Anyone know about the martial arts?

pennycandy

My 11 year-old is getting picked on at school. He is not cut out for competitive sports and not interested. I've pushed my JW mindset aside and am considering letting him take a martial arts class (gasp). I like the idea of teaching discipline and respect and self-control, and a boost in his self-esteem would be wonderful. And I have a feeling that being able to defend himself might come in real handy in high school. But I hate the thought of teaching violence.

Does anyone here know about these things? Which form would be what I'm looking for? What could I expect?

jt stumbler

There are many different styles. Find one that empahsizes self-discipline and self confidence. Your child will gain these attributes as he progresses thru the training program. Students should be taught to walk away from a fight but be equiped to defend himself when forced to do so. I recommend the smaller dojos. Smaller teacher to student ratio. Stay away from facilities that garantee your student to be a master in a year. Bruce Lee said that the only thing a belt is use for is to hold up your pants.

pennycandy

Thanks. That's good advice to start. I know so little I had to look up "dojo". I'll start by seeing what's available in my town and narrowing it down from there.

Check_Your_Premises

Penny,

Most traditional martial arts emphasize practicing for competitions which are not worthless but are not very practical in real combat.

I would recommend Judo or preferably jiu-jitsu. Encourage him to take wrestling in school.

These arts emphasize grappling/wrestling. This is important because most fights end up on the ground after two seconds, at which point all the garbage he learned in a karate/tae kwon do dojo will be worthless.

Jiu jitsu is probably the best choice because it is more combat oriented. Judo and wrestling are sports. If you can find a "mixed martial arts" club. These guys emphasize practical martial arts.

You will probably get some guys from non-grappling arts to argue with the above points I have made, but here is my evidence. A few years back they started this thing called "Ultimate Fighting Challenge". All the different martial arts guys got together and fought in full contact, no rules pit fights. The judo, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling guys completely dominated the event. It was no contest.

If you want more info let me know.

CYP

Big Dog

I have trained in various disciplines for over 20 years and I would agree with much of what CYP has to say. I would add Aikido to his list of styles to explore as it is very self defense oriented and very disciplined but also very difficult to find a qualified teacher. I would also advise to attend a class or two before signing up to see how they train the children and what sort of "vibes" you pick up. Also check the teachers credentials, check his or her linage so to speak, who trained them, and who trained the person who trained the etc.

lawrence

I agree with Jt, Cyp, and Big Dog. Ultimate fighting has taught us. I practiced Tae Kwon Do for years and have departed to study Escrima (Filipino martial arts) with a personal trainer. The sticks, knife, and hand techniques have taught me much more than the katas and the competitions. When it ends up on the ground, there are no katas. I thoroughly encourage everyone to study a martial art.

Check_Your_Premises

Penny,

Self defense isn't just important in high school. When you are a guy you pretty much deal with it your whole life. I know you don't want to teach violence, but there are just some people that don't understand anything else. Those kind of folks aren't restrained by any sense of right and wrong. They are only limited by fear. If they aren't afraid of getting their teeth knocked in, they will do/take whatever they want from your boy. He will be a man someday. And someday his wife and children will be looking to him for protection from those kinds of folks. If he is ever going to have anything, he needs to know how to defend it.

It is difficult for you to understand. Men and women just live in different worlds and have to deal with different things.

Can I ask you a personal question? Is his dad around?

Another thought on training. Apparantly this is an immediate and pressing problem. Most martial arts training will take a little while to be effective. You might want to consider the types of methods that give you the most effectiveness with the least amount of training time.

What is the situation exactly? Maybe some folks around here can give you more specific ideas for how he could handle this.

Will Power

I have also trained in the martial arts for many years. - Goju Ryu, (means hard/soft) Escrima (love the sticks), weapons - bo, tonfa, sai
Goju Ryu is a great style to learn cause it combines a good balance of the hard with the soft. the beginner katas are easy for kids to learn.

The Sensei, - teacher - is the most important thing.
second I would say the way they do business - franchise ? money makers ? read the fine print. Get referrals, etc.

A good teacher, will emphasize how karate actually teaches "How NOT to fight".
Builds confidence, discipline, self-esteem, etc. but not the bragging kind.
and bullies don't pick on someone unless they know they can.

It will teach him to hold his head high. I recommend the sport highly

info mercial over
will

Check_Your_Premises

Escrima (love the sticks), weapons - bo, tonfa, sai
Goju Ryu is a great style to learn cause it combines a good balance of the hard with the soft. the beginner katas are easy for kids to learn.

No offense Will, I am sure you know your stuff, you could probably kick my butt, but this kid is going to get the crap kicked out of him tomorrow at school. He can't carry a bo, tonfa, or sai into the classroom.

And the beginner katas may be easy to learn, but they won't do him any good in a real situation, unless he can get the guy to attack him just like his imaginary kata opponent.

Combat is random, chaotic, and brutal. It just don't mirror the rigid, pre-defined movements of a form. And it doesn't suffer fools. (not calling you a fool)

SixofNine

What is this world coming to if our kids can't even take tofu to school??!!

Anyone know about the martial arts?

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