Quote:
Originally Posted by Amnell
Hm, interesting point.... But wouldn't that preclude Judo, also? I've never studied Judo personally*, but I know there are plenty of throws and falling involved.
So it's starting to look like Karate (or similar) would be the best bet for a small child? That's ignoring the simple fact that there are way more Karate schools that cater to children in the States than any other style. Then, within the Karate 'umbrella', what would be a good one? Karate, American Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, etc? (I would say Kenpo, myself...)
*A bit of exposure to Jujitsu mixed with other styles over the years is about as close as I've come to doing Judo.
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If its my own kid (and assuming if I wasn't a teacher myself), I will definitely start them in Tae Kwon Do and Karate first, only because when they go up against another kid, there is only a limited amount of damage children of the same age and size can do, yes, its definitely still "harmful" to a certain extent, but it is minimal when it come to a growing kid.
If I am to start training someone to do ground work, grappling, joint techniques and such, i probably will wait till they are around 12 and possibly 14, as the body is more developed by then, and yes I am looking solely from a more scientific perspective. One may argue that the younger you start, the stronger you get, but again, my worries is only how vulnerable kids' bone and muscular structures are up till age 10.
But, when I have my own kids, I definitely will train them hard in both Tae Kwon Do and Karate, and will introduce them to some early grappling/throw/joint stuff, but will keep it to the minimum