which martial art should i start my son with?

my son's about 3 1/2 and i'm thinking about enrolling him in a kiddie martial art program. he really needs a good outlet for his energy...and i like the discipline that is taught w/martial arts...

i was gonna enroll him in karate, but others say i should start him off w/judo and then have him eventually move into jujitsu later down the road....

any suggestions?

tonlilaz said:

my son's about 3 1/2 and i'm thinking about enrolling him in a kiddie martial art program. he really needs a good outlet for his energy...and i like the discipline that is taught w/martial arts...

i was gonna enroll him in karate, but others say i should start him off w/judo and then have him eventually move into jujitsu later down the road....

any suggestions?

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wing chun kung fu

Let him learn hand to hand combat first

I agree, Judo or even Wing Chun (wrestling might be good provided his instructor is a great teacher). Although Judo will probably give him a rounder experience for martial arts and what it really all about.

I started off studying Wing Chun Kung-fu as a youth and eventually found my way to Ju-Jitsu over the years.

I think what's most important at his age is a sense of discipline and respect. These 2 will prepare him for any branch of the arts he pursues down the road.

Best Wishes

tonlilaz said:

my son's about 3 1/2 and i'm thinking about enrolling him in a kiddie martial art program. he really needs a good outlet for his energy...and i like the discipline that is taught w/martial arts...

i was gonna enroll him in karate, but others say i should start him off w/judo and then have him eventually move into jujitsu later down the road....

any suggestions?

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I go with Tai kwon do.

i suggest taking him to a few different locations, different martial arts. see which one he naturally gravitates towards. that will promise greater success.

Personally I've done kickboxing. I've enrolled my little brother as well. He LOVES it. You may try MMA as well if you want an 'all round' training.

I did Karate when I was a kid and it was good for flexibility and coordination. Even though karate isn't really that useful from a "real fighting" perspective, it's great for kids because it teaches them basic martial arts movements (punching, kicking, stretching) and because heaps of kids do it, it's a good social thing. Teaches discipline, respect etc etc. IMHO karate as a kid is a good physical and mental foundation for more practical martial arts later on in life.

As an ACTUAL student of BJJ I would not recommend it for a 31/2 year old....

Get his mind and spirit right (and agility...) introduce it a few years later.:grouphug:

Omoplata said:

the hell?

most of those options listed are outdated martial arts

this is the new age. havent you heared of MMA?

do brazilian jui jitsu. its the best one.

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Omoplata said:

do brazilian jui jitsu. its the best one.

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Highly debatable. A good striker will stuff all your takedowns and beat the crap out of you standing up. Just look at Jose Aldo... That's not to say you don't need to know your groundwork.

Also MMA's not necessarily suitable for kids.

Wrestling.

No matter how good you are at punching, kicking, pressure points, or whatever, if you don't have good hips you're worthless.

Advice from a 15+ year wrestler (nationally ranked at one point) and 5 year boxer.

Just remember that your son is only 3 1/2 and whatever discipline you go with may stick with him or not. Honestly you should get him involved with what you are interested in as you are probably his role model right now . I'd say tae kwon do as it is well suited for beginners and youngins. Learn how to punch, and kick properly.

Any discipline that you choose will be a good one for both of you in all honesty, due to the fact that you guys will be learning together. The only one that is going to be a no imo is MMA... Come on guys he does have a 3yo, last thing he needs is to have daddy slam him on the ground and give him the good ole 3-6 elbow to the face.

Don't put him in martial arts just yet. Put him in gymnastics first. This will build his balance, flexibility and strength.

When he's 5 years old, put him in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
When he's 10 put him in either Muay Thai or boxing

He will be lethal by the time he's 18

Lol. Kung fu all the way. It is ment for killing and is an art of war. It will also have great content for mind.

All the others on your list are for sports. My friend has been in kung fu for 8 years and he said that the karate black belt katas are at same level than they train after year.

Wing chun is ineed a good choice in kung fu. It works Strongly suggesting

For sports any of those are good , but if you want him to be able to defence himself n real life then drop those sports. No one is going to do those good looking moves on street

go for muay thai..but not listed there...i seriously recommended it. I will guaranteed your son will like it...

I'd suggest something like wrestling or like somebody mentioned, gymnastics. These will provide a base for the future. If your child is eventually going to be involved with MMA like boxing and jiu jitsu then tae kwon do and karate are going to be essentially useless because they will introduce what is consider bad habit into the mma game.

Wrestling will work with the ground and gymnastics on the flexibility and other things. I agree that jiu-jitsu would be the best to learn, but at the age of 3 1/2 it may not be the best option just because of the intricacies on many of the submissions. Despite the fact that somebody of that age would probably tap as soon as they feel slightly like they are choking, a matter of inches makes the difference on a submission.

Most people are assuming he'll be doing mma training down the road. If not, karate and tae kwon do are also excellent options.

My MMA coaches all make fun of Judo. Yes, I mean it has it's advantages, but seriously the same outcome can be achieved much easier without Judo and thus a wrestling base would be more beneficial. Just my two cents.

That is a pretty young age to start. His attention span is something to consider.....

I have one son that is now a Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and the other is a Brown Belt. They started at ages 7 and 9. Few people will stick with anything more than a few months, let alone 6 years.....I am very proud of both of them.

They train (Dad does too, as much as he can) at American Top Team. The program that they started in emphasized BJJ and Boxing/Wrestling/Muay Thai.........they tried to mix it up.

Instead of just one thing or the other, they have tried to balance their experience.

The one son who just got his Black Belt (his is considered a Junior Black Belt or Adult Brown)...is going on to train in the UFC training, so too, is the 15 year old.

Personally, I would look for a program that is geared towards children and to be honest, 3 or 4 is a little young for training. Developmentally, he may not have the capacity to fully grasp the concepts and so on.....

Now, that is not to say that you couldn't give it a try.

You may find better results and more fun for your son, if you wait until he is 5 or 6.

As for which Martial Art is the most effective, it is in the blending of the various disciplines that makes it most effective.

Sticking with just one discipline, no matter how proficient one is, only leads to being one-dimensional and this could be deadly in a fight. The UFC over the years has shown how any weakness in any area, can and will be exploited.

Wrestling is great. But, if you can't keep your hands up and are horrible at striking, but your opponent is great at both, well.....it could and will be problem.

Anyway, I think it is great that you are looking Martial Arts for your son.

Good luck and remember that he needs to have fun and learn effective training in a safe environment.

Autumn said:

Highly debatable. A good striker will stuff all your takedowns and beat the crap out of you standing up. Just look at Jose Aldo... That's not to say you don't need to know your groundwork.

Also MMA's not necessarily suitable for kids.

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Aldo is a BJJ blackbelt though

Autumn said:

I did Karate when I was a kid and it was good for flexibility and coordination. Even though karate isn't really that useful from a "real fighting" perspective, it's great for kids because it teaches them basic martial arts movements (punching, kicking, stretching) and because heaps of kids do it, it's a good social thing. Teaches discipline, respect etc etc. IMHO karate as a kid is a good physical and mental foundation for more practical martial arts later on in life.

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Yeah I agree with this. At a young age actually fighting is rarely the core reason you want to stick a kid in a martial arts thing.

I have been doing BJJ for a while now, and we only have a couple of young people (Mid teens) that come train. It certainly isn't for everyone and the time investment (aka you are looking at a lifetime investment to get your blackbelt) is not for everyone.

At your kids age (3 1/2) I think you may find your options are more limited than you think. Karate or Judo may be your only option anyway.

I like Aikido

I would recommend judo.Even though i don't do any martial arts myself,i think judo is great for beginners.It will teach your kid "how to land properly with minimal impact to your body"

Two years back,two judo instructors came to my college and demonstrated "how to fall properly without injuring yourself" they basically threw a guy in the air on to hard concrete floor and he fell down with a thudding effect.He got back to standing position as if he landed on a rubber cushion lol!

that was sick even to watch....the sound of guy falling on concrete floor and stand up.!


May be some sort of kids YOGA i know i am suggesting something other than you asked here i suppose you cant go wrong with yoga.May be your kid will get amazing sense of concentration,calmness and peace of mind!

I don't think a small child would have the precision to do Aikido and virtually all of of the wrist / arm locks are off limits as a childs joints can be permanently damaged being undeveloped.

To the op ... I recommend to focus on activities which build balance and coordination at this stage, not a martial art, and above all ensure that the activities are FUN.

You kid can start a martial art later and will not be at a disadvantage if he has a gymnastics / trampolining sort of background.