What is best martial arts for kids 5-7 years old?
Goals:
- healthy
- confident
- bully proof
Thanks
Best Martial Arts for Kids
hentabara on 08/02/2023 - 11:52
Poll Options
- 80BJJ
- 18Karate
- 43Taekwondo
- 9MuayThai
- 8MMA
- 11Boxing
- 7Ninjutsu
- 78Doesnt matter
- 12Others, please comment.
Comments
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Shaolin Monk Kicked in Balls Repeatedly
bully proof
That's not how it works
But the movies told me it was
That's not how it works
OP: but I want my kid to assert dominance and become the Alpha male.
Alpha male.
or female
Or “Other”
Watch The Karate Kid and prove me wrong
That's not how it works
Most of the time, that's exactly how that works.
Bullies are cowards, they like easy targets, and a little physical fitness and even very VERY basic fighting skills is enough to give kids some physical confidence (or even defend themselves a little, though that's rarely actually necessary).
That's often enough to get the bully to give up or move on.
study the blade
American kids learning how useless any of these are, when their friend starts blastin
Gun Kata then
bully proof
Cobra Kai! Become the bully
strike first, strike hard
no mercy
Sweep the leg Johnny!
That's usually what happens when most kids start learning a martial art.
Plus you go from being a complete noob to your dojo’s best student in about a month
Usually a grappling one - eg Wrestling, judo or bjj (need to have a standing element).
Reasons being:
- Striking at a young age is mixed due to head trauma and also can be perceived as being the aggressor. That said, it's still good to understand some striking and distance management.
- Wrestling and judo help a lot with taking it to the ground (eg on oval, mulch etc) and the ability to pin and escape from pins. If the kid is pushed up against the wall, on the ground or needs to manage distance.
- BJJ is okay for holds and chokes but sometimes lacks stand up skills and might lead to joint locks that leave the kid vulnerable.
A good MMA focused gym with wrestling/judo + bjj would be preferred. The fitness element will easily be met with those. Add in some footwork and understanding strikes and you'll be good.
The bully proof aspect is more to do with the kid having confidence, having athleticism and being able to react. Having good hand fighting and grips with grappling at a good level means easily being able to control, restrain and pin/submit someone or getting a safe takedown/sweep to end the altercation.
^^This^^
We are talking for 5 - 7 y.o., but:
- Any sort of exercise is better for a childs (and adults) health
- Confidence comes from socialisation as much as anything; attending classes such as these will also demonstrate that the participant will win sometimes, and lose other times
- Bully proof is not possible; bullies will have a go (at least once) no matter what; but confidence and some basic grappling skills (and knowing when to use them) should negate further attempts from the bullyOther benefits: having fun, being respectful, discipline.
I would also say at that age and onwards, you would want some fun element.
Your child can make friends there and in Aus kids tend to move to team sports as get older or stuff like gymnastics and dancing. The athleticism and stuff like learning how to break fall will still be useful.
Yeah and kids can't punch or kick very hard anyway.
School fights are almost always on the ground.
Kid's BJJ is very self-defense focused.
https://www.reddit.com/r/schoolfights2/top/?t=all
From these videos above, need to have striking as well.
Almost every video is a few hopelessly ineffective punches, and then two kids rolling around on the ground…
I put my son in Krav Maga.
They teach how to avoid a physical confrontation and if it turns physical, how to get out of it by causing them pain / discomfort then GTFO.
I was going to suggest this but it could easily lead to the perception that the victim is the aggressor due to the imbalance of harm.
That's a very interesting point. Curious to know how often this (victim as aggressor perception / gets prosecuted) actually happens?
gets prosecuted
Never for a seven year old. They have no criminal responsibility.
I am a Krav Maga Instructor and we teach student reasonable force even though Krav Maga means literally 'contact combat', its knowing when to turn the aggression level on and off, you do what you need to do to Neutralize the threat and get the out quickly. The best form of defense is try not to get your self into a situation in the first place.
@starletgtrx7: That's all well and good for a mature brain but I hadn't fully developed a sense of empathy at 7 years old.
Soccer
Spectators or players?
First lesson: fall to ground, holding ear.
Pretty sure OP didn’t ask about acting classes
I put my kids in a few different ones and at that age they aren't really learning anything useful. Think of it as an hour gym class.
Agreed.
I used to teach them, as a teenager in my local club. And later as an adult, at an American summer camp.
1 in every class will be very switched-on, and soaking it all up like a sponge. Get bored fast, cos they need constant advancement & attention.
The rest… “an hour gym class” is exactly what they need & love. Friends, fun, fitness. McDojo. Running around, kicking bags, silly stuff
It’s more about the coach, than the type of martial arts. My kids do MMA, and classes are Muay Thai, BJJ, wrestling. Really helped their confidence, and the coaches are fantastic
And we know how some people in USA has handled this… not with Martial arts.
What OP is asking is a slippery slope.
+1
"How can I encourage my child to potentially wind up assaulting some other kid that'll make me the laughing stock of the entire school, get my child expelled and win me a day in court with a huge settlement that I'll be liable for".
Yes. Much better to have your child beaten up and possibly have psychological issues for life.
No, it's much better to avoid both outcomes since they're both equally bad.
Sending your children to a decent school that isn't a juvenile detention centre in all but name and cultivating mental resiliency and good problem-solving/negotiating skills are much better life lessons to instil in them as opposed to "hurr durrr kids you gotta HULK SMASH all your problems in life" as the window of time in their lives in which such solutions are an acceptable reaction is extremely narrow and even if they're in the right, they will still likely face a whole host of social/legal/financial issues as a result of the decision to use violence as means to resolve personal disputes.
Any time a parent is seriously advocating to their child that they should use violence to achieve any outcome other than in the context of defending themselves in a life-or-death self-defence situation; that parent is an abject moron and failure of a person.
@Gnostikos: I disagree. It's 100% ok for my kids to take actions to stop other kids from physically hassling them. That doesn't mean break arms or legs, but it does mean using their bodies.
Sure I'd prefer it not to come to that but if it did, it's great that they have an idea of how. And its not just a school thing. Wheat about at the train station on a Friday night? Very, very hard to negotiate your way out of getting hassled by thugs in that situation.
@Sxio: You're still missing the point and you clearly know nothing about being in a fight.
Even if you "win" in a self-defence situation, you can end up with a concussion, broken bones, lacerations/permanent scarring, missing teeth or worse.
Traumatic brain injury and CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is a medical phenomena that is only now beginning to be understood as the grave, life-altering consequence of blunt force trauma to the head that can result in a huge range of permanent physical, neurological and psychological issues and it can be acquired from a single blow to the head, even one that doesn't immediately manifest any serious symptoms. Hell, kids playing soccer at a junior level are being diagnosed with brain damage/early-onset CTE these days and that's just from taking a few headers throughout their games.
Is it still worth it to you for little Timmy to assert himself and stand up to a bully if he catches a clean hook to the temple and ends up being irrevocably cognitively, mentally and emotionally-impaired for the rest of his life and develops early-onset dementia? Is that worth proving a point and scoring some respect in the eyes of their delusional parents as opposed to just defusing the situation and walking away to be left with their brain intact?
The risks of any physical confrontation for a kid dramatically outweigh any ridiculous "benefits" you can come up with, and the risks only exponentially increase the younger the child is.
Your blase attitude to the idea of your kids being forced to fend for themselves physically is what cements my impression that most parents these days are abject morons who have an extremely apathetic view of their kids for all of their pretensions about being so caring and nurturing.
If you truly cared about your kids, you would know prevention is the best possible course to ensuring physical safety as it is in mitigating almost every other common childhood risk to their safety and well being.
To use your example, why in the hell would your kids be at a train station by themselves at night, assuming they're quite young?
It's just baffling that you can't imagine a world in which your children are actually smart enough to actively reduce their chances of being a dangerous situation by you know, using basic common sense, and you instead opt for encouraging them to just use skills/abilities they've never tested or tried in a realistic scenario and just hope for the best.
This is akin to not telling your kids to swim in crocodile-infested waters or too far out at the beach but instead just buying them some kind of bite-resistant wet suit and hoping they can swim well.
Wheat about at the train station on a Friday night? Very, very hard to negotiate your way out of getting hassled by thugs in that situation.
Lol, are you kidding?
Your kids are not defending themselves from multiple attackers in any scenario, especially when they're physically outmatched.
It takes decades of training in combat sports to arrive at the point of being capable enough to fend off multiple assailants in a real-world scenario and I don't care what McDojo you send your kids to and how many multi-coloured belts they've earned, they are not going to be able to fight their way out of a confrontation like that. Hell, even highly-trained individuals would struggle in a multi-attacker confrontation depending on the circumstances.
Again, the willful ignorance and naivety on display here is just hilarious.
I'm not saying never teach your kids how to fight; by all means do so, if for no other reason than to keep them physically active.
I'm just saying don't seriously expect that because little Timmy has been doing martial arts, that your child is remotely prepared, willing or responsible enough to use physical violence to effectively escape a self-defence scenario unscathed and with no further psychological/legal/societal repercussions to boot and stop deserting your duty as a parent to be the primary person responsible for keeping your kids safe.
@Gnostikos: Hey man. You can cop a left hook doing nothing. The whole point of self defence is to reduce your chance of being a statistic. Have you never heard of a coward punch?
Also, since you say I'm woefully ignorant, I've began training in jujutsu in 97. I fought for state and national titles and trained with ppl who went to the worlds. Since then I've trained in kickboxing, boxing, and muay Thai. I also worked for 2 years as a night club bouncer where i witnessed many, many street altercations. I went to university and studied human movement. I became a personal trainer and did that for a decade. Now in my 40s, i only train in Brazilian jujutsu.
So i might know a few things about fighting, health and welfare. But by all means, train your children to be helpless in the playground and in life. I hope no-one ever takes advantage of their complete inability to defend themselves as instilled into them by you.
Honestly most of your post is nonsensical rambling.
I don't think kids at school are getting assault charges thrown at them very often. I'm yet to hear of this civil litigation you speak of sticking either…
Of all recorded human history, we've got about 20 years where the idea of hitting the bully back is controversial. Don't be on the wrong side of history, hit the bully.
You've got me misunderstood. I'm not some bleeding heart who thinks we can hug out all of our problems and sing Kumbayah with the scumbugs and degenerates of the world and forgive them for their sins.
There is absolutely a time and place for violence and I'm a huge proponent of the right to self-defence and even going as far as supporting the use of deadly force to defend oneself and one's property from criminals; rights that we've unfortunately never had in this nation.
What I have a problem with is people like you that you have no respect for the threat or use of violence and who treat it nonchalantly and believe that most people are morally, emotionally and psychologically capable of employing violence in a responsible, proportionate matter relative to incredible complexity and fluid nature of most physical confrontations.
Judicious use of force is something that is reserved for scenarios where there are no other options and where all attempts at deescalation has been exhausted, scenarios that petty schoolyard squabbles amongst immature and cognitively-underdeveloped children clearly do not fall into 99% of the time.
I'm also a huge proponent of not forcing children to suffer for failures of adults and if children are physically attacking each other in a context where adults are supposed to be responsible for their safety then the adults have failed them and that school is liable for their actions and the consequences of them.
That's not to say children can't be victims of violence in public but then the question that inevitably has to be asked is why were their parents so negligent in ensuring their safety, which typically accounts for most instances where children/adolescents are victims of violence. It almost always goes back to their parents' complete failure in exercising any basic precautions to safeguard their wellbeing and in teaching them to exercise common sense to avoid dangerous situations in the first place.
A child's brain and executive decision-making faculties are not fully developed until around their early 20s.
Children are not remotely equipped to understand concepts such as proportionality, the fear-based impairment of their judgement or the long-term consequences of using violence.
What you gung-ho, armchair experts are cheering on here is the continued victimisation, abuse and traumatisation of children for essentially no other reason than their parents being too inept, lazy and irresponsible to spend the time to properly raise and look after their kids and ensure their physical safety.
Instead you want to delegate or outsource your responsibility for your child's safety to the most vulnerable members of our society who as it is, are constantly suffering the consequences of poor decision-making on the part of the adults in their lives, at every turn.
Yet, paradoxically I'd wager most people like yourself are completely okay with women being unable to carry even basic self-defence tools like pepper spray/mace/tasers in this country because of extreme hysteria about gun control and paranoia about American-style gun culture/violence trickling down to Australia along with seeing no issue with our self-defence laws being so horrifyingly backwards that we essentially have no right to self-defence in most scenarios.
Middle-class suburban Australians really are a bizarrely hypocritical and sheltered demographic who just don't have the life experience nor the strategic, higher-level thinking to come to grasps with issues as complex as the place and use of violence in a well-functioning society.
@Gnostikos: Unless you plan on fixing the parents, you just gotta equip your child to beat theirs back into line.
Kids who start fights at schools aren't the people who grow up to be very nice or civil, regardless of how much bubble wrap you pamper them with.
Personally I am fine with women/anyone weaker carrying some sort of means of self defence, short of maybe a .45 SAA.
The adage is very simple, start shit get hit.
Really, I do agree with what you're saying but we've devolved out of communities and into a rat race. There is no time to be a good role model or influence on someone else's terrible kids, and people are so defensive it's impossible to have a meaningful dialogue with the parents.
Well it's a shame you have so much experience and yet have no interest in helping unless untrained and unexperienced people seem to have exactly the same mindset as you do.
You could be right.
However there is this quote out there, You can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves, that could also be right.
No, you're right, best to train kids who have little emotional control how to be cage fighters… that will solve ALL the bully issues… Just how like giving everyone access to guns in America… That totally cured the gun violence.
The only things that stops a bad guy as a bully, is a good guy as a bully…
Seems so many idiots are happier teaching their kids to be physical weapons than to teach them how to deal with bullies. Violence is not the answer to intimidation. Bullies dont just stop being bullies because your kid knows 2 or 3 BJJ moves. And what if the kid trains for 2 years and still gets the shit kicked out of them by the bully? What if your kid grows up thinking the only way to deal with a bully is to take it to the ground for a submission?
Wake up to yourselves. Training your kid to be a weapon is more of a sign of your failure as a parent.
Martial arts training is great for kids, teaches them focus and discipline and it's a great bonding exercise and for fitness. What it is NOT is a placebo/band-aid for dealing with bullies.
OMG what are you on about? Training your kid to be a WEAPON??? Why does that intimidate you so much? Like, almost noone is doing that btw but those who are, sure don't give a crap about any of our opinions on the subject.
I definitely like knowing that if my kid is out on the town when they're older and something happens, that they know 2 or 3 BJJ moves. Very, very hard to negotiate with drunk thugs. Especially if they come out of nowhere.
Have you ever gone and done any training? If you did, then you would know that M.A schools don't teach kids to be 'weapons', without teaching them how to be responsible as well.
For me, it was enough that the bullies knew I had been doing it for a while, without them knowing earlier. They heard how good I was (at hitting a hanging bag etc)… and that was enough to make them move-on.
Drunken master
You are forgetting Judo and Ninja
There's no such thing as true Ninjutsu in Australia.
That 'art' did not spread like Shaolin Kung Fu when the govt cracked down.
If someone is promising to teach Ninjitsu it will be watered down 10-20% of what the assassins did.
Ninjutsu.
You get to learn the cloning tech: kage bunshin.Gotta say, when I was 12 and being bullied constantly, doing martial arts specifically Karate gave me the proper discipline and the "You can't f with me" attitude throughout high school. It was great and dangerous to know it only takes one punch/kick to knock someone out. It was also great that I never had to used it unless I had tournaments. I had a great sensei/instructor who was also a mentor who made us recite Dojo Kun every training. I think it doesn't matter what martial arts you choose as long as you get a sensei/instructor with the right attitude for your kid.
However, for future UFC champion, go MMA. For making big money fighting influencers, go boxing.
Surely there is a big difference between your experiences as a 12 y.o. and OP's child at 5 - 7y.o.
You're obviously right but my point is that the attitude and discipline taught by a good instructor is more important than the style of martial arts. If I change my post from 12 to 5-7 Years old, doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of kids raised with shitty parents that can mess with OP's kid.
The idea is to be a 12 year old with 5 years of training.
So gotta start at 7.
big difference between your experiences as a 12 y.o. and OP's child at 5 - 7y.o
Correct.
My experience was just like OPs.
But my friends who started younger had it much easier, never got bullied at all. They knew they could handle themselves, and the bullies picked up on that and chose easier targets.
Imagine doing a martial art move on a bully. 😬
Outcome wouldn't be same as movies or song video clips lolWhen the bully has you in a headlock it will be very handy to know a few counters and escapes.
Or you could lie there helpless, as he does what he likes.
surely the only answer for bully proof is assassin class /s
I have heard that everybody loves kung fu fighting.
Only when you’re as fast as lightning
I suggest Funk Dancing for Self-Defense run by Moe Szyslak.
Say some gansta is dissin your fly girl, you just give 'em one of these… BLAM BLAM!!I feel like you're missing a BLAM but take my +1
Yeah, took that course. Can now fire three shots from a double barrel shotgun
You are also forgetting cage fitting with the bullies … that will teach them bullies
What is cage fitting?
It's where you teach the young to drop out of school and start earning big $$$ as a tradie.
You need a business degree to be a tradie these days
aikido anyone?
A martial art that only works if your assailant is a willing and complying combatant. I did Aikido for about 6 months before I worked out it was all but pointless. Looked super cool in the dojo…. Super useless for self defence.
Turning and running is still the best self-defense.
Not that helpful in school though. Eventually the bully will get a kid cornered.
You fool!! Now you done gone and unleashed Steven Seagal on your ass.
Careful. He’ll do that wrist bend thing which will kill you
I don't think its pointless, you can definitely use aikido to self defence.. but not as offence..as you are using opponent movement to take them down.
Compulsory response to any discussion of aikido:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2pHwsqQqmm4 and https://www.youtube.com/@MartialArtsJourney
You did it for 6 months and somewhow you are an expert in it?
It is useless though. Watch those videos psyren89 posted above for more info.
@mhz: lol man 'one bloke on youtube'
The MartialArtsJourney guy is an Akido expert and instructor. Trained Akido for 14 years and ran his own Akido Dojo for 7 years.
But you know better of course ;)
Aikido = Bullshido
I wouldn't force them to do it. Let them give it a go (if they want), and then ask them if they really love it. I was put in a karate school when I was 8 or 9. I went out of a sense of duty to my parents, but it occurred to me many years later that I absolutely hated it at that age. When I was 15, I decided to try it again by myself, paid for it myself, and liked it.
I had both my children train in martial arts through their primary school years. For fitness, and confidence and to assist them in developing coordination/dexterity. It worked well and all goals were achieved. I personally trained in Jujitsu through my teenage-20s however I did not choose this for my children as I considered it too aggressive and not what I was looking for in regards to young children. I had a look at a few clubs around and eventually chose taekwondo for them. My reasoning was it was more a sport than a martial art and certainly not aggressive. They had a kids class however by the time my children were 10 they were in the adults class and running in the adult program which worked out well, at the height they were training 5-6 nights a week. Fortunate or unfortunate depending on what you are after there are no tournaments in our capital city. Or at least there wasn't then.
Anyway, whichever style you choose, they will all offer a free trial session so find one that suits you (and your children). And it has to be fun or they won't want to go. Beware of the McDojo's where promotion is gained wholly by paying the fees.Tae Kwon Do.
Just make sure it's a self defence focussed school and not a "tournament" focussed one.
Self defence, respect, exercise.
Rex Kwon do
Bow to your sensei!
My 5 and 7 started BJJ at 4? My 5 will be trialling MT this week. He's a fighter not a hugger.
My daughter loved BJJ and was really good at it when she was younger. Our biggest issue was there was only one training centre for it and it was hellishly expensive. She did it for about a year and really enjoyed it.
I think it’s a really good start for young kids, as it teaches a lot of ground basics and that is where most school yard fights end up, on the ground.
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Anything that feels comfortable, that teaches discipline and that makes sure the head is protected. Repeated head knocks does cause brain injuries.