Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 31 total)
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  • #72440

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    Thanks Kirsten,

    While I do focus a bit on defending some traditonal m.a. and martial sport tech’s. I also hold to the philosophy that by teaching what is practical and effective you eliminate the need for anything else, i.e. smaller is better, big moves are too easy to see coming. However, I do agree the other skills are execellent for personal physical mastery.

    CC

    #72441
    kirsten
    Moderator

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    Absolutely! Love the poll idea…

    #72444
    stevetuna
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    quote Cottonwood-Combat:

    Hi Steve,

    I agree whole-heartedly. Thanks for your input. In a nutshell, there have just been some critics lately who think by teaching children to fight a kidnapper, we are setting them up for certain failure and increased violence from the predator. While this could happen, stats show kids who fight back generally escape.
    CC

    We’re absolutely on the same page, CC. I’m sure that we’ve all seen the videos of a child being led away by a stranger without a fight, never to come home. Training kids to do whatever they must in order to give them the best chance to survive is the reality-based self-defense training that I want to instill in my students.

    If the critics have a better idea, let them teach it. What would it be? Negotiate? To put it simply, screw that! Continue to instill that fighting spirit!

    My daughters are trained to fight.

    #72492
    huginn
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    First of all, where I live, Krav Maga isn’t really tought to kids, so I really don’t have any idea what sort of moves these kids are taught.

    I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it is always good to learn kids how to escape from a potentially life-threatening situation.
    On the other hand, some Krav techniques can cause some serious damage/pain and what would stop a kid from using these techniques in a simple schoolyard brawl between 10 year olds? Kids are usually not known for their self-restrain.

    For this reason only, I wouldn’t like to see children taught these more agressive techniques.

    #72494

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    quote Huginn:

    First of all, where I live, Krav Maga isn’t really tought to kids, so I really don’t have any idea what sort of moves these kids are taught.

    I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it is always good to learn kids how to escape from a potentially life-threatening situation.
    On the other hand, some Krav techniques can cause some serious damage/pain and what would stop a kid from using these techniques in a simple schoolyard brawl between 10 year olds? Kids are usually not known for their self-restrain.

    For this reason only, I wouldn’t like to see children taught these more agressive techniques.

    Huginn,

    First, I would like to thank you for posting a response. Secondly for disagreeing with dignity and respect.

    I agree with you that children are not known for self discipline. However, any responsible instructor would set up a system of checks and balances. For instance: before any child can test for their next belt in my school (and tesing is mandatory for all children) I send home a 2 fold letter of reference. Part 1 is for their homeroom teacher at school. It asks if the child is well behaved, attentive in classes, and keeps their work spaces neat and orderly. Part 2 is for parents and asks similar things of the parents regarding behavior, willingness to help around the house and the usual condition the child’s personal space. I require signatures and a phone number for each and we diligently follow up on those referrals. We also have a multi part student creed from which we draw character education. In this, we will choose a certain part of the creed every week and build an object lesson which is relevant to each age group, Using this, we draw the children into a “Mat Chat” to help solve (as a group) the dilemma we fabricate in the object lesson which creates a sort of positive peer pressure.

    By doing all of this, we are creating a sense of ownership for each child’s actions. It is not a perfect system, but allows us a way to balance out the child who misuses their skills by making them wait another 3 or 6 months (or more) before allowing them to test again. No child wants to be left behind by kids who started at the same time or later than them, so it becomes a self correcting error almost every time. For those who persist we resort to other measures.

    Thanks again for letting me hear your thoughts. thumbsup Please keep the feedback comng.

    CC

    #72496
    kenshomi
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    My daughter is about to take her second level KM-X test later this month, and it’s assume! She is 8. She could learn any Martial Art in imaginable her in Mi.
    But what is going to help her if she is attacked, hassled, bullied? I told her Krav would be tougher, and she would need to work to stay in class. Krav is just one sport that she enjoys, but, because of the hard work, and the support from the other kids it would be the last one to cut out to make more time for school.

    If your concerned with self discipline, all of the kids in class are as respectful of each other, just as the adult classes, if not more so. It’s up to me as the parent to monitor how she acts outside of class. In my case, she knows if she gives an elbow 1 to her sister, that will be the last Krav class she gets to go to.

    If a kid jumps her at school – she can (her option) defend herself if the other kids gets hurt – they shouldn’t have jumped her.

    Young boys may be different.

    #72497
    stevetuna
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    That’s great stuff, Kenshomi – congratulations to your daughter!

    We have not had any instances of a km-X student acting up and hurting anyone unjustly. This is a small town and I would certainly have heard. Plus, a good amount of teachers attend our other fitness classes and I believe that one of them would tell me if there was a problem with a student.

    The km-X program is designed to help kids become good citizens. It’s been my experience that it works quite well in this regard.

    #72498
    cigaro78
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    I don’t know about this one – I voted yes but actually probably meant ‘maybe’.
    The reason is my 13 yo daughter attended a self defense class (mandatory at school, lol), which she now refers to whenever we bring up a ‘what if’ type of scenario to her. It’s not up to me to judge if the teachings were in line with KM or not, but I can tell you it certainly has affected her opinion on security negatively and I can’t think KM would do much better.

    What if a guy grabs you? “I went to self defense and I would fight him back”. What if you are being bullied? “I went to self defense and I would fight him/her back”. You face a dark park, do you cross it or do you take the long way around it? “self defense course”. etc, etc.

    Clearly I actually preferred her previous answer, the one I had taught her, which was something along the lines of ‘avoid all possible dangerous situation at all cost and if you have no choice and are being attacked, run as fast as you can and make as much noise as humanly possible’.

    I would also like to stress that an 8 years old boy or girl will *never* be able to defend themselves in a real threat vs an adult attacker. Thinking they could is completely delusional.

    So, if by kids you mean 13-18 then maybe, yes, there would be value, as long as the prevention aspect of the course weights as much as the rest of the curriculum. Below 13 you are wasting your time or worsening the outcome of a dangerous situation IMHO.

    That’s just my 2 cents of course.

    #72502
    kirsten
    Moderator

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    I will tell you what will stop the kids from using their training at school… It’s dynamic, new age, labor intensive, not for everyone and highly controversial… It’s called “parenting”.

    I have taught sooo many kids over the last 20 years and I have NEVER had a single one use their training inappropriately. It has nothing to do with me, but has everything to do with the training itself. I am guessing any other instructor here with plenty of kids experiance will tell you the same thing.

    When I hear about kids fighting at school, it’s becuase dad showed them something “cool” they learned in class, but never gave them the discipline and respect for it that really only comes through dedicated training.

    I can’t tell anyone what is the best choice for them, but my kids will all be trained…

    #72520

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    Kenshomi – Please tell your daughter I said “Way to Go – Don’t Give Up!!”

    To address a few of the concerns regarding small children defending against an adult attacker. Statistics (from FBI and other LE Agencies’ files) clearly show that if a child does nothing – it’s over. They will be abducted. They also show that teaching a child to scream for help has only a minimal chance of helping because predators don’t always look or act like a kidnapper. In fact, most predators have become VERY good at hiding their true nature and typically befriend the child long before they act on their deviance. Also, if it is a grab and go, they typically cover the child’s mouth, often using gloves or a large towel or something else which will prevent their getting bitten. Now that tool (biting) is gone too. Lastly, as I mentioned in the beginning of this thread, what we teach is not to punish the bad guy, but to escape, where and to whom to run, how to get public attention (like yelling FIRE!) once free, how to recognize and avoid dangerous situations and the like. It is not like the Little Ninja movies. We teach them how to exploit whatever vulnerable target the bad guy gives, then build on that until they can RUN!

    I would suggest reading a book by David “Race” Bannon called Race Against Evil. He claims to have been part of a Black Ops Interpol team which went after child slave traders. It is a novel, supposedly based on true events. I cannot verify how much is truth and how much is artistic expression, however, I was living in St. Louis when one arrest mentioned in the book occured. That part I know to be absolutely true, at least as far as the arrest and the case goes. Perhaps the author is incredibly good at weaving fiction with fact. Perhaps it’s really based on his life. What I can say is, I have looked up several references from the book and the information seems credible. Beware, this book is graphic and not for those who cannot bear knowing of human suffering.

    CC

    #72530
    kenshomi
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    @Cigaro78 I mostly agree with your post. My 8 y/o could easily be overpowered by an adult. But once shes 100lbs – who knows

    @Kristen – Parenting – the toughest job you may never love……. Krav is easy being a parent is hard – plus you never know if you got it right until your child is grown and it’s too late to change things….

    The other factor in taking krav – is just education – personal, mental physical. I’ve seen a positive change in her, which we are trying to have translate into School performance, and understadning how ‘hard work’ pays off

    #72540
    kirsten
    Moderator

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    LOL… true, can’t give ’em back!

    #72547

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    quote Cottonwood-Combat:

    I would suggest reading a book by David “Race” Bannon called Race Against Evil. It is a novel, supposedly based on true events.

    CORRECTION: Race Against Evil: The Secret Missions of the Interpol Agent Who Tracked the World’s Most Sinister Criminals – A Real-life Drama
    Copy and pasted from Amazon.com (Bold/Italics added)

    #72553
    alr2727
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    My first post, but I feel compelled to respond. I am a police officer and have two boys 9 and 5 years old. My 9 year old is in his 3rd year of KM-X and my five year old is completing his first year of Little Ninjas. I have had talks with both of my boys concerning the that there are people in the world that are bad, and could try to hurt them, maybe Iím a little jaded from work, but I want both of them to understand what they could face one day. I expect them to be able to take the appropriate action to stop any threat they could face. That threat could be on the street or at school; I hope they will be able stop the threat as quickly as possible, if their attacker is injured so be it, I just want them to come home everyday. I feel that the training both of them receive not only develops their skills to defend themselves against ìbad peopleî but more importantly they develop self respect and self discipline, and I give a lot of thanks to Ryan and his staff for their patience and willingness to help our children. Also I think my boys maybe could not stop an attack from an adult, but they sure as hell could slow it down and create an escape, I have had plenty of front kicks and elbows at home from both, (it never fails, they hit harder at home than they do in training).

    #72555
    blokrocbet
    Member

    Re: Kids in Krav Maga

    Why wouldnt you want your kids to defend themselvs? Ive been telling my little boy what to do since he could talk. He’s been i karate and krav and he has NEVER been in a fight.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 31 total)
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