Questions about the serious value of MA training as a "child"

Makalakumu

Gonzo Karate Apocalypse
MT Mentor
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
13,887
Reaction score
232
Location
Hawaii
I started MA when I was 11 years old. I had lots of fun and built a good foundation of basics, yet the older I get, the more that training seems over-simplified. I'm not sure how much I really comprehended what I was learning. What it comes down to is this, I feel that I learn more in one year as an adult as I did in the seven I trained as a child. So, my questions are the following...

1. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?
 

terryl965

<center><font size="2"><B>Martial Talk Ultimate<BR
MTS Alumni
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
41,259
Reaction score
340
Location
Grand Prairie Texas
Great questions. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
It helps build the foundation for the future I too started at a young and it help build my charactor.
2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
Why not it is part of your training.
3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?
Yes it is very serious no matter what anybody else say's.

One should never be insulted by there training childern in MA learn very positive skills that can over the years be proud of one accompliments.
Terry Lee Stoker
 

OUMoose

Trying to find my place
Joined
Jan 14, 2004
Messages
1,566
Reaction score
24
upnorthkyosa said:
I started MA when I was 11 years old. I had lots of fun and built a good foundation of basics, yet the older I get, the more that training seems over-simplified. I'm not sure how much I really comprehended what I was learning. What it comes down to is this, I feel that I learn more in one year as an adult as I did in the seven I trained as a child. So, my questions are the following...

1. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?
1) I think so, because you're taking away different things. As an adult, the spirituality and technique are much more readily absorbed into the psyche. In youth, however, MA's can lend a sense of pride and accomplishment that so many kids lack today, not to mention a sense of belonging. Also, it gets kids out from behind the computer/xbox screen, which is a serious problem today.

2) that depends on the person, IMO, and how much they feel MA's impacted them in their early years. YMMV.

3) I don't fully understand this question. Should a serious martial artist take youth training seriously? I would think so, as it's still part of their training. Should someone else take the youth training seriously? I also think so, because to the youth, it's a serious matter usually.
 
G

goshawk

Guest
upnorthkyosa said:
1. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?
1) I think it's very important. If nothing else, it teaches you how to move your body, gives you better balance and a better concept of your limbs' positions in space. In addition, most of a small child's brain is taken up with figuring out how to move, which means they often pick up physical skills like lightning (while the complex mental ones take far longer or are impossible). It would seem to me that taking advantage of this natural tendency to learn and memorize motor skills is a great way to give someone a solid foundation from which to continue in the martial arts later, should they so choose.

2) Absolutely. It tells any future instructors that you likely have a grasp of basic movements and concepts, and shows any prospective students that you've been doing this since you were a child and thus probably have martial arts deep in your personal foundations.

3) Of course. For one thing, taking something a child is doing and making light of it, treating it like make-work, acting like it's unimportant, etc. is a sure way to a) make the child resent the hell out of you b) discourage the child from continuing, and/or c) foster the same attitude in the child.

Now, I'm not saying we should consider the six-year-old BB to be on a par with the 35-year-old BB who's been training for decades. That would be silly. But recognise the merit and value of their training as a child, and find ways to link it with their adult training; to me that seems like the only sensible course of action.
 

DavidCC

Master of Arts
Joined
Apr 5, 2004
Messages
1,938
Reaction score
35
Location
Nebraska
In the last 8 months I have been helping teach 2 different kids classes: 3-5 yr olds; and 5-12 yr olds.

I have seen timid kids learn to express themselves and do their best without their former self-concious inhibitions

I have seen kids with no self-control develop a strnog sense of it, and change their lives for the better

I have seen cry-babys get tough

I've seen selfish little attention-hungry brats turn into caring leaders among their peers

I've seen kids who didn;t think tehy could do it (whatever itis) try, suceed, and crack a smile so big it looks like their face will fall off


And that's all in less than a year of teaching.

Yeah, it is worth doing.
 

arnisador

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Aug 28, 2001
Messages
44,573
Reaction score
456
Location
Terre Haute, IN
I think you're mostly just maintaining their interest under 12 years. You can't really get serious until then at the earliest, and more likely not until 14 years. I completely discount anything below 12 years and would think at least 16 on a "resume", myself.
 

arnisador

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Aug 28, 2001
Messages
44,573
Reaction score
456
Location
Terre Haute, IN
DavidCC said:
I have seen kids with no self-control develop a strnog sense of it, and change their lives for the better
All this is very worthwhile, but a lot of other activities could help with many of these things. I'm all for starting kids in the martial arts young, but I bet if you compared the skill of 30 year olds who started at 16 with the skill of 30 year olds who started at 6 you'd find no difference. That's my point.

That doesn't mean the 6 year old gets no benefits from studying! Just that the "extra" years don't help with the martial artist's skill in the long run.
 
J

jkdhit

Guest
1. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
- i think it has become too oversimplified in many schools. most schools are teaching people too much on how to be a mechanical fighter rather than teaching them the principals behind everything.


2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
- only if you took it seriously :p


3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?
- i'm kind of lost on this question.. what do you mean?
 

Sam

Senior Master
Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Messages
2,269
Reaction score
15
"but I bet if you compared the skill of 30 year olds who started at 16 with the skill of 30 year olds who started at 6 you'd find no difference"

hmmm. I wonder about that.
 

Cruentus

Grandmaster
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
7,161
Reaction score
130
Location
At an OP in view of your house...
upnorthkyosa said:
I started MA when I was 11 years old. I had lots of fun and built a good foundation of basics, yet the older I get, the more that training seems over-simplified. I'm not sure how much I really comprehended what I was learning. What it comes down to is this, I feel that I learn more in one year as an adult as I did in the seven I trained as a child. So, my questions are the following...

1. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?

1. With proper instruction, you are developing skills of movement that will stick with you for life. Not to mention the positive aspects and moral values and ethics that can be instilled with the right teacher.
2. If it was something you have stuck with with since a certain age, the absolutely. The skills you begin to hone and make a part of your life at a young age, and the skills that you essentially grow up with should be a part of your credability as a martial artist.
3. Trainig as a child is something that should be taken seriously. If you start off with crappy instruction, or if the student has poor values to begin with, then it will hard to undo that damage later on in life.
 

Cruentus

Grandmaster
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
7,161
Reaction score
130
Location
At an OP in view of your house...
arnisador said:
All this is very worthwhile, but a lot of other activities could help with many of these things. I'm all for starting kids in the martial arts young, but I bet if you compared the skill of 30 year olds who started at 16 with the skill of 30 year olds who started at 6 you'd find no difference. That's my point.

That doesn't mean the 6 year old gets no benefits from studying! Just that the "extra" years don't help with the martial artist's skill in the long run.

That depends on the player, though. People with many years in plateu at different times. Some people who start at age 6 ma plateu for longer periods. However, if they don't.....

I think a lot of serious players lose their hunger for learning, which prevents a lot of really good MArtists from becoming great. This is regardless of what age they begin their journey.

Paul
 

MJS

Administrator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
30,187
Reaction score
430
Location
Cromwell,CT
upnorthkyosa said:
I started MA when I was 11 years old. I had lots of fun and built a good foundation of basics, yet the older I get, the more that training seems over-simplified. I'm not sure how much I really comprehended what I was learning. What it comes down to is this, I feel that I learn more in one year as an adult as I did in the seven I trained as a child. So, my questions are the following...

1. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?


1- I think that there is some value there for someone under 16, in their early teens..12,13,14...but I would have to say the value is even less if the child is 4. The chance of them understanding the material at a later age is much greater IMO than if they were 4.

2- Sure.

3- All training should be taken seriously. Just like school, you're going to get out of it what you put into it.

Mike
 

terryl965

<center><font size="2"><B>Martial Talk Ultimate<BR
MTS Alumni
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
41,259
Reaction score
340
Location
Grand Prairie Texas
but I bet if you compared the skill of 30 year olds who started at 16 with the skill of 30 year olds who started at 6 you'd find no difference. That's my point.

Arnisader Your statement is true in a way, let me explain the skill level would probaly be the same for the simple facts they would have 14 - 20 years in them, which would make them around a good to mgreat practitional of all forms and fighting skills. Now the advantage the 6 year old has is no bad habbits like humility, dignity, respect since he was brought up in the Dojaang or Dojo he would have been given these skills a long time ago in early childhood so since the teenager waited the respect and dignity would probaly have been arise some his peers and hopefully parents. At any case it is up to individual doing said art weather be 6 or 16. I know it helped me growing up and it sure help \s my three with there motor skills and respect for this fine world.
Terry Lee Stoker
 

Andrew Green

Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
8,627
Reaction score
452
Location
Winnipeg MB
Why does training always have to be "serious"...

Anyways, back to the question.

Yes, it is valuable, it lays the foundation and ingrains it in a way that can't be done at later times in life.

Look at the reading, math, bike riding, science, language and just about anything else you did as a kid. All of it was simplified, all of it had value. You do your best learning when you are young, it may be oversimplified, but it is also the most important time for learning.
 

searcher

Senior Master
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
3,317
Reaction score
59
Location
Kansas
Andrew Green said:
Yes, it is valuable, it lays the foundation and ingrains it in a way that can't be done at later times in life.

Look at the reading, math, bike riding, science, language and just about anything else you did as a kid. All of it was simplified, all of it had value. You do your best learning when you are young, it may be oversimplified, but it is also the most important time for learning.
This is a very good point. Children assimilate information much faster than adults, so why not get them started at the same time they start other activities.

The rate at which they learn and how serious they take it varies from child to child, the same as with any other thing that they learn.
 

evenflow1121

2nd Black Belt
Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
846
Reaction score
16
Location
Miami Beach, FL
upnorthkyosa said:
I started MA when I was 11 years old. I had lots of fun and built a good foundation of basics, yet the older I get, the more that training seems over-simplified. I'm not sure how much I really comprehended what I was learning. What it comes down to is this, I feel that I learn more in one year as an adult as I did in the seven I trained as a child. So, my questions are the following...

1. What worth is MA training when one is under the age of 16-18?
Depends on the school and on the student, some people love it and can comprehend the basics while they are young, for a lot more unfortunately it is the equivalent of soccer mom saturdays.

2. Is training as a child something someone should put on their "MA resume"?
Maybe, I am more inclined to say probably not, but if you studied MA's at a young age well you still studied it. Of course it probably was a more watered down version than the adults study.

3. Is it something that serious students of the martial arts should take seriously?
Depends, if you stuck with a particular system and are now an adult and still practice, but you've been doing this since you were young, I say sure. However, if you studied MA's when you were young, and then left it in your teen years, I d say not really.
 

DavidCC

Master of Arts
Joined
Apr 5, 2004
Messages
1,938
Reaction score
35
Location
Nebraska
We've got two 15 yr olds at our school, one of them in his 6th year of training, the other a bit less. I cannot believe that what they have learned up until now has no value. These guys train hard, think, and practice as much or more than the adults.

We have a few 12-14 year old girls who now at least have some idea of how to defend themselves. No maybe they still have really low odds against a determeind predator attacker... but what about some stupid boy on a date trying to get fresh... I pity the fool that tries any of that on Alexis!
 

Latest Discussions

Top