Self defense for kids

[upstatedoc]

So I've had my boys in martial arts classes. The two older ones got their first belt but they really weren't into it. I was thinking of basic boxing classes. Does anyone have their kids doing boxing?

[No one]

Why don't you ask your kids what they'd like? It's not a style, it's the fighter who wins or loses.

What are you after?

Self defence? Do you read the Black Belt magazine? I have one of (the year of) 2000. There were a couple of articles I recall. One on kids self defence research. The outcome: no way a kid can conquer an adult. But a kid can severely damage a peer by irresponsible application of dangerous techniques. (I have some experience of trying a groin kick on a classmate. Unnecessarily: he was no match for me anyway. It really hurts to recall that even after all those decades. And it wasn't my best execution of the kick then.) Self defence for kids is safe behaviour: to keep away from strangers and keep strangers away from them even if it involves a not so brave action of asking for help or skipping proving they fear nothing. Martial arts for kids is basic techniques: the better they learn those the better base they'll have to build upon later. Another article mentioned a martial artist who had lost his son (a black belt he had trained himself) who didn't even try to resist those who killed him. The mental aspect is more important than your skills here.

Self improvement? This is the purpose of traditional oriental martial arts. It's just you do need a good coach/teacher (in sports too)! Failing to find one ruined my life: the techniques can be (even) more complicated than they seem, it's easy to fail and the failure can be quite damaging to your well-being if you train hard. There's always a result: do make it positive. Someone I knew learned the idea the best way to treat anyone was to fight him from his MA endeavour. He hadn't been aggressive before.

Physical/mental conditioning? The best fighting sport could be Greco-Roman wrestling, perhaps. They are extremely fit physically (strong, hardy, pretty flexible) and maybe the least risk of injuries is there: mind those broken ears only(?).

A school friend of mine tried boxing. He complained that walking home after a lesson he felt like his head was a stump. It's only safe boxing a bag. You'll need a spare head otherwise.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by No one

Why don't you ask your kids what they'd like? It's not a style, it's the fighter who wins or loses.

What are you after?

Self defence? Do you read the Black Belt magazine? I have one of (the year of) 2000. There were a couple of articles I recall. One on kids self defence research. The outcome: no way a kid can conquer an adult. But a kid can severely damage a peer by irresponsible application of dangerous techniques. (I have some experience of trying a groin kick on a classmate. Unnecessarily: he was no match for me anyway. It really hurts to recall that even after all those decades. And it wasn't my best execution of the kick then.) Self defence for kids is safe behaviour: to keep away from strangers and keep strangers away from them even if it involves a not so brave action of asking for help or skipping proving they fear nothing. Martial arts for kids is basic techniques: the better they learn those the better base they'll have to build upon later. Another article mentioned a martial artist who had lost his son (a black belt he had trained himself) who didn't even try to resist those who killed him. The mental aspect is more important than your skills here.

Self improvement? This is the purpose of traditional oriental martial arts. It's just you do need a good coach/teacher (in sports too)! Failing to find one ruined my life: the techniques can be (even) more complicated than they seem, it's easy to fail and the failure can be quite damaging to your well-being if you train hard. There's always a result: do make it positive. Someone I knew learned the idea the best way to treat anyone was to fight him from his MA endeavour. He hadn't been aggressive before.

Physical/mental conditioning? The best fighting sport could be Greco-Roman wrestling, perhaps. They are extremely fit physically (strong, hardy, pretty flexible) and maybe the least risk of injuries is there: mind those broken ears only(?).

A school friend of mine tried boxing. He complained that walking home after a lesson he felt like his head was a stump. It's only safe boxing a bag. You'll need a spare head otherwise.

I agree with a lot that's said here.

Fisrt thing is to understand what the kids are interested in. If they're not into competitive marital art sports, then no matter which fight discipline you introduce them to, they will not be happy and ultimately not successful as a student.

If it's for self defense purposes while in school dealing with bullies or if the neighborhood is rough, the my humble opinion would be for them to take up jujitsu/wrestling and basic self defense classes that focus on escaping antagonists, not taking on multiple attackers head on in the street. This will also require a certain mental fortitude that only comes with experience facing true violence from an individual who genuinely wants to cause harm.

If it's because the kids are truly into the beauty and magnificence of traditional martial arts, then the can always study multiple disciplines and become well rounded over the years and the structure will definitely keep them on the straight and narrow (worked on me at least, lol)

Finally, if it's just a hobby or sport to get them out the house and keeping them active, there are many other sports available for them to pick from, as long as it's something that truly interests them.

Ultimately, if they don't enjoy doing it, it will just be another chore being forced by the parents and no kid likes that.

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by No one

He complained that walking home after a lesson he felt like his head was a stump.

If your kids experience that on a frequent level their chance on a succesful college career get smaller every time.

[Maynard]

If you really think of it as defense, then go w/ Krav Maga; a/t else is for Hollywood screenwriters.

[Lups]

I'm the worst pacifist in the world and my older son will be bullied for his missing ear for all eternity. I'd sign him up for all self defense classes there are but he has zero interest. He likes science and he has a ton of friends because he can apparently be cool because he can translate really weird bug knowledge from English to Finnish.

They did have a show and tell at their school a while back and he presented me, his boring old mom who can train dogs. He had asked his friends to bring along their dogs and I taught the kids how to teach tricks to their dogs and then I showed with mine what a trained dog can do.

I let them hide a toy to their pockets and i told my dog to search for it. Then I told my dog to herd them in to a circle. Then I showed them how a police dog stops a suspect.

Then I told all the kids to put treats in front of the dog and I told them that I'd buy a pony to the kid who can get her to eat them.

Obviously my kid got the pony since he knew the release word.

I'm not cool in the normal way, neither is my kid but he knows I have his back and I spent some time to teach a big dog to make him feel secure.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by Lups

I'm the worst pacifist in the world and my older son will be bullied for his missing ear for all eternity. I'd sign him up for all self defense classes there are but he has zero interest. He likes science and he has a ton of friends because he can apparently be cool because he can translate really weird bug knowledge from English to Finnish.

They did have a show and tell at their school a while back and he presented me, his boring old mom who can train dogs. He had asked his friends to bring along their dogs and I taught the kids how to teach tricks to their dogs and then I showed with mine what a trained dog can do.

I let them hide a toy to their pockets and i told my dog to search for it. Then I told my dog to herd them in to a circle. Then I showed them how a police dog stops a suspect.

Then I told all the kids to put treats in front of the dog and I told them that I'd buy a pony to the kid who can get her to eat them.

Obviously my kid got the pony since he knew the release word.

I'm not cool in the normal way, neither is my kid but he knows I have his back and I spent some time to teach a big dog to make him feel secure.

And while I admire you for the investment of time you've put into the dog to make your kid feel secure, I'll say this as a word of advice:

We also had a well trained German Shepherd, she was trained by a specific trainer to be a family guard dog, and she was very good at it. Very good. The problem we found, is that with kids around 8-11, the dog had a very difficult time determining whether or not my brother's friends were just rough housing with him (just boys being boys) and he was doing the same back OR, whether my brother needed protection.

And normally, she erred on the side of "Let's protect him". Which meant the other kid was going down hard - never bit or anything, just knocked the kid down and stood over him making sure he knew not to get up till one of us arrived.

Ultimately, we had to get rid of her, it was too much of a liability, so we gave her back to the trainer, but it sucked, because I really liked her and she was a part of the family.

So hopefully you'll be able to train yours when your sons are just messing around with the other boys that this does not require her intervention!

[Lups]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

And while I admire you for the investment of time you've put into the dog to make your kid feel secure, I'll say this as a word of advice:

We also had a well trained German Shepherd, she was trained by a specific trainer to be a family guard dog, and she was very good at it. Very good. The problem we found, is that with kids around 8-11, the dog had a very difficult time determining whether or not my brother's friends were just rough housing with him (just boys being boys) and he was doing the same back OR, whether my brother needed protection.

And normally, she erred on the side of "Let's protect him". Which meant the other kid was going down hard - never bit or anything, just knocked the kid down and stood over him making sure he knew not to get up till one of us arrived.

Ultimately, we had to get rid of her, it was too much of a liability, so we gave her back to the trainer, but it sucked, because I really liked her and she was a part of the family.

So hopefully you'll be able to train yours when your sons are just messing around with the other boys that this does not require her intervention!

Yeah, that's why my dog only takes the release command for food from my kids. If they tell her to sit she just stares them like they're speaking Canada.

My dog is not allowed to guard or to defend even me if not wearing her gear and the "training mode " is ingrained to her. We have had huge issues with her and our tiny dog so I know what you're on about.

She has been tested. Birthday parties, trampoline parks (a favor to me by the owner. I paid for an hour for the dog to find a person from a it and to mark the person) a friend of mine actually fought me in front of her and she barked once.

She is a family dog, and unlike our previous dog she has been trained to herding only basically. You can walk through my door and she will let you in but you might want to work on your escape plan.

Male dogs are trainable to let go, but females are not. Most police dogs are males because the females that can handle the training always have issues with letting go and with not protecting.

You sir were too kind. Kissa was given a sniff and she was told to mark the person. She went to her (their teacher) and she tried to run (as we rehearsed) and she stopped her, barked at her and lied down while barking in front of her.

All I did was to ask her teacher to meet me for 5 minutes before the show and tell so she knew she wasn't going to be eaten. Herding is natural to the gs's so you can basically "paint" a group and they circle it around an area given with ten minute training.

As for kids and dogs rules, there is an isolation zone with ours. The kids can fuck around with the russel but if Kissa comes near them, they don't even look at her.

[Zarrachan]

Originally Posted by No one

Why don't you ask your kids what they'd like? It's not a style, it's the fighter who wins or loses.

What are you after?

Self defence? Do you read the Black Belt magazine? I have one of (the year of) 2000. There were a couple of articles I recall. One on kids self defence research. The outcome: no way a kid can conquer an adult. But a kid can severely damage a peer by irresponsible application of dangerous techniques. (I have some experience of trying a groin kick on a classmate. Unnecessarily: he was no match for me anyway. It really hurts to recall that even after all those decades. And it wasn't my best execution of the kick then.) Self defence for kids is safe behaviour: to keep away from strangers and keep strangers away from them even if it involves a not so brave action of asking for help or skipping proving they fear nothing. Martial arts for kids is basic techniques: the better they learn those the better base they'll have to build upon later. Another article mentioned a martial artist who had lost his son (a black belt he had trained himself) who didn't even try to resist those who killed him. The mental aspect is more important than your skills here.

Self improvement? This is the purpose of traditional oriental martial arts. It's just you do need a good coach/teacher (in sports too)! Failing to find one ruined my life: the techniques can be (even) more complicated than they seem, it's easy to fail and the failure can be quite damaging to your well-being if you train hard. There's always a result: do make it positive. Someone I knew learned the idea the best way to treat anyone was to fight him from his MA endeavour. He hadn't been aggressive before.

Physical/mental conditioning? The best fighting sport could be Greco-Roman wrestling, perhaps. They are extremely fit physically (strong, hardy, pretty flexible) and maybe the least risk of injuries is there: mind those broken ears only(?).

A school friend of mine tried boxing. He complained that walking home after a lesson he felt like his head was a stump. It's only safe boxing a bag. You'll need a spare head otherwise.

I agree whit this

[qba335i]

What type of martial arts? Why did you decide to sign them up? What part of the training are they enjoying?

When I was young I always wanted to do boxing. Fortunately my dad boxed in college and mom is a doctor so they agreed that getting punched in the head will not be that beneficial for me.

I ended up doing judo. 3 times a week - 2 times regular practice and 1 day of sparring (randori). The school was very competitive and we competed a lot. When I went to high school it was just too much of a commitment and I dropped out. You also need to workout as kids are getting stronger.

In college I signed up for Muay Thai (Thai boxing). I liked it a lot, but you get punched in the face pretty often, especially initially during sparring sessions. I was over 180lbs then so those hits are pretty hard.

When I have kids, I will make sure they train something. Judo/wrestling or karate/Taekwondo. You just have to see what they like and pick the correct type. I am very competitive so always enjoyed the sparring sessions.

[ska///235i]

My kid is not interested in anything other than games...so I make him do activites (soccer, karate, swimming, etc)