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martial arts in l.a. for a 5 year-old?

post #1 of 26
12/4/09 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
is 5 old enough to sign a boy up for something? and does anyone in l.a. know of a good place? i'd prefer something with an old chinese or japanese master who is not overly polite.
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post #2 of 26
12/4/09 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by matadorpoeta View Post
is 5 old enough to sign a boy up for something? and does anyone in l.a. know of a good place? i'd prefer something with an old chinese or japanese master who is not overly polite.

Five might be a little young, particularly for something like this. Your probably better off finding a kid oriented program. Something like peewee wrestling might be a good option as well.

What are you looking for them to take away from having martial arts lessions?
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post #3 of 26
12/4/09 at 1:53pm
My daughter and a couple of her friends started doing capoeira at 4 or 5 (we're on a bit of hiatus during soccer season due to scheduling issues). Great for kids, because there's a lot of emphasis on rythm, music (with the drumming, etc.), coordination, stuff like that, which helps keep their attention. My daughter also picked up a few words of Portuguese, which was really cute. Plus, you know, there's nothing wrong with having an excuse to hang around someplace where there are a lot of young Brazilian women who are into physical fitness.

Anyway, this is place we've gone, which has a great kids' program. Maestre Bonifacio is a cool dude. But there are plenty of other places around.
http://www.capoeirabrasil.com/
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post #4 of 26
12/4/09 at 3:40pm
At 5 years old, I'd suggest Judo. Most kids at that age lack the fine motor coordination that you need for striking arts. I've been assigned a few times to teach karate to beginner kids ages 4-7, and find that very few of them have the coordination to learn proper technique. Not to mention the fact that learning forms in karate, TKD, or classical Chinese arts is way beyond the attention span of the typical 5 year old. So I think more kids take to Judo at that age, since it is generally a much more hands-on, gross motor skill kind of sport.

Here's a list of judo clubs in socal: http://nankajudo.com/MemberClubs2009-2010.html

Where in the LA area are you looking to sign up the child? I may have some other ideas. PM me if you don't want to put it on the board.
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post #5 of 26
12/4/09 at 4:39pm
I agree with judo. in my experience, there are two types of martial arts for kids in the states. the mcdojo type, that teach about how to wave your hands in the air and tell you you are awsome, and the rub-your-face-in -the-mat-when-you-lose-focus kind. I prefer the later. basically, judo and wrestling. I take my son to a place with a 62 year old japanese guy who barely speaks english. it is great.
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post #6 of 26
12/4/09 at 5:02pm
I suggest Hawaiian Lua. Five year-olds should learn its valuable skills early on.
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post #7 of 26
12/4/09 at 5:20pm
5 years old is the youngest I would start a kid. I have taught kids younger then this and they really don't have the attention span or capacity to really learn martial arts. It really just becomes daycare when they are younger than 5.
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post #8 of 26
12/4/09 at 5:35pm
My daughter started at that age (she is now 12) in one of the strip mall dojos. For her I just wanted the exercise and meeting new kids but after a year or so when she seemed to really be interested in the martial aspect I found a more serious school for her. I think if she had started in the more serious school, getting beat down twice a week, it would have soured her on the entire enterprise.
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post #9 of 26
12/4/09 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawyerdad View Post
My daughter and a couple of her friends started doing capoeira at 4 or 5 (we're on a bit of hiatus during soccer season due to scheduling issues). Great for kids, because there's a lot of emphasis on rythm, music (with the drumming, etc.), coordination, stuff like that, which helps keep their attention. My daughter also picked up a few words of Portuguese, which was really cute. Plus, you know, there's nothing wrong with having an excuse to hang around someplace where there are a lot of young Brazilian women who are into physical fitness.

Anyway, this is place we've gone, which has a great kids' program. Maestre Bonifacio is a cool dude. But there are plenty of other places around.
http://www.capoeirabrasil.com/

Quote:
Originally Posted by retronotmetro View Post
At 5 years old, I'd suggest Judo. Most kids at that age lack the fine motor coordination that you need for striking arts. I've been assigned a few times to teach karate to beginner kids ages 4-7, and find that very few of them have the coordination to learn proper technique. Not to mention the fact that learning forms in karate, TKD, or classical Chinese arts is way beyond the attention span of the typical 5 year old. So I think more kids take to Judo at that age, since it is generally a much more hands-on, gross motor skill kind of sport.

Here's a list of judo clubs in socal: http://nankajudo.com/MemberClubs2009-2010.html

Where in the LA area are you looking to sign up the child? I may have some other ideas. PM me if you don't want to put it on the board.

thanks for the advice everyone.

lawyerdad, i'll look into the capoeira. the boy lives in culver city so it's close to him.

retro, i found a dojo on sawtelle through your link. i'll check it out. thanks.
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post #10 of 26
12/4/09 at 11:46pm
My kid started karate at 5 and it has been great for him.
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post #11 of 26
12/5/09 at 10:25am
another vote for judo
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post #12 of 26
12/6/09 at 9:31pm
my daughter does bjj and muay thai she is 6 years old a couple times a week ( when I am teaching class and it's my time to watch her). then she also takes the mcdojo which bugs the shit out of me.

She has a pretty wicked double leg for a 35 pound 6 year old......lol
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post #13 of 26
12/9/09 at 7:51pm
I started Kyokushin when I was 6 so no, I don't think 5 is too young.
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post #14 of 26
12/13/09 at 2:21am
starting at an age of 5 is great especially for taekwondo where theory is half the sport. they can develop their martial arts IQ (or whatever you want to call it) better if they start at an early age.
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post #15 of 26
12/13/09 at 1:54pm
Wrestling, Judo, Jiu Jitsu would all be great. There's nothing wrong with putting a kid in Karate at that age but I think that teaching 5-year-olds how to punch and kick is a little off til they find their bearings in terms of becoming a douchebag.
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