You can’t be serious!? Little Jimmy has just taken a poop in the corner of his martial arts class. And so we begin, with the many questions surrounding age and Martial arts. I often get asked, “What’s the best age to begin Martial Arts” or “What’s the youngest children can start Martial Arts?”. As the questions keep rolling in, it becomes frighteningly obvious how many people are also unaware of the legalities around Martial Arts. This is particularly down to the fact it has no single governing body to regulate the sport.
In essence, martial arts schools have the freedom to run however they wish. Consequently, many do. With that being said, you don’t need to panic, as we cover this and much more in the article below.
Hold onto your fedoras, as we take a journey to explore the question “What’s the youngest children can start Martial Arts?“.
WHAT’S THE YOUNGEST CHILDREN CAN START MARTIAL ARTS?
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IN A HURRY? Look out for our yellow boxes in the text below. They contain a summary for quicker reading.
READ SUGGESTION: THE TOP 3 REMARKABLE MARTIAL ARTS MISCONCEPTIONS EXPOSED.
WHAT’S THE LEGAL MINIMUM AGE CHILDREN CAN START MARTIAL ARTS?
“Surely there is no legal minimum age!?” I hear you cry. And you would be correct in this assumption, well, sort of, but lets look at this a little deeper.
In short, there is no legal minimum age set out for when a child can begin martial arts. However, technically, there very much is.
Fortunately for most of us, you can’t purchase our very own licence that would consequently give you the freedom to purge. You certainly can’t pop to your local post office and fill in an application for a licence that gives you super powers.
In either case, here’s the bombshell. As a matter of fact ,you need a licence to practice martial arts. * MIC DROP *
When considering what’s the youngest children can start Martial Arts, we need to look at the age they can obtain a licence. On the whole, it would seem, the majority of any reputable martial arts clubs will be able to licence a child from the age of 4.
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SUMMARY: In most cases, a child can obtain a licence from the age of 4.
WHAT IS A MARTIAL ARTS LICENCE?
So there you have it, in order to practice martial arts in any reputable school, you need to be licensed. Now don’t get me wrong however ,some clubs won’t ask this of you. We look at this a bit further down. But if they don’t, pick up little Jimmy, throw him over your shoulder, and run like the wind.
I know what you’re thinking, “A license to kill? Surely this can’t be true?” Don’t worry, its not, this is one the many common misconceptions in martial arts we covered on another blog post.
A license is somewhat of a fancy term for Martial Art’s insurance. To illustrate, what usually happens is the school will let their insurance company know that they are registering a new student. From here, once the insurance company have given the go ahead, the training school will issue a licensing book. It’s common these days for the book to contain a record of grades, which will also get stamped as the student progresses. Finally, in the back of the book, will be the date your insurance started, and is due to expire.
SUMMARY: A license, for ease of understanding, is simply the fancy name for insurance.
BEWARE THE McDOJO
When we ask “what’s the youngest children can start Martial Arts?“, we need to also consider a few other things. It’s easy to see from the description above, why a Martial Arts license is important.
It’s becoming very common these days to see, what we call in the industry, McDojo’s, popping up everywhere. In summary, a McDojo is the name given to martial arts schools that lack the skills and knowledge base to open in the first place. These martial arts schools, usually run things in a more, shall we say, relaxed way.
Their focus tends to be making money, and not delivering high quality training. Subsequently they run on very little effort, and huge amounts of hope. As a result, they are a disaster waiting to happen.
It’s for this reason you need to be vigilant when starting your child’s martial arts journey. Double and triple check they have the highest level of insurance in place before asking any other questions. To conclude, any martial arts school worth training in, will require your child to be licensed.
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SUMMARY: A licence, and in turn insurance, will be required to train.
READ SUGGESTION: THE TOP 3 REMARKABLE MARTIAL ARTS MISCONCEPTIONS EXPOSED.
WHAT’S THE MORAL MINIMUM AGE CHILDREN CAN START MARTIAL ARTS?
Now, if your child is prone to running around making duck noises and has a tendency to poop in the corner, evidently it may be a little early to start them.
You have to consider if your child is able to control themselves, enough for the class, before you unleash them on the world of martial arts. We cover The Best Age To Begin Martial Arts over on another blog post.
Picture the scene; you’ve decided to take your child along for their very first martial arts class. However, you have disregarded the fact that they a have a tendency to jump around and mimic a T-Rex, as you sit back in hope.
The instructor arrives, calls the children and they all line up. They are ready to go and focused, all but one, your little Jimmy.
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HORROR STRIKES
You see, little Jimmy hasn’t quite grasped the ability to follow instruction yet, consequently he’s off jumping all over the equipment and acting crazy.
You look on in horror, overcome with a feeling of panic, as you say to yourself “Maybe he’s (or she’s) a bit too young”. In short, this assumptions would be correct.
To clarify, whilst most martial arts schools will licence a child from the age of 4, this doesn’t necessarily mean your child will be ready at the age of 4.
But don’t panic, as a final point, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of their martial arts journey forever. Generally it just means you may need to hang fire until they stop making animal noises and urinating on the punch bag.
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SUMMARY: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Ensure your child is ready before you start.
WHAT’S THE YOUNGEST CHILDREN CAN START MARTIAL ARTS?
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
You are super excited, as you’ve just got off the phone to your local training school. They have answered your question of “What’s the youngest children can start Martial Arts?“. As a result, you run up to 4-year-old little Jimmy as you shout with joy. “Jimmy, they said you can start on Monday!” Amazing news, the club can licence little Jimmy at the age of 4.
BOX ONE, CHECKED.
You watch little Jimmy for an hour, as he goes about his normal duties of playing and eating biscuits. You sit back and remember an awesome blog post you read about What’s The Youngest Children Start Martial Arts.
Eagerly watching on in the hope that little Jimmy doesn’t decide that today will be the day he leaves you a little poo parcel on the carpet. Excellent news, no presents from Jimmy today.
But can little Jimmy follow basic instructions?. “Little Jimmy” You whisper, “Can you do the washing up for me?” Only kidding, but that would be awesome right?
You are happy that little Jimmy has a basic understanding in following short instructions and you are good to go. Roll on Monday Jimmy, your martial arts journey is about to begin.
BOX TWO CHECKED
All Boxes Checked? Start Your Kid’s Martial Arts Bristol Journey Today.
SUMMARY: As long as you have ensured all boxes are checked. The youngest a child, in the majority of cases, can begin martial arts, is 4.