Did any of y'alls parents put you in martial arts as a kid?

[CHRISHOGGALYPSE]

My kids are still pretty young but I plan on putting them in some sort of martial arts once they get of age or teaching them myself if they're receptive to it. My parents never put me in anything, I just had the desire to learn on my own but did any of y'alls parents make you do it when you didn't want to by chance? I don't really plan on giving my kids a choice

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

Yup, Kenpo karate. Funny cause I absolutely hated it when I was younger, but now I can't imagine living my life without training martial arts.

 

[HIM]

I did it for a lil bit, but it was my choice...I got too busy with organized sports and didnt have time to continue....I want my son(born in two more months) to definitely get involved in martial arts....I also want him to do sports as well so we'll how it works out...

 

[B-Buzz]

I always wanted to but my mother wouldn't let me. Dad taught me how to box and cousin did muay thai and taught me basic shit. I'll teep the fuck outta bitch.

It's great for kids though. My cousin's son is a little maniac and does karate. If he's bouncing off the walls all you have to do is ask to see his defensive stances and he'll immediately stop and show you every thing he's learned in class.

 

[CHRISHOGGALYPSE]

Yup, Kenpo karate. Funny cause I absolutely hated it when I was younger, but now I can't imagine living my life without training martial arts.

That's what I figured most people would say. It's like taking piano lessons. No kid really wants to do that crap but always appreciate being able to play an instrument as they get older.

I haven't settled on a style to teach them. I definitely thought about putting them in wrestling in school which is huge here in oklahoma and a hell of a lot cheaper than most others but I still have time to think about it. I studied Jeet Kun Do but most places that try and teach JKD are bs to me.

 

[KrazeeRDM]

Karate as a kid and Boxing when i was a teenager. now i do nothing lol

 

[Tragedy]

this might be long. i got a older cousin that has a whole garage full of 1st place and the seldom second place trophies one about 6 and a half feet tall.

he fought ernie rayez (i don't even know how to spell his name?) j.r. and was a tie 1 and 1 on each other each. he was bad ass.

this was during the kung fu theater days and the whole martial arts craz back in the 80's. he toured the country with his parents and they even promoted some of their own tournaments.

his sister was bad ass too. they learned about 3 to 5 different martial arts and some with weapons. my oldest brother was in on it too and he scared a lot of neighborhood knuckle heads with his moves and fucked people up.

this is where it gets fucked up. chuck norris believe it or not saw my cousin fight and told my aunt and uncle he should make movies.

my uncle was a real estate mogul in our city before it grew to what it was now. he owned about 15 homes and was already a millionaire.

he even borrowed money from relatives and friends to make his own movie. to make a long story short. they didn't know who they were dealing with and went broke. they had to file for bankruptcy and no one but one person got their money back.

thats why to this day my dad hates movies with a passion.

my uncle has a bad name here now and had to move to a shit hole where no one knew him.

my dad is his brother and he don't even like to admit to people that remember our name that, thats his brother.

he loves him but blames his wife cause when they were rich his wife ruined every relationship on our side of the family.

she was real evil.

it's a sad story but it's true. i think the film was actually made i was so young i forget the story. but it was shown over seas. my oldest brothers friend seen it in colombia cause thats where he's from and it was a piece of shit.

 

[$CASH$]

For a little while my old man took me to karate classes. When they handed out the new belts a few months in i didnt get one.
I asked my dad why after class and he told me straight up, "they want you to pay for it". lol At fucking 7 years old i thought that was absurd and to this day im glad he was honest about it. That was the last day i went. Told him i didnt wanna go back because it didnt seem right. I heard a while back thats one of the reasons those overseas dudes think advancement in american karate is bullshit but i dont know.

Few years later he tried to teach me how to box but we just didnt get along at that point. I was a POS teenager and i knew EVERYTHING.

But sports always played a big roll growing up.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Ya I did Shotokan from when I was 3 till about 17 or so (now 28).
Then I stopped going but continued to train on my own. Nothing major. Just bag work, stuff in the garage, etc. Just got back into it last month, started boxing again.

 

[CHRISHOGGALYPSE]

Yeah, I got in to boxing on my own and was planning on going pro. Long story short, I had/have a neck issue I didn't know that prevented me from going further with it but I started training people. I could easily train my sons in boxing but boxing actually teaches kids more that fighting is okay than martial arts. I learned that through personal experience.

As I got to a point that I was semi comfortable with martial arts and someone wanted to fight, I would just walk away and never got in a fight and had to use it.

When I got more of a boxing mentality and someone wanted to fight, I was always down and ready to fight. I wasn't worried either way but for some reason boxing kinda evokes that mentality. I guess because the sparring causes much more frequent contact maybe whereas the martial arts moves and blows are much more lethal?

Either way, I'd rather teach my kids "martial arts" than boxing.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

I don't have any kids but I would teach my kids to box over martial arts. I've been into martial arts my whole life and to be completely direct about it, after more than 50 street fights I have probably "kicked" someone twice. I've checked a couple kicks and probably have thrown a couple max. Other than that I have always thrown hands. Martial arts simply isn't practical in a real fight.

Take down defense is always useful. I think wrestling is important, but more for defensive purposes.

Give your kids the self confidence that you have when it came to fighting. That's one of the greatest things you could give them. Realistically that's pretty much the only thing my Dad ever gave me.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

Martial arts aren't useless. It all depends on what you want to get out of your training. Some people just want to build friendships and be a part of something, get in shape, gain discipline and respect or fighting purposes/self defense. Every martial art has a purpose and aslong as you stay away from mcdojo gimmick schools that just want your money, you'll be fine. Also, it depends on how old your son is. Are you going to sign up your 6 year old son for muay thai? No, This aint Thailand.

Personally, I would enroll my son in something like Brazilian jiu jitsu or Kyokushin Karate(this style is nothing like what you're picturing. These mothefuckers are tough and whoop ass, but still have the emphasis on traditional karate). IMO teaching a young kid to box won't teach them nothing besides having a great pair of hands and beating down bullys on the playground.

 

[CHRISHOGGALYPSE]

I think there is more self discipline taught in martial arts and teaches you that you don't have to fight but you can if needed. Martial arts taught me that the minimum amount of moves needed to leave the situation is best whereas boxing taught me to fight until the dude is knocked out. What's the difference you ask? You blow a dudes knee out with one kick or check kick = just as good as throwing however many punches it took to knock them out.

Boxing isn't practical when fighting multiple people if it ever comes to that as well. That's the difference to me. Disarming people with weapons also isn't something you learn in boxing.

I actually wanted to study kung fu more than anything but it's always so damn expensive and takes forever to learn. Just a personal preference. I know people will try and talk bad about it and talk about how jiu jitsu is more practical these days.

 

[Count_Slapula]

Tae Kwon Do..its a great style to train in if you learn from the right master. You could always put them into class and see how they like it after a couple weeks.

 

[Joey]

I never took karate or anything like that but my dad taught me how to box.....

I have 4 kids and have taken my oldest son and second oldest daughter to boxing classes....They have learned alot....When my 4 year old turns 6 or 7 i will take him to boxing class also...Hes the real beast outta my kids...My oldest daughter dosent want to take boxing class and is almost in middle school.....When she gets in her first confrontation, maybe she will change her mind.....

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Ya it just depends on what u want for ur kid. I think discipline is taught in the home, not in a dojo.

 

[CHRISHOGGALYPSE]

of course discipline is taught in the home but that doesn't always translate to what someone would do in a fight situation or protecting their home.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

I think Brown said it best and it all really comes down to what you want for your kid since every style has its purpose. You don't want him to be a bully but at the same time you don't want him to be reluctant to fight. I think martial arts puts a ton of hesitation on a kid, based on the values they teach. That's just been my experience though. I went to the same dojo for over 10 years and it was strictly a Japanese dojo. The instructor barely spoke English.

My father for example, he's been doing it his entire life. He was an instructor in Italy for 12 years. 3rd degree black belt. At the same time, he would never hurt a fly and the end result is people in the real world walked all over him. I think that "inner self confidence" hurt him in the end when it came to things like business, family, etc.

I've just never agreed with the "I can defend myself, but I am going to avoid the fight" mentality. I used to have it and it never paid off. I was always holding back because I didn't want to hurt the guy. Given that the majority of the time I never even had a choice as to whether or not I wanted to fight anyways. Thankfully I've never been beaten up, jumped, etc.

We're older now though. I'm 28. I'm just speaking in "what I would want for my son", the same way you are. For me, my kid is going to strike. I feel safer that way.

 

[theYOCarea]

I did Karate when I was about 7 or so and got bored within 2-3 months and quit. My son wanted to do it for awhile and I took time finding a school that I thought was the best plus I wanted whichever martial art to be transferable to real life, so I chose Kajukenbo and my son has now been doing it for about a year and a half and still loves it and goes 4 times a week. IMO Kajukenbo is one of the overall best martial arts, especially when transferring over to a real life situation. Usually Kajukenbo schools have an area of focus and my son’s is kickboxing and that is what he has done tournaments in.

 

[lenbiasyayo]

karate but i hated it . i quit. my 5 year old wants to go to this place and learn , they came to her school and told her bout there program and gave all the kids a 2 time free pass ill bring her and see how it is