Martial arts classes?

[rhianna813]

We are looking into some kind of martial arts classes for our 7 yo DS. I have really no experience with sports but most of the classes or teams I have seen have a start and end date with a group of kids.

I’ve noticed the martial art schools have ongoing classes. The one I am looking at has a $100 a month fee and your child can attend unlimited classes for their level. Or $55 a month and can attend any class their level once per week.

I can’t tell if kids are taught separately from adults or alongside adults also in the Level 1 class.

What I am confused about is how does a young child just starting out join in an ongoing class with other kids or adults, who know what is it going on? How does the new kid learn the basics? Maybe they just watch the other students and catch on when they catch on?

If you have joined these types of classes for any sport, please share your experience :-)

Thanks,

Rhianna

[Heavenly]

My son does judo and it runs year round with people being able to join whenever they want.  It isn't really levels, so to speak.  It goes by belt levels but there is more than one belt level in each class.  So white belt (beginner), yellow belt and orange belt could all be in the beginnger/recreational class.  There are new kids joining all the time and there has never been any problems. My husband recently started at the same dojo and he just joined mid-class and has done fine, already at his orange belt.  I'm sure your son will do just fine and I am a big believer in martial arts for kids!

[CarrieMF]

My dd also does Judo.

It is slightly different here.   There are 3 basic class - little kids(I'm sure it has a more official name,lol), Juniors and Adults.

Little Kids is mostly kids 7 & under 

Juniors 7ish - 15/16ish.

Adults 11 & up.

As you can see there is overlapping of ages in all groups.  Up until 2 years ago they didn't have the little kids group but we have over 110 members now & they couldn't have all the kids on the same night.

Kids who are 11 & orange belt and up(though there are 2 white belts who are 12 & 17 who are in the adult class) can join the adult class.  teh ones who come to the adult class are the ones who are in it for more than just recreation - they are the competitors.

We had a huge jump in new kids this year so ALOTof time has been spent on the juniors class & more of the older orange belts have been coming to the adult class.  A few of them do the juniors class & then right after that continue with the adult class so they're doing 2.5 hours of judo twice a week.

There is mixed belts in all groups.

Little kids is a 45min group 1x a week.  There are a couple juniors kids who help out(mostly tying belts,lol

Juniors is twice a week for 1hour.

Adults is 3 times a week for 1 1/2 hours

Little kids & juniors runs from sept - may.  They do accept kids year round though 99% of them join in sept

Adults is year round & anyone can join anytime, though older juniors can attend with them.  The reason the adults go longer is due to competitions.  They have nationals in July, they do not have any adult classes over those 2 weeks are the sensei's are all gone.  There is also junior nationals.  Then the winter games are this weekend, though those run every 4 years.  In 3 more years we have the SK winter games & they are starting the training/development of those kids.  over the summer the adult class goes down to 1 day a week

Judo was $315 for the year for juniors & adults.  Little kids was cheaper but I don't remember what it was.  There is a family rate, I believe it was about $450 & it doesn't matter how many people in the family you put in.  We have families of 2 who pay that & families of 5 who pay that.   The Gi's are $60 & unless you are competing you only need the white one.

What is nice about our Dojo is you can come for recreation or you can come for competition.  The classes are the same, you pay the same.  If you compete there is more out of pocket expense for the tournaments & travelling but you have that choice.  Out of approx 110 people in our Dojo there are 20 or so who compete on a regular basis.

When new people join mid-year they work with them to get them the basics.  Without the basics you can get really hurt.  They need to know their breakfalls & such like that.  At our Little Kids class they are working on rolling breakfalls.  

Here they test 1 time a year.  Our old Sensei left due to his job & the owner is now teaching the class, however due to the large enrollment of new kids this year they have just started testing the Orange belts & up.  Usually it is done before Christmas & they can get it all done in 2classes.  After they get their orange belt they usually move kids up by half belts in a year instead of a full belt.

The ONLY time it is different here is in Sask Winter Games years.  The kids must be 11-15 & an orange belt to participate so they will test any kids who are elligible to get them their orange belts.  Last year they pushed 3-4 kids through so they could attend.  Now it was mostly the 11yo's they pushed through as in 3 more years they get to attend again & they should all be blue belts by then.  They sent 15 kids to the winter games last year, 6 of them were 11.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

My DS has done karate for a couple of years now.  At his dojo, the kids are divided by age (with some exceptions for size) so that all the under 7 kids are together, the 7-10 YOs are together, 11-16 and then the adults.  That way some big 12 YO doesn't accidently hurt a little 5 YO.  I would definitely not be happy if my younger child were in a class with older teens, for lots of reasons.

These are ongoing classes of about 20-50 kids with between 3-6 instructors, plus a couple of the really advanced kids that switch between assisting the teachers and learning their own stuff.  When a new kid joins the class, generally one of the instructors will concentrate on giving him/her the basics, standing beside the new child and demonstrating the basic skills as the whole class works through the basics as part of warm up.  Then the class will break into smaller groups with each level/belt working with an instructor.  So maybe 5 kids working with each instructor at each level.  

We really love the dojo we chose, but I would recommend going and watching the class your child would be in at least once before signing up and paying money.  We observed a couple where the atmosphere wasn't something I approved of, where the instructors were just plain mean, or where the kids weren't getting any explanation and were just expected to learn by observation.  At least here there is a dojo on every block it seems, so take the time to find one that you are comfortable with.

Also make sure you understand any additional costs -- some dojos are notorious for adding extra fees for everything.  Even ours, which is better than many in the area, we pay each time DS tests for a new belt level, for extra classes with visiting masters, to buy the uniform and required accessories (of which he has outgrown 3 sets now), to purchase weapons and the extra weapons classes needed for the advanced belts...  So while it might look like $100 a month, it rarely is.

[rhianna813]

Thank you all! This feedback is really helpful. It does look like the kids have their own class – ages 4 – 11. Which is still pretty broad but my DS is 7 so not too young. They do offer a free introductory class, but I think we’ll stop by and watch first. I am not even sure DS will want to join. He is hard to read when it comes to sports and group activities.

This place has month to month with no fees. I think we would do the once a week class for $55. The class schedule seems good with afternoon, evening and saturday options.

I agree that martial arts is amazing for kids. Plus you don’t need great weather outside to practice all year round!

Rhianna

[CarrieMF]

In judo while there are kids from 7 - 15 at the same time no way would a 15yo be fighting with a 7yo unless that 15yo was teaching.  They pair off with someone of similar size.

At our judo club you can try it out for a couple of weeks before committing & paying.

[eastmillcreekmama]

Our family has been involved with aikido for many years. Aikido is a martial art focused on resolving conflict and creating harmony. It's a lot of fun, very physical, and great for developing not only physical agility, balance, etc. but also teaches compassion, and creative conflict resolution. In most dojos, I've seen tiered kids classes, divided by age, usually 6-10 or so, and 11-14, and a teen class, with teens being welcome in the adult classes after they participate in a beginner series.

Hope you find what you're looking for!

Amanda