if you are looking for real life fighting and not performing and looks, take up kung fu or boxing. kung fu teaches pretty much everything all martial arts have including using everyday tools for weaponry and chinese culture. boxing or kick boxing teachers conditioning and strenghth but so does kung fu. if you take boxing, i wouldnt recommend something different from american boxing and take muay thai boxing, it is very nice in conditioning like kicking a hard block 1000 times a day and it also includes elbows, knees, kicks, and punches not like american kickboxing. also jiujutsu is good if you like to have the ground as your home where when the enemy steps in you are ready to joint lock them. kung fu also has weaponry, hands, punches, knees, elbow, jointlocking, grappling. though, it also has forms like karate and most moartial arts. usually a schools allows students from ages 4 to 70 but in different classes. i would recommend having ur son start at teenhood because thats when people choose their so life you dont waste money. at teen hood, you will stick to what you choose. also, I MUST WARN YOU to not join dojos with only 3 to 7 to 20 students. these are the cheapo classes that people learned their martial art from a recreation center and opened up a school for profit. find a school that has a lot of culture and decoration to shown prosperity with students up 40 because those are the ones that teach how to avoid a fighting situation because that is most important. if there is an option to not fight then take it.

We currently have 3 students 6 and under at our Tae Kwon Do Dojang. As long as they know their left from their right, and are able to learn what they are being shown, they are welcome as students. I was instructing a 4-year-old girl last Monday, and started her off with basic stances and kicks. She did really well, but learning her form and one-steps will be the true test for her. Good luck.

Most respectable dojos won’t even give your kid the time of day under the age of 6 and there’s a lot more to it than just kicking azz and taking names. A true self defense program should also teach your kids the danger signs that a situation is not one you want to be in and how to avoid them in the first place. Also many schools and day cares have a zero tolerance policy toward fighting so you’ll need an instructor who understands this.

Also Anything does not go when you’re attacked. You may want to bone up on your use of force laws. Odd as it may sound even street fights have rules and knowing them means the difference between getting out of a bad situation and banging out license plates for 20 years.

Sorry but the self defense pool has been peed in. In a fight everybody even the perpetrator is going to hollar self defense. Police and judges are well aware of this and a good prosecutor will do everything possible to scuttle your self defense claim so you had best have all your shit in a stack and be able to back up your claims. You have be able to show that you did what you could to de-escalate the situation and that everything you did was in the realm of legality.

As for those who chant the cyberwarrior mantra Better to be judged by 12 than carried by six I say good luck because the next 12 will be the twelve lifers raping you in the prison shower.

Deny reality at your own peril. If you think I’m harsh wait until you or your daughter are standing tall before a judge or magistrate.

WOW some people want to parent the world.. sheesh.

5 -7 ish is fine for martial arts, basically first or second grade in school. They have some basic social development.

Karate teaches focus, and for kids with A.D.D. its a VERY VERY good way to help the kid learn to focus and trains them to continue working at something.

Being able to defend himself is a far lesser reward compared to what they will get from most any school that really cares about training kids. Just beware of any schools with a 2 year black belt program.

I personally like the Ed Parker kenpo for kids.

I would have to say it depends on the child. I have taught children as young as 5 years old but I started learning martial arts at 4 years old from my father. I was still very playful with a low attention span but learned how to start building a foundation through stances, punching, and kicking. I did not start learning actual self-defense techniques until I was about 7. Most children have very small attention spans at a young age and others are very concentrated in the learning process. Discipline plays another major role in your child’s learning capacity. It is easier for an instructor to break bad habits early in the child’s development but the parents have to be able to continue down the path the instructor has started. Girls have a tendency to mature sooner than boys and may take to the martial arts at earlier ages. Since most fights go to the ground, I would have to say BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) would be a good place for a child to start. Balance is less of an issue but leverage is a key aspect teaching a child to be comfortable on the ground (especially good for females in rape prevention) and also teaches him/her to use leverage and pure technique and not strength. This takes out the desire to muscle through everything as most of us westerners do naturally. BJJ will give your child confidence but it is not an end all solution to martial arts study. As far as stand-up self-defense goes, I would have to recommend American Kenpo Karate from the Ed Parker variety. It is an art that has evolved into some of the nastiest and most realisitic self-defense taught for modern time attacks. I would stay clear of traditional schools if self-defense is what you are looking for. Most of these schools are close minded believing that their art is the end all to everything claiming to be better than all other arts. As far as your child putting an attacker in the hospital for a very long time, that is your emotions controlling your thoughts (you thinking of what you would want to happen to anyone who attacks your child) and not rational in today’s society, especially with dealing with the law. The martial arts is used for defense only and should never be misused. I hope this helps you in your search to find a suitable school for your child.

Probably at 5 years old. And up, of course!

This right here is a fake arse question and the veil is very thin.

One of my assistant instructors is a young woman similar in stature to you , maybe even smaller. Of course she has been training for 11 years , not the 1 year you want to do it in , but she has always been one of the most feared fighters at the club. I pity the fool that tries to jump this small woman . We train in Tae Kwon Do and there should be a club close to your chosen university to continue your training. 182 countries have membership in the World Tae Kwon Do federation , and more than 10 million black belts world wide. You might be lucky enough to find an instructor like me who shows many martial arts at his or her club.

Teresa,

Your question is a bit perplexing.

At first you are asking for help in determining what age is best to start a child in martial arts, as if you have no knowledge of martial arts at all. Then you go into this discertation about the effectiveness of one art against another and how you want your daughter to put the attacker in the hospital for a LONG time. Then you say that from your experience during hand to hand combat anything goes and it is best to know how to respond to various forms of fighting styles.

I think you are putting us on. I just don’t know what you’re trying to prove. You don’t sound like a mom.

My son started jujitsu at 5 and my daughter started at 4. The key was finding a balanced class that taught the martial art but also respected the ages. The instructor my kids are with is really good with children. He is patient but maintains discipline. He teaches in ways they can understand. He also incorporates fun activities like playing tag using positions.

I like the jujitsu because it is very effective in self defense. If they are bullied at school they can just hold a kid down without hurting them.

They also started taking Judo shortly after Jujitsu. Judo is more difficult for the kids to pick up for some reason. They continued with it but my oldest is just now a few years later starting to really do the throws with some precision. In the Jujitsu he has great fundamentals. His knowledge base is advanced for his age. He can routinely beat larger kids then him especially if they have less experience.

They also take a kickboxing class for kids that is just once a week. No sparring just for fun.

Yeah don’t listen to the people that say you have to pick one. That is old thinking, The new way of thinking is learnign more than one style.