8-Year-Old Martial Arts Champ

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Talk' started by Jade Tigress, Jun 20, 2011.

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  1. Jun 20, 2011 #1
    Jade Tigress

    Jade Tigress RAWR

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    Video included:
    http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-623458?hpt=hp_bn1
     
  2. Jun 20, 2011 #2
    Balrog

    Balrog Master of Arts

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    Now, how did I know before I opened that video that it would be a video of a kid doing an XMA dance routine?
     
  3. Jun 20, 2011 #3
    Thesemindz

    Thesemindz Senior Master

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    She is pretty good at it though. I don't think I'd want to face her with a sword in her hand, regardless of her age.

    This isn't the kind of karate I teach and practice, but it is still pretty neat. Good for her for spending the time to develop the skill. Wonder where she'll be in twenty years.


    -Rob
     
  4. Jun 20, 2011 #4
    wayneshin

    wayneshin Yellow Belt

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    RANT: Nothing grates me more than the US habit of calling US based events World Championships and winners of those events a World Champion or as is the case in this article " the best in the world bar none"
     
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  5. Jun 20, 2011 #5
    tinker1

    tinker1 Green Belt

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    Dude. We ARE the best at everything in the world. Didn't you know that?:)

    Reminds me of watching Little Ernie Reyas do his thing back in the day.
     
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  6. Jun 20, 2011 #6
    seasoned

    seasoned MT Senior Moderator Staff Member

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    Discipline, dedication, perseverance, talent all wrapped into an 8 year old body. She could be doing a lot worst with what life dishes out at times, good for her...............
     
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  7. Jun 21, 2011 #7
    wayneshin

    wayneshin Yellow Belt

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    :shrug::shrug::shrug:Rolls eyes:shrug::shrug::shrug:
     
  8. Jun 21, 2011 #8
    Tez3

    Tez3 Sr. Grandmaster

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    I've just watched a discussion on the BBC about child champs etc. It was occasioned by a Northern Ireland golfer winning something big ( sorry not into golf) and his father saying he'd been dedicated since two to playing golf. The pyschologist was very interesting, he said that the benchmark for these cases was whether the child left on their own would practice and train or whether the parents push, nag and bully their child into the sport/activity. He said many parents pushed their children too much and the children often eventually had breakdowns and meltdowns. The children however who pushed themselves, were encouraged and supported but not pushed by parents went on to be adults champions.
    I wonder what the case is here?
     
  9. Jun 21, 2011 #9
    Champ-Pain

    Champ-Pain Blue Belt

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  10. Jun 21, 2011 #10
    MaxiMe

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    She may never be some kind of champion. But it's all worth it to hear my 10 year old out of the blue say "hey dad lets spar". :)
     
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  11. Jun 21, 2011 #11
    Grenadier

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    An excellent point, indeed. I happen to agree quite a bit on this matter.

    The way I figure, it's no different than any competitive situation.

    I can remember back in the 80's / 90's, where there were many teenagers who had hit the professional tennis circuit. A good number of them had parent as their coaches. When the parents at the local level saw this, a fair number of them decided to become their children's coaches as well, citing success stories, such as Monica Seles.

    Seles had a father who did things the right way. Even though he was her coach, Karoly never said a derogatory thing to her when it came to coaching. She never played the game out of fear. I suspect this had a good bit to do with her longevity, especially since she loved playing the game.

    The problem, though, is that for every situation that was similar to Monica Seles, you had about 10 more that were the opposite, where the parent coach would be verbally abusive (and in some cases, physically abusive) towards the child, essentially browbeating them into playing the game for the parents' glory.

    Here's a pretty good article about the subject:

    http://www.johnfmurray.com/index.php/sport/tennis/sports-psychology-insane-tennis-parents

    It's no surprise that most of the browbeaten ones who did succeed, only did so after their parents were taken out of the equation.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2011
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  12. Jun 21, 2011 #12
    Grenadier

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    If they're happy in their own small pond, then so be it. As long as they understand the boundaries of what they've accomplished, then I see no harm in letting them enjoy their moments in the spotlight of the small stage.

    Calling someone "the best in the world, bar none" after such a competition is akin to winning the championship in an independent football league. Maybe they did do some truly great things, and maybe some of the players could make an NFL roster, but it's not the NFL...

    If they want to test the larger bodies of water, though, all of the flash and show isn't going to be worth much at all at the national level (USA-NKF), much less the world level (WKF), and that's assuming that they'd even qualify for the US team.

    They'd better be aiming a bit higher, if they want to be mentioned in the same category as names such as Kotaka, Au-Fonseca, etc.

    Then again, if they don't want to do such things, then so be it.
     
  13. Jun 21, 2011 #13
    Tez3

    Tez3 Sr. Grandmaster

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    The day will come though when you dread it lol when she's beating you up! Seriously though I think any activity should be child 'driven' rather than parents trying to make their children into these sports champions instead of realising that children should always be champions to their parents!

    I've also been told that the golfer I mentioned has won the US Open, as I said golf is not my thing :)
     
  14. Jun 21, 2011 #14
    MaxiMe

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    Caught a back fist from her in the jaw last week.. ouch :)
    And yes there are far to many parents trying to relive their glory days through their kids.
     
  15. Jun 21, 2011 #15
    Ken Morgan

    Ken Morgan Senior Master

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    Sigh…..
    Okay little Kaelyn is very good at baton twirling and dancing, but please do not in any way consider what she is doing in the video serious sword training.
     
  16. Jun 21, 2011 #16
    Champ-Pain

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    ... or any form of self defense. Good baton twirling and aerobics, with decent dance moves - does NOT, in any way, make a Martial Artist.
     
  17. Jun 21, 2011 #17
    Tez3

    Tez3 Sr. Grandmaster

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    I couldn't see the video, it said site not found but I'm with JudoChamp here, that just saying it's an 8 year old black belt was enough to form an opinion.

    I'm not a fan of child black belts.
     
  18. Jun 22, 2011 #18
    wayneshin

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    Summed up my feelings perfectly.
    I often wonder whether certain organisations are happy for their students to compete in these events rather than step up to WKF based events where the standard is probably a bit higher and risk being shown up by being non competitive.
     
  19. Jun 22, 2011 #19
    tshadowchaser

    tshadowchaser Sr. Grandmaster

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    From all the twirling, cartwheels, and screaming with almost every move I would venture a guess this was an ISKA event.
    Not saying she was not good because she was darn good with what she did, but for myself there was way to much showmanship and not enough of what I would call swordsmanship.
    Yes, I have a problem with a lot of acrobatics and baton techniques in weapons forms but that’s just my old school mentality.
     
  20. Jun 22, 2011 #20
    Ken Morgan

    Ken Morgan Senior Master

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    Because that is what you see in MA movies, lots of spinning and dancing. Why? Because a good swordsman, would have the fight over in one or two strikes, and that just isn’t flashy enough for American, Chinese or Indian Cinema.
    I remember doing some iaido and partner kenjutsu at a MA show once, and only a handful of people actually had a clue as to what we were doing.
    Sadly, traditional JSA is as exciting as watching paint dry to most people….. 123
     
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