# Teaching Children



## Makalakumu (Jan 31, 2005)

I was wondering what the guidelines at your dojangs where for teaching children?


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## Makalakumu (Jan 31, 2005)

Here are mine...

My instructor taught us that for children, techniques like "low block" and "high block" and the rest of them were taught with very little interpretation.  A "low block" was actually a low block etc.  This was done because the techniques, when taught this way were not overtly dangerous, yet the student was still learning the "real moves" for when they came of age.

In my dojang, I've taken this bit of tradition and whittled down our lists.  Application is straight forward and designed to teach children basic self defense, coordination, flexability, speed, and physical fitness.  

In my children's class, I take kids as young as six years old.  We move slowly and we play games to teach various aspects of MA.  The pace of the class moves quickly, though and the kids are always moving.  

I feel comfortable "graduating" a student in my children's classes to my adult classes when they reach 13 years of age.  If that student has shown good character and a true passion for our "do" as a child, I am very excited to train them as adults.  My first priority, though, when attempting to make this transition is to gauge their ability, maturity, and character...

13 to 15 can be shaky ground from a developmental standpoint.  These students, right off the street, immediately go into my kids class until I can gauge some of their personal attributes.  When I feel that I know them well enough and I can trust them, I may "invite" them to my adult classes.

At 16, I feel that a child is really at the threshold of becoming an adult and that they are ready for more mature training.  If a student shows me that they are not ready, I will ask that student to leave until they can show the maturity that I require.

My dojang is not a "for profit" affair.  My pet peev is when instructors bend their standards for maturity and character in order to inflate their numbers.  I realize that it may be necessary in order to keep the place open, but I think that it does a disservice to the child.  The sight of a child with with a black belt being disrespectful really boils my blood.  That student should never have made it that far

upnorthkyosa


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