fathers - what do you do to instil "physical culture" on your kids?

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

do you have kids? serious question - it just seems like kids don't play outdoors at all anymore, at least not alone. I miss that too, but you never see kids under maybe 10 outdoors without an adult any more. and you never see a pickup game of anything, anymore, either.

Tell that to the kids who set up a basketball hoop in front of my building in the summer. They're bouncing bad shots off cars all day and all night. Or were. Which is crazy, because there are three parks within three blocks.

I think sports is a great learning tool for kids. Life lessons and all that.

 

[Beta]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

i coach baseball and basketball for my oldest, soccer for my middle son. we do push ups together. they know i go to the gym all the time and want to know when they can start lifting.

we ride our bikes together. we swim indoors together throughout the winter. play wiffle ball and football as a family. and basketball.

they are limited to 1.5 hrs of either tv or video games each day, unless it's brutally cold out.

i also let them take turns injecting me with deca-durabolin-just kidding.

make sure they learn to aspirate properly at a young age!

 

[thekunk07]

^they keep hitting my sciatic but they're young. they will learn.

 

[LA Guy]

My son is in hockey and soccer seasonally, as well as Karate. I am not much of a team sport guy, and my skating sucks, so I can't really do much with him there. However, he knows that I am really interested in martial arts, so he is really interested in his karate, and I will help him correct his stances (teachers don't concentrate on proper footwork anymore, it seems) hip rotations, and so on.

I have also given him the 100 pushup challenge. When I am feeling chilly in the house, I often pump out 30-50 and do some sprawls just to get my heart rate up a bit. My one and a half year old daughter thinks that this is the greatest thing, and tries to do the same stuff. (I'm trying to get her to do a straight right - progress has been spotty). She is a great coach, always asking for "more". Anyway, my son decided that he wanted in on the action. I promised him a WII if he could do 100, with only 3 10 second stops along the way. He is not up there yet, (up to about 50 with 3 stops), but I got him a WII for Christmas anyway. So now he is working his way towards some WII games. I may introduce some other challenges - if he can sidewind the length of our dining room and living room under a certain number of seconds, or if he can beat X number of sprawls in 3 minutes, and so on.

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by Flambeur

It's actually sort of real to me - I'm thinking of going back to martial arts and doing judo or jiujitsu - I basically want something interesting that I can practice till I'm 70, and as much as I love MT/BJJ/MMA, I just don't think it will do my body good for a prolonged period of time now that I'm getting older.

I would think that BJJ is better for old dudes than Judo. I don't know any judo (wish that I did), but there seems to be a lot more flying through the air than in any BJJ dojo I've trained at. Muy Thai and MMA though, yeah... I can't see how that much impact can be good for your body, especially in the long term.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

My son is in hockey and soccer seasonally, as well as Karate. I am not much of a team sport guy, and my skating sucks, so I can't really do much with him there. However, he knows that I am really interested in martial arts, so he is really interested in his karate, and I will help him correct his stances (teachers don't concentrate on proper footwork anymore, it seems) hip rotations, and so on.

I have also given him the 100 pushup challenge. When I am feeling chilly in the house, I often pump out 30-50 and do some sprawls just to get my heart rate up a bit. My one and a half year old daughter thinks that this is the greatest thing, and tries to do the same stuff. (I'm trying to get her to do a straight right - progress has been spotty). She is a great coach, always asking for "more". Anyway, my son decided that he wanted in on the action. I promised him a WII if he could do 100, with only 3 10 second stops along the way. He is not up there yet, (up to about 50 with 3 stops), but I got him a WII for Christmas anyway. So now he is working his way towards some WII games. I may introduce some other challenges - if he can sidewind the length of our dining room and living room under a certain number of seconds, or if he can beat X number of sprawls in 3 minutes, and so on.

cool.

do you know your son's teacher? I tried working with my son a little on his TKD, they really don't work on kids stances or mechanics very well, but I felt uncomfortable, I didn't want to undermine his teachers authority.

but, this whole problem wouldn't exist if they tought kids striking arts well. it seems like everybody opens up a dojo for kids, but none of them work on mechanics or stance very well. my preference would be to take a striking art with my son, or at least work with him on one.


yeah, and I started with my son pushups and sittups at night, I was going to raise his allowence on his birthday, and instead "pay" him a buck a week to do 25 of each every night with me.




but I guess the big question to me is - my son knows that I go to the dojo a few times a week. I have hanging boxing gloves and armor drying around the house, but he really isn't interested in boxing. I work with him sometimes, for maybe 5-10 minutes at a time, and then his attention falls off. I don't know if it is his attention in general, or what. but he can talk about ******* pokemon for 3 hours. any idea why your son is interested in your martial art?

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

I would think that BJJ is better for old dudes than Judo. I don't know any judo (wish that I did), but there seems to be a lot more flying through the air than in any BJJ dojo I've trained at. Muy Thai and MMA though, yeah... I can't see how that much impact can be good for your body, especially in the long term.

yeah, judo seems to start higher up, with farther to fall. when I was younger, I thought that I would take up akido before I got to this age, but I really haven't slowed down that much.

 

[jpeirpont]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

I don't have kids yet, no. It's really a shame that they don't play outside anymore - I'm only 24 and even during my (recent) childhood (ages 7-15), all I'd do after school and in the summers was play outside. Going to the pool, pickup games of baseball (a la Sandlot), football, soccer, TONS of pick-up Bball, other assorted games like Pickle/Spud, Wiffleball. Man, that was the life for sure.

Being a kid must suck today.

+1 I remember rushing through my homework so I could go out and play touch football or basketball.

 

[ken]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

So now he is working his way towards some WII games. I may introduce some other challenges - if he can sidewind the length of our dining room and living room under a certain number of seconds, or if he can beat X number of sprawls in 3 minutes, and so on.
That's cool. If I had some reward for physical activity as a kid, I probably would have been a better athlete and had a more competitive edge. Instead, I got rewarded for grades, so I'm an engineer. Yargh. My old man used to just set up a few cheap weight sets in the basement. A couple times a week, our whole family would go down there and lift. I still remember the tips he gave me (back straight, proper stance, rudimentary stuff like that) and we'd have a lot of fun doing burpies and pushups and squats. If all you have is 20 minutes, light lifting is the best thing you can teach a kid. I also remember watching him work out alone just about every morning before he left for work and how my friends used to call him Superman because his biceps were twice the size of their own fathers'. So, yeah, your kid will remember your part in his physical youth.

 

[TyCooN]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

but I guess the big question to me is - my son knows that I go to the dojo a few times a week. I have hanging boxing gloves and armor drying around the house, but he really isn't interested in boxing. I work with him sometimes, for maybe 5-10 minutes at a time, and then his attention falls off. I don't know if it is his attention in general, or what. but he can talk about ******* pokemon for 3 hours. any idea why your son is interested in your martial art?
I wouldn't be too worried about it. I used to do nothing but sit there with my thumb up my AZZ, and play video games as a kid. Once I started boxing I quit video games. People start boxing because they want more confidence, so if you can make him hungry for confidence he'll become a candidate for the sweet science. Knowing that you can throw down when the time comes does a lot of good for you, it's unexplainable. I'm not suggesting your son goes starting fights with other kids.

I wouldn't say I'm athletic at all in the sense that I enjoy sports. The only one I put any hard effort into is boxing. When my friends go off to play basketball I find something else to do.

 

[Joe E Taleo]

I was just talking to a co-worker about this. I'm already destined to be an old dad (I don't have kids yet, but if I have one this year I'll already be in my mid 30s), and I'm worried that I won't be able to keep up with them. I'll have to make an effort to push athletics somewhat. I guess I'll just have to allow options and see what sticks. The bjj suggestion sounds good, as it seems like something that I should be able to do in my forties and fifties, and it will also teach a child some self-defense.

Also, with regards to teaching kids boxing, what are kids classes like? I imagine that they don't start sparring until they're a lot older, and that they use big gloves and big head gear to prevent concussions?

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by Joe E Taleo

I
Also, with regards to teaching kids boxing, what are kids classes like? I imagine that they don't start sparring until they're a lot older, and that they use big gloves and big head gear to prevent concussions?


yes and no, they spar, but with a lot of padding and they aren't really that strong.

 

[thekunk07]

i'm glad we had the kids young. boundless energy is needed with 3 boys.

 

[NorCal]

Judo actually sounds great. I'm trying to get my boy (8) interested in BJJ but so far no luck. We swim together (mom as well), ride bikes, and try to get outdoors as much as possible. Just last weekend we went out to the Point Bonita Lighthouse (On the NW side of the San Francisco bay) and hiked all over. I'm lucky because we can play outside about 10+ months out of the year. We're also lucky in that it is a super safe family oriented neighborhood and he can play outside on the street with the other boys from the block.

 

[NorCal]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

but he can talk about ******* pokemon for 3 hours. t?

I feel your pain, the bloody Pokemon obsession is enough to make a grown man cry.