I will be honest here and admit that I do not watch MMA apart from the odd UFC card ( I don't think Strikeforce and others are even shown on UK tv ? ) I always thought MMA was like a Kickboxer vs a Kung Fu expert type thing which then evolved to the point where the fighters are trained in many arts ? The reason I ask this is my boy is turning 4 soon and there is a Karate class at his school ( but from my personal experience as a kid Karate is quite boring as it's very repetitive ) someone said take him to an MMA class but how can you have an MMA class ? I am thinking about putting him in Brazilian Ju Jitsu and a Muay Thai class ? And before anyone says anything I have spoke to the instructors and TBH it is based on fitness and conditioning at a young age so my 4 Yr old is not going to be elbowed and kneed in the head lol ! Do they sound good to you or is 2 classes too much/ should I wait till he is a bit older ?
No way should your kid be doing real Muay Thai at the age of 4, although it is done at that age in Thailand, but doubtful your son has the same limited options as many kids in Thailand. The main problem with kids in trying to do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is getting them to actually pay attention and actually learn. If your kid can actually do it then put him in there IMMEDIATELY! I did Tae Kwon Do for almost 10 years, got my black belt, and realized when I was 18 how utterly worthless it actually was. I would have given my left nut to have a BJJ school in my area when I was 4 (which is the age I started doing TKD). The great thing about BJJ is that you can win a fight or control a situation and you don't have to hurt anyone. As Demian Maia said in one of his post fight interviews, "I fight to show you don't have to hurt someone to win a fight". I carry very much the same philosophy. In short, if your kid is able to actually learn BJJ at his age, that'd be incredible and BJJ is the easy, easy choice as it's good for staying in shape and exercising and it teaches you something practical. If you've got a good BJJ teacher that works well with their students, of all ages, then you've pretty much struck gold. My recommendation (as if it wasn't obvious enough, though poorly formed, probably) is that BJJ is the easy choice though he may or may not be too young. Maybe age 6-8 if not now, but BJJ is the way to go in terms of teaching him a martial art, 100%.
Yeah man, get the kid interested in BJJ if you can. It's a real good thing to learn, there's less of an ego with the people teaching and learning it, and it's very helpful. I did Karate for a couple of years and it honestly is a waste of time unless you get a good sensei. Ours was just pointless bull**** and I learnt nothing except basically, defend yourself, which is obvious anyway.
Yeah the Muay Thai is just hitting pads and fitness ( the instructor told me to bring him next week not when he is 4 lol ) there is no way I would let him go if they were actually fighting ! The BJJ school is a Gracie Barra school ( I have no idea what that means ) and the guy starts kids at 4 so I assume he is able to teach the young ones ? But I get what you mean cause my boy is pretty hyper active got loads of energy ( I need him to burn it off lol ) I will give it a go if I think it is too much for him I will pull him out and take him back when he is older ! There is also a Krav Maga gym by me is that any good ?
At 4 years old most of what he'll be doing is rolling around and having fun anyway. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, wrestling (if you can find it), whatever, are all great for younger kids. At 4 years old you could put him in any kind of martial arts class, it wouldn't matter as long as he enjoys it. I'd actually really recommend gymnastics if you can find a good place for him. It's a great way for kids to get fit and stay flexible, and at that age they love the jumping and flipping around, which is what gymnastics is all about.
My boy is starting Tumbliers next week ( it's baby gymnastic's ) My daughter goes to Gymnastics and my boy will be going when he is 4 ! What really baffles me is my boy can't play NO CONTACT Rugby until he is 6 but can do Martial Arts when he is 4 :think
Well, with Muay Thai, much of it is shin kicks and elbows, and sometimes, if they do it really hard, on even kind of hard pads, maybe repeatedly, then it can be bad because of the conditioning nature of Muay Thai. (Again, assuming it's real Muay Thai and not some watered down version of Muay Thai). Though, it's typically not a problem at that age because they don't hit really hard and have the body kinetics to do such a thing, but it can get like that as they get to about 11-15ish, or even a few years younger. The way the conditioning process works in Muay Thai is that it breaks the bones in your shin, elbows and hands down through repeated trauma (usually by hitting a punching/thai bag repeatedly) and they're recalcified to harden them (the bones) over time and this also deadens the nerves in those areas. This process, in Muay Thai, is called conditioning. Shouldn't be terrible to learn at his age, but I wouldn't recommend it around that middle age of say... 11-15 give or take a year or two. I'd say wait until you're roughly 17-18 to start doing it seriously, if he ever wants to. I know my hands, elbows and shins are never going to be the same. BJJ is the way to go. It doesn't wear on your body like Muay Thai will. And if you have a instructor that is used to working with kids his age then you're golden. Get him in there immediately! As far as Krav Maga, it's probably some watered down **** for Americans. (Real) Krav Maga is some really serious and intense stuff. Unless you're expecting your son to grow up to be a cop or in the military, I'd avoid that. BJJ is much better. Usually best to get kids to stick to one form of martial arts. If you put Muay Thai and BJJ as a selection for your kid, he'll take Muay Thai (after he's done one class of each) probably because he gets to hit things. I'd put him in BJJ and if he wants to branch out when he gets older then he should be able to do so, but stick with one for now.
I train boxing mostly and BJJ i believe these two combinations are the best introductions into mma i really believe that having a good stand up is vital and is key in beating your opponent as learning how to utilise the jab is very important, and with solid BJJ you can defend yourself i dont train much wrestling as i dont really have the means to afford wrestling after boxing and BJJ
I have my 3 year old daughter in karate, I think it's fantastic. They play some karate technique games, do some drills (though not for very long as you can imagine a 3 year olds attention span) and play some more games. My daughter loves it, she's gained confidence and gets to socialise with people her own age but there is also a sense of discipline but not that old school karate kind, her instructor is very good with the kids. The most important thing for your child is that they enjoy it, forcing them to do something they don't want to do is not the way too go as it will make their martial arts journey very short. Remember they can change disciplines when they get older if they choose.