When looking for karate classes for your young child, you must ask yourself a few important questions before just throwing them into the ring, so to speak.
When my kids were small only one of them ended up in karate, but Bobby really did enjoy it for a few years before moving on to other sports.
Table of Contents
- What Is The Best Age To Start Karate?
- Does Child Only Want Karate In Order To Fight?
- So What Martial Art Is Best For A 4 Year Old?
- Alternatives to Karate For Kids
- Typical Karate Classes For 4 Year Olds
- Pros
- Cons
- Summary
What Is The Best Age To Start Karate?
Most experts would agree age 3 to age 5 are great times to start your child in martial arts. Any earlier may not be worth your effort as frequent breaks may be needed and could be distracting to the group. 1-1 time may be acceptable for any fussy child though.
Does Child Only Want Karate In Order To Fight?
It’s a parent with a child to take karate for aggression and attacking pains? If you answer those as yes, then taking your four-year-old to karate classes probably not a good idea.
Karate is a self-defense training martial art where it takes discipline, safety, & patience.
It is only learned in the low likelihood that it would be used in an actual real life situation. Therefore you should first determine the right reasons for wanting to take your young child to classes.
So What Martial Art Is Best For A 4 Year Old?
Many choose karate do to it being able for kids to grasp in small doses. From setup, to forms, to contact, you can go very slow and it is not as complex as jujitsu or judo can be.
Alternatives to Karate For Kids
- Jujitsu
- Kata
- Judo
- Boxing
You should make it fun enjoyable and do you want to do a mother daughter or father son or vice versa I’m sure those kind of classes are out there as well were you could enjoy learning martial arts as well. Like with soccer or baseball karate may or may not be supported choice free you’re younger.
Therefore it is important to start slow and learn the initial steps of not only safe practicing inspiring but to never ever use karate to Taksim only as self-defense.
Typical Karate Classes For 4 Year Olds
Studies have shown that 74% of students under five to start karate end up taking future classes as young adults or teenagers.
The other portion just don’t really like it to tell you the truth
I had child was not a fan and we did not push them any further, however good friends of ours are competing on a local level and enjoy it every chance they get.
So to each their own, but there are many good things that come from karate, including:
Pros
- Self Discipline
- Fitness
- Friendships
- Leadership
- Patience
- Dedication
It is not always great fun at karate though, as there are some possible negitives:
Cons
- Do not like to fight / get hit
- Afraid of hurting someone
- Is not what they saw on TV or read about
Summary
As a parent, only you can decide when enrolling your toddler or young child in karate is best. When in doubt, may be sign up for a few individual sessions before agreeing to an entire season or group.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon Dunn
