Dad Chat

Wondering if anyone has a martial art they prefer for their kids. I boxed for years but don't really want to get them into it.

They did Karate when they were 4 and 6, respectively but I think they were a little too young and wanted to hit more things. I worked on teaching them that we only use karate in the gym or with something who wants to do it with us but at 4 and 6, the impulse control is hard.

My 7, almost 8 year old, told me a couple days ago he wants to start karate again or tai chi--we have some family friends who used to do it and showed him a little.

There is Qi Gong at a local yoga studio but that looks less physical that tai chi.

I'm interested in Aikido and Judo but not sure how well suited that is for a 7 year old. I think we'd probably both enjoy Judo.

Any thoughts?

BJJ is a great choice for kids. No CTE, heavy exercise, minimal expense. The likelihood of catastrophic injury outside of competition is tiny, way less than a striking art like karate. It is also a very practical art for real world self defense, as r/publicfreakout used to show.

Hey, thanks for this! My son got distracted and asked to do soccer which is much more available here so we'll let him try that. I'm certain we'll be back to martial arts before too long though

No problem, you are a dad and kids getting distracted is totally normal. Good luck with your future martial arts journey!