Poll: Putting Children in Martial Arts

[Sleepingzombie]

I would introduce mine to the activity, see if they feel like it. I practise aikido (4 kyuo) and it teaches discipline and control and generally takes 5 years to get good at. Thats the problem with martial arts.
I belieave you need to stody long and hard but also get wery skilled to be able to apply it in a situation. Some dojos teach for example traditional karate with forms and katas and some teach a streetfighting style of karate.
Discipline, control, and a lot of skill is needed to use martial art, in my opinon, there is also many things you learn as a side effect of studying martial arts. Things like flexebility,agility and control.

 

[IHaveNoCoolness]

If that's what they're interested in. I'm not going to register them and force them into something they don't want to do...

 

[Hawgh]

Well, martial arts are exerting, and exercise is good, so probably, yes.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Martial Arts are by their very nature violent.

"The term martial arts refers to the art of warfare (from Mars, the god of war). It comes from a 15th-century European term for fighting arts now known as historical European martial arts. A practitioner of martial arts is referred to as a martial artist."

martial definition
mar·tial (mär′s̸həl)
adjective

1. of or suitable for war martial songs
2. showing a readiness or eagerness to fight; warlike
3. of the army, the navy, or military life; military
martial definition

http://www.yourdictionary.com/martial

In short Martial arts are a set of skills that apply to Combat on a Battlefield its job is to train you in methods of killing your enemy while not dying yourself.
Anybody calling themselves a Martial artist when they have never been in active military services is wrong and even worse are those whom claim mastery of such skills and yet have never killed anyone in their life.


Self Defence is an entirly different affair its only goal is too ensure the safety of the individual which may necessitate inflicting harm on an attacker with no intent on killing them, the idea being to convince the attacker you are not a target or hampering their abiltiy to continue fighting.

In fact a big part of self defence can be covered by not engaging and running away when possible, the foremost concern is your own safety, no self defence class would teach or encourage engaging an armed opponent (Gun, Knife, whatever) as the first course of action because of the risk involved unless you had no other option, it is better to lose a wallet full of money than get yourself killed.

"Their is no arguing with the barrel of a gun"


Visulth
Having your child learn self defence is a great idea, knowing how to effectivly defend yourself keeps a person free and most importantly any good self defence training will cover when not to fight wether that be simply evading attacks or verbally reasoning with the attacker.
Confidence is also a major benefit people who are not timid or look like they can fight are less likly to get in a situation and if they do are less likely to panic and make stupid decisions.
Leave Martial arts to the military.

 

[Nouw]

I did it. But it's their choice.

 

[Visulth]

Visulth
Having your child learn self defence is a great idea, knowing how to effectivly defend yourself keeps a person free and most importantly any good self defence training will cover when not to fight wether that be simply evading attacks or verbally reasoning with the attacker.
Confidence is also a major benefit people who are not timid or look like they can fight are less likly to get in a situation and if they do are less likely to panic and make stupid decisions.
Leave Martial arts to the military.

By martial arts I meant self defense. I didn't mean to say "turn your kid into a killing machine"; simply what other people have said--discipline, self control, confidence, and when push comes to shove, the ability to protect yourself.

I agree with what a lot of people have said--that violence is not the first answer. I agree with that 100%, and the place I go to always states that if you can get away without fighting, that is your best answer. Never pick a fight. It's only that if there's no way you're getting out without a fight, you'll know what to do.

Another comment I found prevalent was the belief that martial arts is simply style over substance--and maybe it is, I've never got into a serious fight where my life was at risk. However, it's made me strong. My fists are conditioned, I can punch quick and at vulnerable points, I know how to keep proper structure, so on and so forth. Sure, martial arts is nothing like it is in the movies, but I definitely feel safer having these tools at my disposal.

And yet another point, that if the kid didn't like it, they'd stop. That's a good point, haha. Didn't really occur to me at the time I made the thread. Yeah, I guess you can't force someone to do something they don't want to. However, I'm terribly, terribly biased here--to me it seems strange not to want to learn self defense or martial arts.

 

[SturmDolch]

I was in Karate for about 5 years and it was useless. All we learned to do was scream loudly and block punches if the guy first yells that he will punch you. Screw that. I hated every second of that idiotic waste of life.

I imagine those that continued with it will one day find themselves in a club, and thinking they know how to defend themselves, intervene in a fight between two people. It will go something like this:

Karate man: Hey you thugs! Stop right now!
Thug 1: Wha? Who the f--k are you, little man?
Thug 2: Whos this!?
Karate man: Violence is not the answer!
Thug 1 + 2 laugh, and say: Really? We'll show you!
Karate man: Oh yeah?? *Procedes to scream loudly*
Thug 1 + 2 pull out guns and shoot him.
/scene.

 

[Aesir23]

Martial Arts is a good skill to have. Heck, I wish I'd taken it when I was younger.

 

[Drundy]

Yes i would, my parents made me go to aikido(only defence martial art)and i loved it.

 

[CloakedOne]

Yes, it can teach discipline, confidence, and self-defense. Just make sure it's a legitimate school and not one of those hoaky "I went to a seminar for three hours and was given a certificate that says I'm a black belt" that are prominent (at least they are in the USA). Martial arts is not about violence, it is about knowing what to do when a fight is unavoidable.

 

[WestMountain]

They have to do some kind of sport to grow healthy IMO and Martial Arts training is like Soccer practice but more badass

 

[jamesworkshop]

Visulth
Having your child learn self defence is a great idea, knowing how to effectivly defend yourself keeps a person free and most importantly any good self defence training will cover when not to fight wether that be simply evading attacks or verbally reasoning with the attacker.
Confidence is also a major benefit people who are not timid or look like they can fight are less likly to get in a situation and if they do are less likely to panic and make stupid decisions.
Leave Martial arts to the military.

By martial arts I meant self defense. I didn't mean to say "turn your kid into a killing machine"; simply what other people have said--discipline, self control, confidence, and when push comes to shove, the ability to protect yourself.

I agree with what a lot of people have said--that violence is not the first answer. I agree with that 100%, and the place I go to always states that if you can get away without fighting, that is your best answer. Never pick a fight. It's only that if there's no way you're getting out without a fight, you'll know what to do.

Another comment I found prevalent was the belief that martial arts is simply style over substance--and maybe it is, I've never got into a serious fight where my life was at risk. However, it's made me strong. My fists are conditioned, I can punch quick and at vulnerable points, I know how to keep proper structure, so on and so forth. Sure, martial arts is nothing like it is in the movies, but I definitely feel safer having these tools at my disposal.

And yet another point, that if the kid didn't like it, they'd stop. That's a good point, haha. Didn't really occur to me at the time I made the thread. Yeah, I guess you can't force someone to do something they don't want to. However, I'm terribly, terribly biased here--to me it seems strange not to want to learn self defense or martial arts.

Excatly they are two different things which I explained quite well
Martial arts: skills learned specificaly to kill the word Martial meaning War
Self Defence: skills learned to keep one from harm like the disipline and self confidence I mentioned

"Self Defence is an entirly different affair its only goal is too ensure the safety of the individual which may necessitate inflicting harm on an attacker with no intent on killing them, the idea being to convince the attacker you are not a target or hampering their abiltiy to continue fighting.

In fact a big part of self defence can be covered by not engaging and running away when possible, the foremost concern is your own safety, no self defence class would teach or encourage engaging an armed opponent (Gun, Knife, whatever) as the first course of action because of the risk involved unless you had no other option, it is better to lose a wallet full of money than get yourself killed."

Martial Art are by their very deffinition only taught to military personnel and are only used on the battlefield in war.
Self defence teaches both physical and non physical means to avoid harm this creates a psychological benefit because know how to handle a situation allows one to deal with it rational rather than panicing.
It doesn't encorage violence only that it maybe needed if things do turn ugly

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

No I don't think it is a good idea defense wise.

I could imagine it being quite good for the mind.
To learn not to fight is good, but to learn and practice is good for a developing mind.

But there are so many other alternatives though.

The best way I handled fights as a kid was to use my physical features to good use.
Sure I was slow, (still am), but if I lured someone near me, sometimes I could catch them off guard and use my stength and weight to wrestle them down to the ground.

Either that I could grab a limb, like a leg or an arm, and swing them around wildly.
(I remember I could throw the other kids quite far too).

If all else fails, I just went into beserk mode. Usually it would scare them shitless!
(Although I remember once, I actually started to lose my ability to define friend from foe, and I actually attacked my best friend. He wasn't hurt, but I always control my temper from now on.)

But yeah, from personal experience, bullying is usually mental torment, and social inhibition.

(wouldn't reccomend doing anthing I have done neither, as they can be very dangerous, and you'd have to be disproportionately strong to remotely successful, (could never do something like that as an adult))

 

[omega 616]

When I have kids there going to learn ATLEAST two forms of martial arts, why not? Keep them fit, learn respect and kick some ass if needs be.

I was a victim throughout my school years, I thought it was hilarious, I think some of them kids need to just get over it.

The ones being beaten up need to learn some way of dealing with it but the ones being called names need to get a grip and grow up.

 

[jamesworkshop]

It doesn't encorage violence only that it maybe needed if things do turn ugly

I'm pretty sure I was taught how to drive a person's nose cartilage through the front of their brain and how to effectively strike an opponents throat so that they couldn't breathe before I was ten years old. What part of that is peaceful or doesn't promote violence?

Maybe my martial arts background is different than yours, but a few years ago when I took TKD the instructors were ridiculously violent-minded. They would explain in great detail and with great enthusiasm exactly HOW a certain strike would incapacitate/cause great pain/kill a person.

I dunno... half the stuff they taught me was ridiculous impractical crap, but I can safely say I'm better off because of it. What I can't say is that violence wasn't promoted heavily to me through these freaks.

Self defence does not promote violence as a goal, violence is a tool used to protect yourself when you need to, a promotion of violence would be a class teaching you to pick fights with every individual you ever meet and to slay all of them.

As for your particular training that is irrelevant what I am talking about is the misuse of terminology Self Defence and Martial Art two entirly different philosphies the mistake is probably caused by both using physical combat as tools i'll give an example.

Self defence teachs a weapon disarm so that the attacker cannot use it to harm you.
Martial Art teachs a weapon disarm so your enemy is no longer a threat and can now be more easily killed by your own weapon.

The reality is TKD is no more a Martial Art than the WWE, the principal weapon of the modern battlefield is the Firearm.

 

[Visulth]

*snip*

Doesn't that depend on the place you go to? As another person said, there are good places to go, and very bad places to go.

When I first started, I went to this heavily Americanized impractical Taekwondo dojo. I don't mean to knock Taekwondo--it's the dojo that was bad. They taught you moves that would never work in a real fight, and never told you why. You'd get belts based on how long you were there, not by your skill.

Since then I've joined a Wing Chun dojo--again, I'm not saying Wing Chun > Taekwondo, just that THIS dojo is better--and it's entirely different. The instructors are insanely polite, they teach you a move and you can go up and say "Why do this? What happens if your attacker does this, or that?"

They'll go through any questions and hypotheticals you have and really explain why, and it makes sense.

Maybe it's simply because the place is small (~20 students when busiest). Sometimes a group from another wing chun dojo will visit, and by god they're so terrible. They do everything wrong because I think that place is plagued with the same problem my prior Taekwondo place was.

The best way I handled fights as a kid was to use my physical features to good use.
Sure I was slow, (still am), but if I lured someone near me, sometimes I could catch them off guard and use my stength and weight to wrestle them down to the ground.

But what about the kids who don't have the physical features? That's why I'd think martial arts would be a good idea, assuming you found a good martial art and a good dojo. (Which, judging from people who've commented, is unfortunately rare).

Karate man: Hey you thugs! Stop right now!
Thug 1: Wha? Who the f--k are you, little man?
Thug 2: Whos this!?
Karate man: Violence is not the answer!
Thug 1 + 2 laugh, and say: Really? We'll show you!
Karate man: Oh yeah?? *Procedes to scream loudly*
Thug 1 + 2 pull out guns and shoot him.
/scene.

I would consider that natural selection. If anyone's dumb enough to go into a club and try and pick fights, then they're obviously going to get destroyed.

However, I do have a female friend who was once walking in a subway with two of her friends. They were ambushed by two guys, and she told her friends to run and call the cops while she was able to take those two out. For me, the proof's in the pudding.