Advice required : My daughter and MMA

OK, my daughter is a few months shy of her 12th birthday and started Ju Jitsu some time ago.

She's really enjoying it and her Sensei is REALLY impressed with her enthusiasm and more importantly, her power and accuracy - attention to detail and etiquette.

Today she said she would also like to learn Muai Thai and Boxing at the same time and would I let her.
I have no problem at all letting her do it but would it be too much for a 12 year old to take in.

She's intelligent, tall for her age and athletically built without an ounce of fat on her and i'm wondering if this is really what she was made for. She seems to have found something she likes doing and it can only be good for her at the very least.

I'm going to ask the question to her Sensei on Monday but would like a few opinions from other sources.

So, anyone out there with experience in mixed martial arts at all ?

Cheers for reading and any knowledge would be appreciated.
KS

Well if it were my daughter it would be a straight answer

NO

Why ?

For the simple fact that she will loose combats, be injuried and letting her doing this at 12 isn't a responsible behaviour

She should keep practicing Jujitsu which is a very good base for MMA, and then when she turns 18 sh wil take her own responsability

There are another millions of reason to say no.

I don't see why not, as long as you trust her teachers.

One word: Brain Damage

Kaistar said:

She's really enjoying it and her Sensei is REALLY impressed with her enthusiasm and more importantly, her power and accuracy - attention to detail and etiquette.

Today she said she would also like to learn Muai Thai and Boxing at the same time and would I let her.
KS

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Martial Arts is an amazing thing to be doing at her age because it will help instill some very important values in her that will help her throughout her entire life. Exploring martial arts can help her become both confident and disciplined as well as give her an outlet for the frustration that she'll feel during the teenage years.

Combat sports like Muai Thai and Boxing are a bit different, though, and can hold a lot of dangers that she may not be as fully aware of. I do believe there's a lot of value in combat sports and I think they can have a lot of great practical applications in life, but she is really young to be introduced into that sort of experience. I would say to encourage her to wait until she's a bit older and more prepared both physically and mentally to deal with the stress that can come from such activities.

Yes, will help her stay more fit and many more reasons

Many don't consider MMA since they think it's just too dangerous and can lead to problems, but trust me, she'll enjoy it, if that's what she really wants, let her do it.

Will help her in

Strength
Balance
Staying Fit
Flexibility
Confidence
Self-respect
Discipline
&more

I will say let her be, You learn discipline in Martial arts, You are not in it in order fight. Martial arts is definitely a sport to stay in fit and mentally healthy. If she enjoys it then let her be. I know its very competitive but not in such a way where people kill each other.

Just the same way you wished to follow ur dreams or dram of doing it. You should give her the privilege of doing so.

abysse said:

For the simple fact that she will loose combats, be injuried and letting her doing this at 12 isn't a responsible behaviour

She should keep practicing Jujitsu which is a very good base for MMA, and then when she turns 18 sh wil take her own responsability

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I wouldn't let her into full combat, and tbh, I don't think minors are allowed to fight in MMA. This is purely a learning curve and I would never let her do anything that I thought had the capacity to hurt her. A few bruises are par for the course but no way would I let her into full combat at this age.

She would be taking all these lessons independently of each other, so learning all disciplines separately for now anyway, so not full on MMA at least until she is competent with the individual skills. Later they could be mixed.

Your opinion is valued though, thank you.

jazzc said:

I don't see why not, as long as you trust her teachers.

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Implicitly. Good people and VERY controlled. Never is there a time when anything goes unsupervised.
Her Ju Jitsu teacher was introduced to her by my father, he has his own DoJo and has been teaching for many years.
The guy that runs the Muai Thai gym is a friend of mine that i've known for TIME so there are no issues there and the Boxing gym is run by a family friends partner.
So all good on that score

Mokodoki said:

Martial Arts is an amazing thing to be doing at her age because it will help instill some very important values in her that will help her throughout her entire life. Exploring martial arts can help her become both confident and disciplined as well as give her an outlet for the frustration that she'll feel during the teenage years.

Combat sports are a bit different, though, and can hold a lot of dangers that she may not be as aware of.

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As mentioned though, she's underage for full combat and would only be allowed to compete for gradings.

I would never allow her to do anything detrimental to her health.
I firmly believe though that this has to be better than hanging about on street corners doing nothing.

I guessed that you wouldn't put the daughter in the ring against Fedor Emanelienko

Tell me the probability to see her injuried during the incoming year ?

I love mma, and i would have really enjoyed doing it myself, but my point is that parents should protect their children until they are grown up enough to make their own choice

At 12 you don't make choices you do what you want to

Plus she will grow up and she will change. This could be a quick need that wil pass over the next 2 years

Still, just an opinion

awww if I had a lil daughter I won't!

If she wants it, give it to her, life is boring enough by itself, lol

I really don't see the dangers of allowing her to take on Muai Thai or Boxing, especially in a class setting. She isn't actually fighting in a ring... she'll be geared up, and if it's a responsible class, matched against people of fairly equal strength when you're at that young of an age.

The values that martial arts instills is completely worth it, not to mention the strength, hand/eye coordination, etc.

She won't be competing without 10 tons of padding on in boxing or MT so don't worry about that part of it.

Go her!

Life is too short to constantly be thinking about self-preservation. If you have a hobby you love, there is usually nothing that can keep you from doing it. Look at Travis Pastrana, that dude should have been dead a long time ago, or atleast in a wheelchair.

thanks

chrisbanga said:

thanks

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Post count does not go up in the lounge. Try spamming another forum..

I received martial training for several years, starting at age 7. I played football in school. I wrestled in school. I'm a skater. I broke, well, damn near everything. I've had broken bones, shattered joints, dislocated limbs, stitches, surgeries; you name it.

I don't begrudge my mom for those injuries. Kids get hurt, it happens. If she wants to do it then I say let her do it. The environment is supervised properly, or I'm betting she wouldn't be there in the first place, so let her rock out. If she changes her mind then so be it, but it's a positive environment and she's excited about it. That's win-win for a parent, isn't it?

ryce889 said:

I really don't see the dangers of allowing her to take on Muai Thai or Boxing, especially in a class setting. She isn't actually fighting in a ring... she'll be geared up, and if it's a responsible class, matched against people of fairly equal strength when you're at that young of an age.

The values that martial arts instills is completely worth it, not to mention the strength, hand/eye coordination, etc.

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This is where I am at the moment tbh.
No she won't be full on fighting no matter what discipline she is practicing at the time and yes, all safety gear will be on and she'll be up against equal partners. Any knocks she gets will only be minor IMO. If she can handle a bit of rough and tumble then can this really be bad ?

spoonitnow said:

She won't be competing without 10 tons of padding on in boxing or MT so don't worry about that part of it.

Go her!

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Thank you, i'm definitely leaning towards letting her do what she wants to do.

chrisbanga said:

thanks

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No, my friend - Thank YOU for such a well thought out response, I can tell that you really know what you are talking about and definitely put your heart and soul into contributing to this thread to the best of your abilities. May the Gods above bestow upon you the strength and indeed the character that is required to keep up this quality of thought and education. We should all take notes and learn from your superior intelligence.
Thank you again.

BleemZ said:

I received martial training for several years, starting at age 7. I played football in school. I wrestled in school. I'm a skater. I broke, well, damn near everything. I've had broken bones, shattered joints, dislocated limbs, stitches, surgeries; you name it.

I don't begrudge my mom for those injuries. Kids get hurt, it happens. If she wants to do it then I say let her do it. The environment is supervised properly, or I'm betting she wouldn't be there in the first place, so let her rock out. If she changes her mind then so be it, but it's a positive environment and she's excited about it. That's win-win for a parent, isn't it?

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I personally started on Judo, then Kyokishinkai Karate when I was (a lot) younger so I do know what goes on in a DoJo, and I do know the level of etiquette required and what happens if you fall short of this expectation.
I also ended up with my fair share of injuries and also never blamed anyone but myself.
I was the one that wanted to do it so that was the end of it.

There was no MMA then though, or at least it wasn't a main stream activity and if i'm honest, I only got so far into it all and then it all fizzled out because boys things took over.

I'm almost totally convinced that it's a good thing for her and as long as she's going to be safe doing it I can't see any negative points.

At all times she will be in control of her decision to do this, no pressure from me at all. If she wants to stop any time that's her choice but at the moment, it's her asking me if she can do this.
I can't really see any reason why not.
Controlled environments and qualified staff beat drinking on a street corner any day for me...

Its good to have a child doing something constructive like this.

My little brother used to do Karate around the same age as your daughter and he soon got bored because it wasnt enough of a thrill for him.

I do Kickboxing myself and i have tried MMA which honestly is much harder both physically and mentally. But i'm 18 so i guess they push the older kiddies alot more haha.

But yeah its great for flexability , Balance , Strength and Co-ordination.

Kids like learning many different styles. Kids that are into M.A. that is and it's a great workout and tough fun for them. Develops character.
Great for girls to know how to handle themselves. Thing is you have to keep a close eye on her and make sure the teacher and assistant
teachers are responsible.
At some point try to point her towards the internal martial arts if she's serious about being well rounded.
She'll gain an edge most kids her age don't have because the average kid is attracted to the more obvious external display of power.
Hsing - i will teach her to fight really well really fast. Most of her opponents won't have a reference for it.
Fast acquisition of solid fighting skills is uncommon in martial arts. She'll also learn to generate power not dependent on her size and age.
Tai Chi Chuan also develops character and calm control in a conflict. Much steeper learning curve though.