Also as others have said a good instructor won't teach kids and adults the same. Kids need a certain level of entertainment and a higher amount of instruction that teaches discipline. Adults can learn more "pratical" skills once they earn some rank. For instance, I'd never teach a child how to do a shoken strike to the heart, yet it's something that more senior students should know.
So when checking out classes you should check out both the childrens classes and the adult classes. The first because those are the classes your kids will be in. The later, to see what the style is really about and how the instructor is as a martial artist. The interaction between instructor and students will be very telling.
And finally kudos for wanting your kids in martial arts classes for the right reasons. Take your time and don't get frustrated, and you'll find the right school for them and even possibly yourself!
Legitimate martial arts are way to varied these days. There's no regulations. So as a result....there's a pile of people claiming their legitimacy from over traditional extremist bashing anything with competition, to over extremist athletes bashing traditional for no contest, to reality based martial arts bashing them because they're out of reality, to traditional extremists bashing reality again because their system's older..........
Long story. Short answer. Children can't really learn martial art. It's not ethical to teach them how to hurt and maim that young. Plus the 'other skills' are sometimes advertising campaigns of mcdojos. Discipline and patience (don't know about patient but if you send them to a bad school, they'll be patients soon enough), will develop profoundly if they're in a school that breed them. If they're in a bad school, it's otherwise. If you just want them to develop discipline and patience, try daily activities that don't involve cash spending to make them do. That works much better than putting them decades into something for patience and discipline, spending enough to crash people's bank, when you can develop those in months. You only need approximately 31 days for a human to adapt to a habit.
No non-rip off classes will actually teach children. Even the most legitimate schools only develop basic physical attributes e.g. timing, speed...that prepares them for training.
Mystical ninja kids and shaolin little warrior monks are rarely existent.
Added: Plus it's not even the side of morality and all those stuff. Physically children's learning capabilities are impaired. e.g. conservation of quantities is something no-one under 13 can ever understand. Therefore even if the sensei is good and is willing, there's still information missed because they can't take it sufficiently.
Keyboard Warrior is only HALF right.
His first statement is absolutely accurate, however, he's been taken by one of the "belt factories" so now he has a vendetta against Classical Arts like Karate and Chinese methods. There are many garbage karate schools but not every single one is the same.
You said you want your kids to develop patience and discipline. Just take a look at the incidences of "patience" and "discipline" that the new generation of "mma" is endowed with.
Google maps can help you find schools in your area and you can post the ones that seem interesting to you here.
There are some here who are senior practitioners with decades of training and experience who won't mind assisting you.
Type your zipcode and the term "karate" or "jujutsu" and you will see what is directly in your area. Post the ones you like here.
Who knows? One of us might be in your area.
I agree with Darth S on this. There are no bad styles only many many bad instructors, or schools that put making money before teaching effective martial arts. There is nothing wrong with teaching martial arts for money. The problem comes in when the owner of a school opens a school to make a living. In today's world more than 85% of all martial arts students in the U.S.A. are children. But the martial arts were never designed for children nor is it appropriate for them mentally. Schools in order to attract as many students as possible have lowered the standards to memorizing and demonstrating things that are often impractical for self-defense. Actual sparring in a realistic sense has all but disappeared due to law suites and insurance requirements. Commercial martial arts schools are in a sad state (that includes both traditional styles and schools teaching MMA and things like Krav Maga) In the quest to make money many schools now offer birthday parties in the school where students invite their friends which the school then aggressively tries to recruit as new students.
Finding a good martial arts school is no easy task. A few pointers to thin the field are:
1) Avoid any school that has children black belts, black belt clubs, leadership clubs, or contracts.
2) Avoid any school that is full of trophies and is sport oriented.
3) Avoid any school that promotes students often based on how long they have been training.
4) Avoid any school that tells you that you can be a black belt in a certain amount of time. (Note: in the late 1960's or early 1970's less than 3% of all students ever became black belts, and none of them were children. It clearly says that not everyone can or should be a black belt. )
5) Avoid any school that has a Yellowpages advertisement or web page that list the benefits of training and does not have self-defense as the main one. Many advertisements for martial arts schools don;t even have self-defense on the list, or if it is it is low down on the list. (Notice: many of these advertisements will have pictures. These almost always show children not adults, What does that tell you about their priorities...?)
Bottom line here is you must investigate any school you are considering. Visit and observe. If the senior adults have good self-defense and a high level of skill, then that speaks highly of the instruction and the training offered. Check out the credentials of the instructor. He should have a verifiable background and a trail of credentials all coming from legitimate organizations. Having ranks in multiple arts is not always a bad thing. But having a 2st dan in ones style, a 2nd dan in another, and clearly shows that the instructor jumped around acquiring higher ranks but lack the lower ranks in the same style are not a good sign. Today it is to easy to get ranks without having learned the style. Students in one style that have a black belt can join another organization or style and for a few dollars get a rank in the new style without having studied the style. Using this many people get a basic knowledge of one style then keep getting higher ranks from other organizations. A guy I met claimed a 3rd dan in Isshinryu Karate-Do. i found out that when he tested for his 1st dan in Isshinryu he barely passed the test. A few months later he walked into his Isshinryu class wearing three stripes on his black belt. His instructor asked him what that was about and the student said that he had been promoted to third dan by Robert Trias a famous master from another style......??? Trias was well respected, but he can't promote anyone in a style he does not have training in. The student had not studied master Trias's style so the rank promotion meant nothing. This caused the guys instructor to kick him out. The student promptly opened his own dojo where he claimed a third dan in Isshinryu. In reality he barely passed his Shodan test then flew out west and paid Trias to promote him to in Isshinryu, which Trias did not teach.... ????
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I need tips on finding legit martial arts school for my kids. I don't know much about this subject but I want my kids to learn patients, discipline, and other skills involved with martial arts. I sent my daughter to some 1 day a week class for a few months and watched her a few times but to me it just looks like some ripoff class. Is there anything out that are what you see in movies like dojos with actual master teachers I can find?
