo (he is four turning five in June) who accept students from the age of five. He is showing an interest at home when I am training but I wonder how he would deal with training with other children ie. getting distracted, but on the other side of the coin the discipline learnt can only be a good thing. I would just encourage rather than push him in his training, alot of kids lose interest but will pick it up at a later point ie. teens/twenties. As long as he is active and integrating with other kids that is more important at his age than martial skill.
You find the difference mind blowing at paties for years to come. All the kids that train will be well behaved and all the kids from school running around like little crazy's
I've taught as young as 3, but 4 is generally the usual age to begin. If it's a system like Jeet Kune Do, normally they won't accept anyone younger then 16. I recently retired from Tae kwon Do (teaching) but during my time in Tae Kwon Do I found that around the age of 3-4 generally they last around 5 years. After that other 'things' start to impact their interests. (Such as sports, school, friends, etc...) So if you start them at 4, generally your looking at, at least 5 years of interest before they tend to burn out. But it depends on the child!! I started when I was 4 and 26 years later I'm still going. In fact I believe I'm the only one from my original TKD class still involved to this day!! Also, the rise and interest in Mixed Martial Arts has also affected interest in Traditional Systems. We now only teach Adults, but even in adults the average stay is 3-4 years. :O Good Luck!!:Angel:
