effective martial arts for children

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Chidren cant fight. But they are more natural at grappling than striking.And striking skills can only truely be honed with hard sparring, and kids shouldnt be getting hit hard in the head.They should be 18 before they decide if they wanna risk brain damage.

Id suggest BJJ,Judo or a wrestling club.

Gi is right but I do wonder if some muay thai wouldn't hurt. I've helped with the kids class before and found that they pick up elbows and knees a lot faster than they pick up kicking and punching, about as fast as they pick up standing grappling techniques.

Shouldn't we all just get along?

To answer the original question - some sort of grappling is best for all the reasons listed above. I also feel strongly that kids should start competing as soon as possible - competition teaches kids both confidence and humility.

There you go. That would be the basis that I choose to teach my kids

Even just for fun? We have so many young ones rolling and laughing, half the dojo looks like a kindergarten. Sometimes I'm one of them

Certainly. I would just make them martial sports / martial arts. They have the added benefit of the kids being able to kick ass.

As someone who was pushed around wuite a bit when I was in my pre-teen years, I know just how much of a positive impact being able to defend onselef has on a child's character.

You can not and will not have confidence when you're pushed around. Trust me on this.

Only for fun. I've taught 5 year olds...not enough con- centration, I felt like I was babysitting. I brought my kids to judo when they were 7 and 8...little better atten- tion span, more familiar with the idea of a lesson having gone to school for a few years. I had them in soccer and T-ball when they were 5 years old. Besides the activity, my kids met others in the area, from the same schools. They've managed to keep in touch with a few of those team- mates over the last 15 years. Some of those kids still live in the neighborhood.

Yes, it's true, 5 year olds have a blast. I used to wrestle with my nephews too when they were itty bitty, but as far as getting through a waza lesson or 30 minutes of various uchi- komi drills, they have a tougher time from my experience.

karen