Children and swords

[Tez3]

Due to my misunderstand a gentleman's post on another thread and to save derailing that one, I'll start a new one on something that came up due to that misunderstanding!

Do children train sword arts? If so how do they start and what age? I must admit I've always assumed it to be an adult only art but as I know from the fascination the children have for the swords and weapons in our club, I think children would love to be taught to use swords. I imagine it would teach them to respect weapons too.

 

[Ken Morgan]

Ahhhh, I answered this on the other thread!!

OK. We will take anybody, any age. However, iaido is an older person martial art. Its boring as all hell.....

Iaido is much too slow for children, though we do get a few passing through once in a while.

Kendo however is great for kids, especially after they get through the first six months and get into bogu and get to spar. Most good kendo players start off very young. I've seen four and five year olds doing kendo.

 

[pgsmith]

I replied to this in the other thread, but am copying my answer over to here to keep the thread consistent ...

Sword arts are not generally for children because it takes intense concentration and focus. This is something that most children, and many adults, are incapable of sustaining. The youngest student I've ever taught was 12, but he came and watched two entire classes before I would agree to let him try. I figured if he could sit through that (watching iai is very boring!) then he would undoubtedly be able to endure the classes, which he did. He attained his shodan after three years, and just left to attend the TAMS program at the University of North Texas. I have seen children as young as 10 practicing legitimate sword arts, but it is the rare exception rather than the rule. Regular practice is done with a bokken or a non-sharpenable iaito, although I have seen kids using sharp swords at cutting practice.

I agree with Ken that kendo is the way to go with kids. Lots of noise, lots of action.

 

[jks9199]

Do kids learn to swing swords around? Yeah. Most that I've seen don't really understand what they're doing and learn a kata or some draws more than learn a system. A few do learn them "for real", but they're rarities.

 

[Joeandmich]

My best friends 10 year old practices both judo and iaido and loves both. He even studied karate for awhile. He has his own iaido gi and hakama as well as an iaito. He seems to be a natural for martial arts.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

They are far, far, too dangerous! I have never seen one that is not capable of inflicting massive damage. They're expensive, easily damaged, and hard to manage. The urge to strike is always present. They're generally not worth the money invested in them, and frankly, they tend to disappoint.

And swords have their own set of problems.