TKD and kids

[xfighter88]

I think it has a lot to do with the kid individually. I teach gymnastics, tumbling, and martial arts. I see this common thread in all of them. Some kids know how to control their bodies naturally and some don't. The ones that don't will get better with proper drilling but they still seem off when it comes to coordiation. I think it's just one of those things in life that blooms later in some kids than it does in others. I have found that having the better kids do their forms or techniques while the others watch can inspire them to try harder. If the kids see me do a good front kick they don't care but when their friend that has been in TKD just as long as them does a great one compared to theirs, they seem to want to do better. Also it is a reward for the mor accomplished kids as they get to show off a bit. I have had some complaints from parents though, as this flies in the face of the everyone gets a trophy mentality. Their kids either get better and they are happy (which is the usual), or they don't and they get ticked leave. Guess you can't please everyone.

 

[chungdokwan123]

I'll preface by stating that I almost feel out of turn offering an opinion in this thread......I'm outclassed by a bevy of instructors. I'm yet a novice.

That said, however, I find it an interesting topic in that, if my goals are to be recognized, teaching children is precisely what I'd like to do someday.....and even now I watch with amazement the progression of the kids at our dojang. I've been watching them for quite some time and they're thrilled that Christopher's dad isn't simply watching anymore.

I'm wondering if the physical growth factor isn't precisely what keeps some kids from ever doing their absolute best regarding poomse. A constantly changing center of gravity, ever longer legs and arms, etc. I do realize that, with the distractions that abound today, some kids don't concentrate well enough. Perhaps they simply WILL not understand the overall value of poomse.......their worlds are indeed smaller than ours.......and comprised of different priorities, yet it is the physical aspects of being a child that cause me to think that some simply can't help performing sloppy poomse.

Thoughts?

 

[Stac3y]

knifehands are never permitted in typical sparring.

Why are knife hands not permitted in sparring? I use knife hands and ridge hands when I spar...

 

[Stac3y]

I'm wondering if the physical growth factor isn't precisely what keeps some kids from ever doing their absolute best regarding poomse. A constantly changing center of gravity, ever longer legs and arms, etc. <snip> yet it is the physical aspects of being a child that cause me to think that some simply can't help performing sloppy poomse.

Thoughts?

I've seen quite a lot of this, with my own kids and others. My youngest is a good example--he had the cleanest, sharpest techniques you could imagine--until the growth spurt. He grew several inches taller and his feet got 2.5 sizes bigger over just a few months. Poor kid could barely coordinate all this new "stuff" to walk, much less do karate. Growth spurts mess up balance and coordination, and it takes a while to adjust. Imagine if your feet suddenly went from a size 9 to an 11--your kata would be sloppy, too!

And there are a lot of kids who just don't try, too, of course. Especially the teenagers. We call it the "teenage flop;" they do the forms correctly, but slouch and flop through them. Annoying.

 

[Tez3]

We only take kids up the age of 13. Most move on before that age anyway to their parents next posting. Anyone older starts in the MMA class which the teenage boys love, they get treated the same as everyone else, get included in training talk as well as the jokes and ribbing. We have no problems at all with them, they seem to grow in the club and act like adults because they are treated as such. We even have them teaching new guys stuff and the new guys often soldiers will listen and take it in. It's good to watch tbh. Young teenage males (and girls for that matter) need something like a rite of passage to grow up and they get it with us, the parents have reported how much they've calmed down and their schoolwork has improved. They get respect and it makes a huge difference to them from being treated like kids and a nuisance, always being criticised to being fighters who have no need to prove anything.

Too many people treat children as a nuisance instead of humans! In many martial arts places they are there to make up the money not be treated as individuals. Teaching children is a speciality for many reasons some of which other posters have already mentioned. Too much is expected of them, at the same time too little.

 

[dancingalone]

Why are knife hands not permitted in sparring? I use knife hands and ridge hands when I spar...

Open hand strikes are usually banned because they are meant to target the eyes, neck, throat, armpits, groin, temples, face, etc. I suppose if you're going light in point sparring, a knifehand or spearhand might be permitted if the target is a legal one like the side of the head. Of course, this would be a prime example of absurdity: None of these open hand blows really work the way they're suppose to if 1) you wear gloves and 2) you target an area they're not meant to attack.

It makes no sense at all to use an open hand blow in the typical point karate world. Why on earth would you want to use a leopard fist or a crane's beak in a sparring match? The backfist and the punch are ample for this purpose and they're safer.

 

[xfighter88]

I'll preface by stating that I almost feel out of turn offering an opinion in this thread......I'm outclassed by a bevy of instructors. I'm yet a novice.

That said, however, I find it an interesting topic in that, if my goals are to be recognized, teaching children is precisely what I'd like to do someday.....and even now I watch with amazement the progression of the kids at our dojang. I've been watching them for quite some time and they're thrilled that Christopher's dad isn't simply watching anymore.

I'm wondering if the physical growth factor isn't precisely what keeps some kids from ever doing their absolute best regarding poomse. A constantly changing center of gravity, ever longer legs and arms, etc. I do realize that, with the distractions that abound today, some kids don't concentrate well enough. Perhaps they simply WILL not understand the overall value of poomse.......their worlds are indeed smaller than ours.......and comprised of different priorities, yet it is the physical aspects of being a child that cause me to think that some simply can't help performing sloppy poomse.

Thoughts?

That is a great point. you still have a few kids that just don't try but I would say the majority of the sloppyness comes from the random growth spurts.