So here's a fun one. My wife (a green belt in Karate) is interested in signing our 5 year old son up for Judo classes. I'm not convinced it's a great idea. The dojo where she practices karate won't accept kids before age 7, but she's located this judo school that will take kids his age.

I took some karate for a while (about 2 years), so I have a novice's understanding of it. I get the value of the lessons in discipline, self-control, self-confidence etc. It's certainly fantastic exercise. In my mind though, for our son, I just don't see the point. This is a well-behaved, well-adjusted kid who hasn't really expressed much interest in any martial arts. I don't see the need to introduce aggression into his world.

In terms of athleticism, he's a 50th percentile kid. Literally, in terms of height and weight, he's 50th percentile across the board. He's played soccer since he was three and has played two seasons of baseball. He's definitely a middle of the pack player in both sports.

So I guess I'm curious and would like to hear other folks' thoughts. What's old enough for a kid to take part in martial arts?

I would skip the Karate and go with the Judo. Karate isn't terribly practical but Judo is fantastic all around (only one step behind jujitsu), plus they will teach you the basic kicks and punches you would have learned in Karate. But at 5 years for a kid who doesn't see much aggression, Aikido is a good choice. Aikido is not as practical as Judo, but it's along the same lines with way more concentration on meditation, serineness, energy flow and anatomy. The kid may learn something but not get aggressive.

They won't learn much at 5, but if they are in a few years and they started at 5, by the time the kid is a teenager, he will be very skilled.

Interesting. Thanks for the thoughts. I confess, I don't know much about Judo, but somehow I always perceived it as being more of a "grappling" martial arts. Guess I need to do some more research before I start drawing conclusions. I do intend to sit in and observe a class or two before we even introduce the idea to the boy and get his hopes up.

But ultimately, you would support a child this young getting involved in a martial art? I appreciate the input.

Quik info... Grappling is where it's at. Karate isn't very usefull because most conflicts on the street wind up on the floor at some point. In in terms of you wife's self defense, when most women are attacked they are tackled and wrestled to submission. Judo and Jujitsu are tip top for all around conflict because it focuses on the inevitable groud conflict. The ground defense, submission, take downs and throws are rather practical and spectacular. Plus like I said, they include stand-up striking and strike defense. All pro MMA fighters have jujitsu or judo training at some level. I would recomend your wife drop the Karate and go with Judo herself. Karate is only good against the totally untrained and other karate practicianers.

Fighter with grappling against pure striker usually winds up like this:



And for Aikido, think Steven Seagal:



Just for fun, Karate vs the untrained:



Yes, 5 yrs is fine provided the kid actually wants to do it. Just like any other sport, you wouldn't want to force your kid to participate.

Hey,

Thanks for the links/videos. Very helpful.

I understand your point about the practical value of Judo over Karate should my son ever truly need it.

But I think you hit the nail on the head in your final statement. He hasn't really expressed any true interest. The conversations all started when one of the women in my wife's karate dojo enrolled her child in the Judo because he's too young for the Karate. So my wife thinks this might be a good idea for our son.

If he initiates an interest, I guess we'll talk it over further.

I appreciate the information. Very helpful.

Just out of curiosity, did you ask the Dojo your wife attends why they don't take kids under age 7? I'd guess it's a maturity level or discpline thing, but I don't know. I was just wondering since your wife is familir with them what insight they may give.

You're exactly right. It is a question of discipline and maturity. I think it's a good thing myself. I'm really not a fan of him starting so early. I kind of prefer having the excuse to say, "well no, you're too young to start at Mama's dojo yet."

So I was looking at this post again, and thought I'd add a follow up. My wife progressed to a brown belt, and will be testing for her black belt in Japan in February.

Because my wife is now an assistant instructor at the dojo, and the staff is familiar with my boy, they waived the 7 yr old requirement and allowed him to start training about 6 months ago.

HE. LOVES. IT!

He's absolutely flourishing and it's given him a whole new perspective on discipline and respect that if I'm honest with myself, I never could have taught him. It's very cool. He's pretty successful too.

The biggest challenge now will be can I get him to take a season off to take part in baseball this Spring? Right now, he doesn't want to fall behind in Karate, so I'm not sure.

I've gone from "do I let him take part in this?" to "do I require him to put it aside for a season and risk him falling behind, in order to broaden his horizons?"

Very interesting following this thread. It's hard to know what to do when a youngster gets really passionate about one activity. You want to support, but how soon is too soon for specialization? That might make for another interesting thread.