Children training

[terryl965]

Iwould like to know if you have students at a advance level do you train them like an adult. If not how do you go about teaching the advance to your younegr advance students. I.E. Brown, Reds, BlackBelts no matter there age wheather 6 or 13 do you train differently? GOD BLESS AMERICA

 

[chinto01]

Terryl we have children in our dojo from the ages of 4 to the teen years. We also have a couple that are at the advanced level that you talk about. I think that you have to train them different than the adult students of the same rank. We show them the same material but the emphasis is put in different areas. With the kids they could really care less about some of the same things that you would work on an adult with. This is what makes teaching children so challenging. Try some different things and see what works. The thing we have found is keep them busy and do not let them get bored. Good luck!!!

 

[loki09789]

Iwould like to know if you have students at a advance level do you train them like an adult. If not how do you go about teaching the advance to your younegr advance students. I.E. Brown, Reds, BlackBelts no matter there age wheather 6 or 13 do you train differently? GOD BLESS AMERICA

What to do you mean by 'like an adult?'

Full contact sparing, barking at them and being demanding, maintaining the same timelines/expectations for skill development?

Mixing in 'juniors' that are of senior rank into an adult class as a sign of trust and reward isn't bad, but holding them to 'adult' expectations isn't good. It ignores that, developmentally, children are capable of different attention spans and have different ways/abilities to absorb information...

I love seeing kids in adult classes at advanced levels because they take a lot of pride in it and it keeps them level headed because no matter how skilled or high level they are in rank, the shear adult grit and strength/confidence that a senior adult student has gives the junior student a real perspective of what they are capable of.

a 16 year old whiz kid might be 'good' but he is still going to get plowed by an adult of equal skill and rank in his school.

 

[Andrew Green]

Kid's do much less striking, don't take submissions to the point of pain, and don't do any kind of leg, spine or neck crank.

Keeps things safe.

But for the most part they really aren't doing anything 'that' different, They just require more - More timing, more technically correct, more techniques to draw from, more experience, more combinations, etc.

 

[terryl965]

I appreciate the input, what I mean is should a child be a child or once they hit a certain level should you hold them to that level like an adult I.E. my son Zachary is 10 already a first Poom and is getting tired working with the childern he would like to work out with the adults, Now donot get me wrong he is still a child plays Baseball and other sports but his love is TKD the sport not traditional yet! I really have no one in the classes that he can go with for he is that much suppior to the rest of the children we do go from time to time to other schools for his training but he really wants to train with the adults.

 

[Lisa]

terryl965,

I had this "problem" with my daughter when she was twelve. She wasn't finding the children's classes interesting her. She was never really a "play games" kind of kid from very early on. Her sister was in those classes and there was a four year difference. In our school at 13 you have the choice to come to the adult class. As soon as she turned 13 she made that choice and jumped up to the adult classes and hasn't looked back since. She is 14 1/2 now and grapples with the best and biggest in the class and holds her own with them. She is very technical in her grappling and even though they can all pick her up with one arm she is a challenge to them because she knows her escapes. Most of the adults look to her for guidance and she is great at offering her suggestions to them even if it means being submitted herself.

I would talk with the instructor of his class and see what he thinks. If your son needs to be challenged then make sure he gets that challenge, otherwise his interest may fade away.

 

[TigerWoman]

It used to be in our school as well, that as a 13yr. old, they had to join the adults in adult class. My son as a bb at 11 didn't like playing the continuous "games" in kids classes. His legs were getting long and I could see he "looked" out of place. Beside, he had no real sparring partner either. He was the class "assistant" but still... So he bumped up finally at 12 and it was fine. He got to work more at his level and also harder sparring the adults and doing their workout.

Now, that is a moot point since he has made all adult classes "family" classes, major arrggghh, and there are 4 yr. olds mixed in with teens and 47 year old men. I don't think that is good either. Really disconcerting to have them run around you while you are doing form and alot of the attention goes to the kids, naturally. TW

 

[OC Kid]

I teach kids primarily 8-12 y.o.. I ont know if I train them differently but the techniques as far as SD I do. I cant see teaching a 8 Y.O joint stomps and breaks ect. But adults sure.

 

[Tkang_TKD]

In my school, we have a select few children that train regularly in adult classes. Mostly it is the senior belts getting ready to test for black belt. They do not spar with the adults, but they are held to the same standard as far as conditioning goes (although nobody says anything when they only do their pushups half way LOL).

It does get annoying sometimes though because some of them think they're belt rank is superior to parental rank, and sometimes through drills we have to be very careful not to knock one of the kids out because they don't cover as much ground. For instance, when I throw a kick stepping forward, I can cover anywhere from 6-10 feet (depending on the kick), but the child in front of me may only cover 3-5 feet. It's a PITA to try to avoid kicking the child, so technique tends to suffer in the interest of avoiding contact.

 

[Brother John]

I train anyone, regardless of age, at the level and rate that they can handle.
It's all on an individual basis.

Your Brother
John