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Post by AngelaG on Feb 9, 2006 21:32:54 GMT
A possible contentious issue - karate being taught to children. Personally I am all for karate being taught to children, after all they are a potentially vulnerable part of our society and therefore learning how to deal with confrontation, and how to make it less likely to become a victim seems very important to me. I am all for the idea of children and females studying some sort of martial art, as these are people that are less likely to be able to use brute strength to get themselves out of of physical trouble.
However...
There are certain aspects of karate that I feel are not suitable for young ears - thus we are faced with a conundrum, do we "water down" the karate taught to them, or possibly even have an entirely different syllabus? The lessons also have to hold their attention (no mean feat with some of the tiddlers), and therefore we are faced with the difficulty with making the lessons fun, whilst still trying to teach them something worthwhile. How can one bridge this gap?
Share ideas for activities for children which can fit into a karate class, and build on self-defence ideals, without warping their minds, or becoming nothing more than a playgroup in gi.
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Post by Andy on Feb 9, 2006 22:25:12 GMT
A possible contentious issue - karate being taught to children. Personally I am all for karate being taught to children, after all they are a potentially vulnerable part of our society and therefore learning how to deal with confrontation, and how to make it less likely to become a victim seems very important to me. Some kids might get this, but my gut feeling is that the majority won't. They're in it purely for fun/fantasy/friendship reasons. I'm all for the positive affect Karate can have on a young person, but I don't know how far I'd go along with it helping them to deal with confrontation. There is a place for that kind of thinking, but no Martial Art or training regime offers 'guaranteed results or your money back'. Teach them all the stuff that's fun, gradually working in the more serious stuff. Unless you have a class of clones, they'll all take things is at different rates, but the key is FUN. Well hopefully I've covered a couple of potential tangents we might have drifted off on, and we can focus on this part of the topic. I can't really share my ideas on Childrens classes, as I was never any good at dealling with them myself, yet I think that's an important thing..........to have someone that gets on with kids, draws the best out of them, and has fun doing that. |
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Post by AngelaG on Feb 9, 2006 22:29:02 GMT
Some good points Andy. What about some principles such as "stranger danger"? Are these aspects that can be woven into a MA lesson? The first rule of self-defence is to not put one's self in that situation...
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Post by Andy on Feb 9, 2006 22:37:18 GMT
Some good points Andy. What about some principles such as "stranger danger"? Are these aspects that can be woven into a MA lesson? The first rule of self-defence is to not put one's self in that situation... Can I turn that one back around on you Angela? Do you think occasionally talking to kids about 'Stranger Danger' once in a blue moon in a Karate class will have any benefit? Of course you don't. If it's part of a programme supported by local authorities, like schools and police, then Karate could be a good way of reinforcing the message, but I don't think it's a suitably powerful delivery mechanism in isolation. Kids won't get deep principles, but situational specifics could be dealt with in a Karate class. e.g. Self Defence classes might be along the lines of....'how to slip out of your bomber jacket when someone has a hold of it'. |
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Post by AngelaG on Feb 9, 2006 22:49:23 GMT
Does it have to be once in a blue moon? I dunno, I'm just tossing thoughts out there at the moment...
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Post by Andy on Feb 10, 2006 0:28:47 GMT
Does it have to be once in a blue moon? I dunno, I'm just tossing thoughts out there at the moment... No it doesn't, but is it? |
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Post by random on Feb 10, 2006 0:48:26 GMT
One of the best things about amateur boxing is watching a couple of 6 years old terriers thrashing it out. It applies in Thai Boxing. If you are going to teach kids, then teach them the lot. Children deal with issues far better than adults and a good teacher will get across the need not to go around whacking the crap out of everybody just because they can.
Otherwise what is the point of teaching a kid to throw a front kick, or to punch properly, if you are not going to tell them why? Same with Kata, kids will assimilate the info given than adults do as they have no pre misconceptions.
What parts of the art are not fit for young ears? Let us be realistic, it says 18+ on most of my PS2 games, and the kids in KS2 have most of them.
Most of the DVD’s kids watch are full of violence. I would have thought that we have some kind of moral duty to educate kids about violence and its consequences, and how to deal with violence in a correct manner as well as the dangers that are lurking in dirty macs in the park.
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Post by Andy on Feb 10, 2006 0:53:19 GMT
I would have thought that we have some kind of moral duty to educate kids about violence and its consequences, and how to deal with violence in a correct manner as well as the dangers that are lurking in dirty macs in the park. That would imply that we have an exhaustive understanding of the subject? |
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Post by random on Feb 10, 2006 1:11:42 GMT
Not necessarily, violence is violence, whatever form it takes.
Dealing with violence is dealing with it.
Child Protection is an important issue; every club should have a policy.
If having an exhaustive knowledge was an impediment to teaching, then no one would teach.
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Post by AngelaG on Feb 10, 2006 8:22:17 GMT
Does it have to be once in a blue moon? I dunno, I'm just tossing thoughts out there at the moment... No it doesn't, but is it? Well that's the point, I am purely talking in hypotheticals at the moment... what could or should be done in a children's karate class. It's a choice between "if it ain't broke don't fix it" or perhaps attempting to develop and improve on one's teaching methodology. Do the pedagogical principles in teaching children need to be different then the principles in teaching adults? |
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Post by AngelaG on Feb 10, 2006 8:23:51 GMT
What parts of the art are not fit for young ears? Let us be realistic, it says 18+ on most of my PS2 games, and the kids in KS2 have most of them. Oh I think the aspects are there, especially when dissecting kata. Whether it's a case of protecting the children, or protecting their friends back in the playground is another matter though  |
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Post by nkudahc on Feb 10, 2006 16:57:05 GMT
i'm not sure how i feel about this, i think that there are certainly aspects that can be good for the kids but think i also think that it may give them and their parents a false sense of security which could really get them in trouble some day
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Post by Aefibird on Feb 10, 2006 17:40:35 GMT
What parts of the art are not fit for young ears? Let us be realistic, it says 18+ on most of my PS2 games, and the kids in KS2 have most of them. Most of the DVD’s kids watch are full of violence. I would have thought that we have some kind of moral duty to educate kids about violence and its consequences, and how to deal with violence in a correct manner I have to say that in my experience of working with kids, they're far more likely to beat up their mates because of a DVD they've seen or the latest PS2 game than because they do Karate or TKD or whatever. It's usually the kids who DO train in martial arts that tend to be the calmest and the ones least likely to pick fights or play inappropriate, violent games. At the school I teach at (Primary school, up to 11 years) there are a lot of Special Educational Needs children, many of which are from the poorest and most deprived families in the area. Obviously, each child is different and it can be hard to say conclusively whether or not MA has an effect, but out of these children the ones who train in MA are the ones who are the least likely to be in trouble, both in and out of class. There's plenty of MA classes in the small town where I live - I know of at least 3 TKD clubs, as well as a couple of karate clubs and a kickboxing place. Also, one of the TKD clubs (mine!) does free after-schools classes at most of the local primaries, so there are plenty of opportunities for children to get into MA. Many of the pupils I teach have trained in MA, even if it is only for a few months or so. I have to say that, for my school and my pupils, Martial Arts DOES make a difference. The children who play violent games and who have no concept of the seriousness of violent behaviour are 99.9999999% of the time from the kids who have had no exposure to a martial arts class. At least one of the MA schools in my town is a "McDojo"-type place - badges and belts handed out like sweeties. I know that McDojo's are slated no end over the internet, but the clubs in my area are doing good things for the kids I work with. Even if they have a belt every week and get their "sky blue pink with yellow dots on" belt just for turning up then it is making a difference, albeit a small one, to a community where the real alternatives are drink, drugs and unemployment. |
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Post by AngelaG on Feb 23, 2006 17:08:28 GMT
i'm not sure how i feel about this, i think that there are certainly aspects that can be good for the kids but think i also think that it may give them and their parents a false sense of security which could really get them in trouble some day Quite possibly. It's definitely something that needs to be weighed up. However as long as people are realistic about everyone's limitations that kind of over-confidence can be avoided. |
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Post by Shorin Ryu Sensei on Feb 25, 2006 18:18:22 GMT
I taught karate to kids as young as 6 for quite a few years and had a lot of fun in doing so...at first anyway. However, I did water it down a bit in that I left out techniques such as eye gouges, head butts, throat strikes and the like. Kids, IMO, just don't need to know those things yet. Other than that, they learned the same things as the adults.
I quit teaching kids after I had a fulltime dojo for 3 years because I just plain burnt out on it. It seemed that I was mostly babysitting and coddling kids just to pay the bills, and many parents dropped their kids off so that they could go to a movie, out to dinner, etc. So, for $40.00/month, I was a pretty cheap babysitter.
Kids are a lot of fun, but on the same hand, more work than adults IMO. I don't take anyone under 12 currently, and can't see myself going back down to teaching young children again. I'll leave that for the young instructors with more patience, time and desire than I do.
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