I am interested in putting my son in martial arts ...but im confused ...?

Question

I was thinking kung fu ... but what is the difference with karate, kung fu, and tae kwon do, etc ... my boy is 6 and is learning slowly to be more of a sociable kid, I now have him in tball and he loves it ..advice out there ??

Answer 1

Any of these will be fine. Take him to a few different "dojangs" or Dojo's" and decide together which place is best for him.  Since he is so young you should consider practicing with him.

Good luck!

FYI

Jujutsu is not the best for young children

Answer 2

Brazilian Jui Jitsu is actually a good choice for a 6 year old.  At this age the focus will be more on rolling, sweeping, getting positions and falling.  It won't be very technical but it will be great exercise and build his confidence, improve his motor skills and give him a long term goal to reach.

I think at this age a grappling martial art would be better than a striking martial art because there is less chance for injury but allows the kids to exert their full amount of energy.

You just have to make sure you find a school with the right attitude.  Make sure the instructors are positive, encouraging, focus on safety and have the maturity to know what to teach and what not to teach a 6 year old.

Answer 3

Why are you worried about a single art form?  Many gyms now days have mixed styles.  I am from a place of about 85,000 and go to a gym that teaches many different forms.

See if you can find a gym that does this and find out if your child likes just one, or likes training in many different forms.  The gym I go to teaches BJJ, Muy Thai, wrestling, and boxing tranformed into MMA.

It also depends on what the purpose is for taking the art.  If it is about learning disipline and respect, the particular art form may be different than for self defense.

Answer 4

its all the same to kids when they r that young...look for something that seems fun 4 him and is affordable 4 u...

Answer 5

All the different kinds of martial arts are different but all based around the same thing. Karate uses more of the hands and feet and tae kwon do has a lot of flipping and stuff. So they are all different but all good and will build character for your son. I suggest Jujitsue for him actually.

Answer 6

they all have good qualities.the most important thing to remember is to find a teacher not a business man. a teacher student relationship is imperative in martial arts no matter what style.so do research on the instructor.

Answer 7

if he is shy. tai chi.  if he is really agressive hung gar. some where in the midle. wing chung ,white crane, karate ect. take him to different classes and see what he likes best

Answer 8

I agree with pugpaws2. He had the most informative answer, and was the only one to touch base on the real thing you need to concentrate on. Follow his advice.

Answer 9

Outside of the geographical difference between where these styles originate, the difference is in application and philosophies. Though my colleagues will disagree (as they are prone to do) all these styles are equal among each other in effectiveness on the "battle field".

Karate, you'll find is more choppy and has a high school class room feel to it (depends on the school, but I'm giving you the norms). Attacks look quicker because they are pulled back harder, and the style it self is pretty intense.

Taekwondo, is what some consider a karate derivative, so much so some Taekwondo schools say they teach Karate (as karate has become the unofficial word for martial arts). Taekwondo is much wider and hits more "pretty" stances and requires stronger legs.

Kung-fu, is the prettiest and most diverse style. Meaning simply "great skill" in Chinese it refers to all styles developed in China (and if you've seen china it's pretty big). So you never quite know what you're getting until you've gotten it. Out of all three, kung-fu is taught more like a family instead of a school (but still requires great discipline).

At 6, I would recommend you enroll your child into a Taekwondo school as it has been geared by Americans for children. So your child would have more opportunity to relate to other kids there. On top of that Taekwondo is also the simplest out of the three, it will give him a sense of accomplishment.

Answer 10

karate, 50% kicks and 50% punches, originated from kung fu. The karate from Okinawa has a closer link to kung fu, since that was where some chinese pass the Kung fu to the people of okinawa. In Japan, they modified the Okinawa karate. They took out the softer aspect of the art, they took out the smooth aspect of the art, they took out the circular aspect of the art. Hence Japan karate is very rigid and very external. Based on raw physical power. For an art to be powerful and to be able to achieve the maximum potential, the art need to have both internal as well as external. Masters interchange these aspect during a fight. Same as hard and soft technique. You don't use brute force against brute force, otherwise who ever has the stronger brute force will win. Hence, Karate will always be a disadvantage to weaker, smaller people, especially women.

Taekwondo, external art, mix of karate and local korean arts. 70% kicks and 30% punches, but due to competition systems, now you are looking at 90% kicks and 10% punch in practice. Great mobililty, lots of variety of kicks, stylish kicks. But their hands are useless. Once an opponent get close and they have no idea what to do. With so little close range training, they have no skills to defend against close range attacks.

Muay Thai is an external style also, but it has body conditioning and realistic sparing. It is a simple system. You can learn all the techniques in  3 months. Then, you  

focus on sparing, power and speed and timing. Example if you have a set of twin brothers. One learn Muay Thai for 2 years and he will be a much better fighter than the other twin brother who learns 2 years of Karate, or Taekwondo, or Kung fu.

However because it is a low skill art, in 10 years. Wingchun, southern praying mantis and choylayfut will dominate. Because their skill level keeps on building. they are a very compete art., with weak point strikes and pressure point strikes.

In Muay Thai, Karate and Taekwondo, a 25 years old is expected to beat a 45 years old regardless of years of training, due to the lack of power in the 45 years old man.

In southern praying mantis, wingchun and choylayfut, the 45 years old is expected to beat the 25 years old because of long years of training and very high skill accumulation..

Kung fu is an umbrella for many martial styles original from China. Some styles are very dangerous and effective, but others are just for show.  It divided into nothern (kicks) and southern (fist) and also, it may further divided into Internal and External, however some style practice both.

Example shaolin starts with external training (physical) and in the high level, they ends up with  internal training (chi, internal energy). Wlhile Internal styles like taichi, starts with internal training and at a high level they start the external training.

If a Kung fu styles that only fucus on forms and do not practice fighting applications. Then, it is just for show. You can not fight if you do not practice fighting applicaitons.

Some good styles and popular styles to learn are:

Wing chun (sticky hands, and hand traping techniques)

Southern Praying mantis (sticky hands, and hand traping techniques and iron shirt/jacket.)

Choylayfut (powerful style that use both hands and legs, and iron shirt)

Some of the chinese internal styles are very good, but finding  a master who can fight with it is rare.

The most important aspect is not so much the styles but the master behind the style.  a Great master of an average style can defeat an average master of a great style. Go and have a look at the class, a good instructor produce many good fighters/students.

Answer 11

I would actually suggest Judo.  While practicing judo, you learn self-respect adn respedt for others. When practicing, your trying to improve your skill but you have to make sure your partner is safe. Judo is translated as the Gentle Way.  Its great self defence aswell.

Answer 12

Kung fu is an interesting art.  It utilizes techniques that dont require alot of strength, but still demand responsiveness to the opponent.  Kung fu incorporates some beautiful circular movements.  The term "Kung Fu" is actually a generalization of all arts, however it is still otherwise definable by the former description.

Karate would probably be a more straight-forward learning experience.  Depending upon which style of karate you choose, your son would learn varied techniques for ending fights with very rapid strikes that move in generally more linear patterns (read as efficient.)  This is not to take away from Kung Fu, however, which undoubtedly will get the job done and maybe even look better in the process.

Tae kwon do, basically, is a korean art that emphasizes kicks more than anything.  I know of kids your son's age which excel at this art.  

I taught karate for about  two years and I'd recommend it as a good course of study to begin with, moving later on into something like kungfu to become a well-balanced martial artist.

Answer 13

karate is japanese.. taekwondo is korean ... and kung-fu is chinese.

i would really recommend taekwondo, especially if you play soccer, because you do many kicks, patterns, self defence and fun things. They have great forms.

Dont do karate because its almost like a wannabe of taekwondo. Their forms and stances and bows are less powerful and look awkward.

Dont do kung-fu because they would make your son sit with his knees bent, butt not touching the floor for 30 min!

I really recommend taekwondo ,  as it fuses physically and mentally challenging yet fun things to do.

I go to Royal Taekwondo Academy! And im a 1st dan black belt too!!

But if your son is a more gymnastics kind of guy, I'd recommend  capoeira, a brazilian martial arts that include many flips, handstand, cartwheels, etc.

Good luck choosing!

Answer 14

First you would have to go to the martial arts school of your choice and have him join in on a class if this is possible. Talk to the instructors. Ask about the rates, what time the classes are, what age groups do they have, what the fees are there for the belts and the classes.  My brother co owns a martial arts studio so I know what goes on when people ask about the classes for their kids.

Answer 15

Don't feel bad. Many of the people in the martial arts are confused about them too. There are so many different styles of martial arts.  My suggestion is to visit several schools in your area. If they try to get you into a contract, run for the door. Another thing to watch out for is any school that starts talking about making your son a black belt.  Schools like those are what we call paper mills, or McDojo. They make everyone sign a contract so that you are locked in. Then they will have belt promotions often (every few months). Then you will find that they charge extra for the testing. Some places the test fees are huge.

I'm not trying to discourage you from putting your son into the martial arts. I just want you to understand that there are many schools that you want to avoid.  Find a school that does not push black belts, or contracts. You might even check the local recreation departments and Technical schools. They sometimes have martial arts classes for children. If you have other questions feel free to ask. I can be reached by email here on yahoo.

By the way,   The style is not as important as finding a good instructor. There are many instructors out there. Unfortunately there are very, very few that are good ones.

EDIT:   rat6969  I don't mean to be negative but you keep posting answers to questions that always say that karate came from Kung-Fu. While Kung-Fu definitely influenced the Okinawan martial arts it was not the source of karate. The Okinawans already had indigenous martial arts. What we know of as karate today is in essence techniques that came from Okinawa and China. To say that karate came from China is just not factual.  Any one that has studied Okinawan arts and their roots knows that.  BTW- I was going to email this directly, but you don't allow email ???

Answer 16

I would follow pugpaws advice on this.  Finding a good instructor who knows how to work with children is more important than anything else.

I had a friend ask my advice for her son, and like a knucklehead I started giving her a laundry list of martial arts.  Then I caught myself, stopped, and said "Karate would be fine, we're talking about bully-proofing a 6-yearold, not building a Spartan warrior."

But definitely look to finding a quality instructor.