kids training with adults

[ralphmcpherson]

Im just curious as to where you guys stand on this. My club we all train together but obviously the instructor divides the class up and uses his high ranking black belts as sort of sub instructors to help out and it seems to work fine but I have always wished we had adults only classes. Recently the class I train at is 90% adults so its not really an issue. The other day though, I was talking to a mate who does karate where they have classes for 4-8 year olds, then 9-14 year olds and 15-18 and then adults. I thought this sounded like a great idea but he hates it and wants to change clubs. His main problem with it (and a lot of others he assures me) is that a lot of adults do a martial art with their kids and he said the kids classes are before the adults and each go for an hour and basically his entire afternoon and evening are taken up (he ends up hanging out at the dojo for 3 hours or more 3 nights a week whereas if he was able to train the same class as his son he would be in and out in under an hour and a half. He, like most of us, is very busy with work, home life etc and it is therefore a concern. I had never looked at it that way but I can see that combining the kids and adults together does have an advantage in this way. How do your clubs do it and which way keeps the clientel the happiest?

 

[terryl965]

We have a family class and also or competition team is mixed, we also have an adult only class but we have only two or three people attend those the rest like to train with everybody else.

 

[jthomas1600]

Our school just started offering a few adult only classes per week and I'm looking forward to attending those on occasion, but I'm with your friend in that this is a family activity for me. We do have classes specifically for the very young (like 6-10 year old kids) and we have a few classes that are specifically advertised as family classes for family's with young kids. But 60-70 % are classes are for that 10 and up group.

 

[Gorilla]

Some kids can train with adults if they have the maturity level.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I train with my daughter who is 9 and my son wants to start next year at 6. I had never really thought about it until my mate mentioned it but I dont think I would want to drive to the club to drop my daughter there then drive home then drive back to pick her up and then return again for my class. Im actually quite glad I train in the same class as my daughter now that I think about it.

 

[chrispillertkd]

My instructors' school has classes broken down by rank, not age. Beginners (white and yellow), intermediate (green and blue), advanced (red and black). This basically means that as your progress through ranks you're going to get less of the really young kids. You'll still have junior members in the advanced class, of course, but by that time they're pretty dedicated to training and have matured at least a few years. The fact that they don't generall take students under seven also contributes, too.

I also find that kids who train with adults on a regular basis have a certain seriousness to training - in general - compared to some of the kids I've seen from schools who have kid-only classes.

Pax,

Chris

 

[Gorilla]

My instructors' school has classes broken down by rank, not age. Beginners (white and yellow), intermediate (green and blue), advanced (red and black). This basically means that as your progress through ranks you're going to get less of the really young kids. You'll still have junior members in the advanced class, of course, but by that time they're pretty dedicated to training and have matured at least a few years. The fact that they don't generall take students under seven also contributes, too.

I also find that kids who train with adults on a regular basis have a certain seriousness to training - in general - compared to some of the kids I've seen from schools who have kid-only classes.

Pax,

Chris

great post

 

[rlobrecht]

Our school has little Ninja classes for 6 and under, but above the age of 6 they are integrated. The reason we chose this school was because we could train together.

Apparently before we started with the school, there was an adults only class, but it was only once a week, and it was an extra class. All ranks were welcome. They stopped holding it because the turn out was poor.

 

[dancingalone]

I've said this a time or two before and have no real wish to rehash it, but it's worth posting a few words just to get it on the record on this thread.

Children can perform at a high level in a punch/kick only environment. As been stated, kids can often run circles around adults cardiovascularly, so they can thrive in high repetition, endurance-type training.

On the other hand, children beneath a certain age threshold (12-13?) simply lack the physical sensitivity to function at a high level with regard to integrated skills training where feeling and awareness are at a premium. I see this in my wife's aikido dojo. The small kids, no matter how motivated they are, inevitably lag behind the adults. They don't process the material as fast and they're not aware of the subtle distinctions that makes a technique functional when uke is uncooperative.

But different people have different needs. I see families training together and enjoying it as a group activity. In my church class it's working quite well right now since it is a new program and we only working striking techniques right now. When we start folding in some grappling, I expect to see some breakdown in age group functionality.

 

[jthomas1600]

dancingalone, I see you're point and agree with you. The way we deal with those kinds of issues is just to divide the class into two, or three smaller groups when needed. Of course belt level/experience is a factor as well as age when dividing into groups. And of course you have to have extra help, either an instructor or two, or some black belts with enough experience to work with the smaller groups.

 

[l_uk3y]

Our Hapkido class divides into 2 classes. Juniors from 5-6 then Seniors from 6-7
A couple of the more experienced seniors assist with the juniors class.
And some of the more senior juniors stay after their class and also do senior class.

Can be a bit frustrating at times if you get a younger student (as young as 12ish) to train against in the seniors class. The only time it really bothers me though is if they aren't concentrating and want to chat to each other.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

If the kids are able to behave and conduct themselves in a way that is appropriate to a martial arts class, I see no problem, so long as it is mainly a striking environment. We have a family class at our school and it is generally not a problem.

I do think that kids can benefit from some degree of grappling/self defense training in a mixed class, as the assailants kids face outside of the schoolyard are more likely to be adult predators (ten year olds are generally not the ones seen on mall security cameras snatching other ten year olds).

If the kids are running around as if they are in daycare, however, then they need to sit the class out or be confined to a kids only class.

Daniel

 

[Stac3y]

We break them up. 13 & up in the adult class; 12 & under in junior. Adult and junior curricula are different; juniors are also working toward a junior black belt (which looks, and is, different from the adult BB).