# Is once a week enough?



## Buster (Jul 30, 2008)

My son has been doing Muay Thai  for 4 months now and seems to be doing fine.
He can only train once a week at the moment due to soccer commitments.The majority of his class train twice a week.Will he still be ok or should he be training twice a week to gain anything?
He is only 7 and I see Muay Thai as a long term commitment and do'nt want him to become bored of it after a few years.


----------



## Tez3 (Jul 30, 2008)

If he's happy and is doing well once a week is fine at his age. We have classes for his age twice a week and very few come both days. The children have football ( sorry soccer lol) cricket, swimming, dancing etc as well. As long as they aren't overloaded with activities I think children should have a mixture of sports and hobbies. They have plenty of time to chose which they want to study in more depth when they are older.


----------



## Nomad (Jul 30, 2008)

At once a week, it will be difficult for him to progress... the second class really makes a huge difference, IMO, in reinforcing techniques so you can build on them.  

If he's unable to make twice a week, try to at least have him do a solid (30-60 min) practice of the material covered in the last class with you watching on an "off" day... not as good as making the 2nd class, but much better than just doing the activity 1/week.

You say he's in it for the long term, and this is a good attitude, but I'd be concerned that his interest may wane or that he'll feel frustrated with the relatively slow progress he can make in a 1/wk activity.


----------



## JustAVisitor (Jul 30, 2008)

If the majority of the class is in the same situation, then he is fine for now. If not then he will compare the progress he makes with the progress that the kids who go twice a week make. Unless he is talented, soon enough there will be a gap. He will be the 'slow' guy, the one not really into it. His classmates will 'graduate' before him. Not much fun for a 7 year old.
Talk to him about it and ask him how he sees it. (Don't really listen to whatever he says, but watch his body language and read his eyes.)


----------



## jarrod (Jul 30, 2008)

you can still progress by training once a week, especially using visualization.  visualization doesn't have to be a boring, intensely focused meditative process.  it can be as simple as oh, say, sitting around in class & day dreaming about beating up bad guys.  so i assume your kid is doing some visualization training as well.

jf


----------



## jks9199 (Jul 30, 2008)

At his age, with other activities balancing his life, once a week is fine.  As he gets older, if his interest remains, he can add more training sessions.

But... nothing says he can't practice at home, even without a second formal training session.  Get a speed bag and/or a small heavy bag (he probably doesn't need anything larger than 60 pounds for several years!), and he can practice on them.  As a cheap alternative to the heavy bag - you can *HEAVILY* pad a post for him to hit and kick.  By heavily pad -- I'm talking several inches of dense, heavy padding, but not so much that it's like hitting a pillow.  As he gets older and tougher, you can remove some of the padding...  He can also shadow box, jump rope, do pushups and situps and other calisthenics...


----------



## stickarts (Jul 31, 2008)

That sounds good for the time being. in the future perhaps the schedule can be escalated.


----------



## tshadowchaser (Jul 31, 2008)

T his age I would say once a week is fine.  Others may progress a little faster but he is not in a race to see who learns what first.  Encourage him and give him positive reinforcement in ALL that he dose.


----------



## thaistyle (Aug 11, 2008)

He should be fine, but IMO if he can get two days a week in would be better.  My only concern is that he would fall behind or forget some things due to once a week training.


----------

