I may have a prodigy...

[Pyrock]

Last year I enrolled my 5 year old son in Tae Kwon Do classes to keep him busy over the summer. Now, 1 year later he is more enthusiastic as ever with his Orange(advance) belt. His favorite part is sparring.

I didn't think anything special of his sparring prior to the last tournament. Yes, he ALWAYS wins and usually by a large margin. In some cases, he embarrasses his 6-7 year old oponents. To keep him from getting board, I asked him to practice more advanced kicks in the garage thinking that he would never try them out in a match. (only one day of practice against a heavy bag)

The very next day, the class was sparring and he did a number of advance kicks like a tornado, spinning rear, and spinning healhook ( I think that's the name of it) all of which landed much to the surprise of his instructors. The most impressive was the tornado that landed square in the face of his moving apponent. The spinning rear resulted in his opponent landing flat on his back. All this is no big deal except for the fact that he's only 6 years old and has only been studying for a year. I did a YouTube search on 6 year old TKD sparring and have yet to see any who have used these advanced kicks while sparring. Is my son unique or is this normal? He is undefeated in his 8 tournament bouts and all his training sparring. The instructors seem to get a kick (pardon the pun) out of his whoooping all the other kids in the school.

Btw, he also scores first place with his forms! :uhyeah:

 

[Touch Of Death]

Last year I enrolled my 5 year old son in Tae Kwon Do classes to keep him busy over the summer. Now, 1 year later he is more enthusiastic as ever with his Orange(advance) belt. His favorite part is sparring.

I didn't think anything special of his sparring prior to the last tournament. Yes, he ALWAYS wins and usually by a large margin. In some cases, he embarrasses his 6-7 year old oponents. To keep him from getting board, I asked him to practice more advanced kicks in the garage thinking that he would never try them out in a match. (only one day of practice against a heavy bag)

The very next day, the class was sparring and he did a number of advance kicks like a tornado, spinning rear, and spinning healhook ( I think that's the name of it) all of which landed much to the surprise of his instructors. The most impressive was the tornado that landed square in the face of his moving apponent. The spinning rear resulted in his opponent landing flat on his back. All this is no big deal except for the fact that he's only 6 years old and has only been studying for a year. I did a YouTube search on 6 year old TKD sparring and have yet to see any who have used these advanced kicks while sparring. Is my son unique or is this normal? He is undefeated in his 8 tournament bouts and all his training sparring. The instructors seem to get a kick (pardon the pun) out of his whoooping all the other kids in the school.

Btw, he also scores first place with his forms! :uhyeah:

As I am happy for him and yourself, make sure his actual basics are where he excells.
Sean

 

[terryl965]

That is great but a prodigy in the sport of TKD does not happen it is done by hard work over years of training. One maybe this best at a young age but just cannot compete against elite athlete in TKD. Remember at age five he maybe well above the curve in learning these kick that will just surprise other young students but over time they all seem to catch up it is then when they are 12-15 that makes them an elite not before. Sorry I know as a parent we want the best for our childern so I will leave you with this make it fun for know and explode his training in the later years for sure.
I hope you and your son all the success in the Martial Art life.:asian:

 

[Kacey]

It's great that your son has found something he enjoys and does well - at his age, please let him focus on that (the enjoyment, I mean) and don't push him any farther or faster than his enjoyment takes him. It's always wonderful as a parent to find something at which your child excels and which he also enjoys - but please let him continue to enjoy it; if he's meant to be a high level competitor it will happen. In the meantime, as other students' coordination catches up to your son's, they may well develop the same skills, spurred on by his example.

 

[PEP-REP]

That is great but a prodigy in the sport of TKD does not happen it is done by hard work over years of training. One maybe this best at a young age but just cannot compete against elite athlete in TKD. Remember at age five he maybe well above the curve in learning these kick that will just surprise other young students but over time they all seem to catch up it is then when they are 12-15 that makes them an elite not before. Sorry I know as a parent we want the best for our childern so I will leave you with this make it fun for know and explode his training in the later years for sure.
I hope you and your son all the success in the Martial Art life.:asian:

THis is very true!!!

I have trained numerous junior olympic champions and senior national / world champions in Olympic TKD and not one of them got there without years and years of very hard training...

One thing to remember with sport TKD.... sometimes it isn't about how good you are but your physical shape is a big part.. need to be tall and lean with long legs LOL 5_10 185 isn't ever gonna cut it against a 6_4 185.....

now your boy if incourage and helped may get there.. but as terry said no one has ever been an elite TKD competior without years and years of hard training and hard knocks...

Congrats on having a great TKD student!!

Glenn

 

[newGuy12]

This is great!

it is then when they are 12-15 that makes them an elite not before.

Yes! When he finally gets old enough to understand how to put power on the target -- when he understands that intention! Man, when he gets the body to use, he will then be something!

 

[Pyrock]

Thanks for all the great input and advice. I really dont push him all that hard. The area where I push him is when he practices. I teach him that when you practice, you need to practice with discipline and not just go through the motions. At a young age, he seems to know the difference between games and his martial art. He treats TKD relatively seriously yet appears to have a blast.

I've thought about the whole learning curve thing but it's his desire to learn and apply what he learns is what impresses me. Anyway, I'll just make sure he has a good time while at the same time learn about discipline, hard work, self control, and all the other things that martial arts teaches those who study them. He just started wrestling also and although he's not as into wrestling as he is into TKD, he still has fun. The one thing I ask him after every class, practice, or tourny is if he had fun!

 

[tshadowchaser]

Keep giving him positive reinforcement but never push him in his studies. If he is intended to be a champion some day he will achieve that goal through dedication and hard work but for now it should be about having fun and doing something he wants to learn. As for doing all the advanced kicks, well, he needs to keep practicing his basic kicks more and working on the advanced ones less at this early stage of development.

 

[Tames D]

I think it's important for us as parents to make sure our kids don't burn out on their activities and drop out. It's great for kids to excell at such an early age, but I'd be careful that he/she doesn't overdo it too soon.

I really want MA's to be a part of my kids life forever and at this point in their life I'm trying to stress the fun part of it so that they don't burn out and drop out. Just my thoughts.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Your son has found something he loves and excels at. That's a good thing.

As Terry said, training takes years, but I do believe some people, and it sounds like your son is one of them, do have a "natural talent" for it. :asian:

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

To keep him from getting board, I asked him to practice more advanced kicks in the garage thinking that he would never try them out in a match. (only one day of practice against a heavy bag)

The very next day, the class was sparring and he did a number of advance kicks like a tornado, spinning rear, and spinning healhook ( I think that's the name of it) all of which landed much to the surprise of his instructors. The most impressive was the tornado that landed square in the face of his moving apponent. The spinning rear resulted in his opponent landing flat on his back. All this is no big deal except for the fact that he's only 6 years old and has only been studying for a year.

Kids have such an amazing ability to learn and adapt, much of which is lost as they become young ladies and gents. Keep him kicking! We may be reading about him in TKD Times!

Daniel

 

[girlbug2]

It is nice that you are so proud of your son.

 

[Manny]

Firsth of all CONGRATULATIONS!!!! you son is so confident in his TKD work that has achieved some kind of behavoir that says to him.... let's go rock'n roll and enjoy this thing!!! That's why your boy is doing that kinf of kicks cause he knows he's not tothing to lose and so much to learn.

I have a 7 year daughter this sunday made his foirst TKD exman and was so exited that really enjoyed the examination and I offcourse did too.

Support you kid and tell him there is nothing he can not achieve.

Manny

 

[jkembry]

In addition to things that others have mentioned, I would also be careful to make sure that he doesn't do anything that may damage his bones or muscles. After all they are still a number of years away from when they are finished growing.

- Jeff -

 

[girlbug2]

In addition to things that others have mentioned, I would also be careful to make sure that he doesn't do anything that may damage his bones or muscles. - Jeff -

(whispers):Such as board breaking more than once in a great while