I'm just wondering, my husband thought it would benefit our son...and I am sure some of you moms have experience. LOL
I have no idea what to expect but I do know if they offer kickboxing I'm there, too!

By Cat on Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - 04:51 pm:

Good student to teacher ratio is always nice. Ours is about 10:1, usually less. There's one head instructor and usually at least one student instructor, sometimes more (student or 1st degree black belts). You want someone that is good with kids. Make sure they're warming up, and not just going into the kicks/jumps/etc. You're in California, right? Here's a link to our karate school. There's only one branch in California (Vandenberg AFB). My kids love it. Their instructor is absolutely wonderful. He's strict and expects a lot from the kids, but he's not TOO strict and his expectations are not unreasonable. The boys have been in karate now for 2 years and are both jr brown belts. I joined their class last August and will test for my blue belt next month. I'm really enjoying it, too. I have to say, the first month or two it really kicked my butt! lol Observe a few classes. Watch how the instructors interact with the kids. You'll know if it's for your son or not. Good luck and let me know how it's working out!

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - 06:22 pm:

I think Karate, in general, is a good thing. I know my oldest son, who is and was a totally non-violent person, had a Scout master who loved Karate, and half of his Scout meetings for over a year were Karate lessons. A while later, my son was being badly and physically harassed by two boys in his class, and I said, honey, sometimes, with boys, you just have to punch them. He responded that he could never choose to hit someone (at 13, for heaven's sake). I suggested he could at least use the Karate he'd learned to keep them from hurting him. He came home the next day walking on air, absolutely thrilled that when these boys had started on him he had kept them from hitting or hurting him until they got frustrated and walked away.

That said, I think one important thing about any Karate class is their approach. Do they teach using Karate as a weapon, or as a discipline to learn and, if necessary, to use in self-defense? (Naturally, I would prefer the latter.) Is there a discipline, a teaching of self-respect and respect for others, or is it just the moves? Is the instructor teaching "kick butt" (not a bad thing, but it shouldn't be the goal of the class) or the total discipline and respect?

And Cat is right - stretches and preparation should be part of the discipline. And how the instructor interacts with the kids and how the instructor teaches the kids to interact with each other is important.

There are several branches/styles of Karate. My youngest spent several years in Tai Kwan Do (spelling?) and thinks it's great. Of course, he popped both knees (at different times) in competitions, but he still loves it. And I think he learned a lot about self-discipline and attitude from his instructor.

By Cat on Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - 08:53 pm:

Oh, and make sure they use protective equipment. I say that sitting here bruised... (I have protective gear, but need shin guards! Ouch!!!)

Our class is very into self defense and not violence. Our instructor always says the first line of defense is to RUN!!! If you can't run, defend yourself. If they keep coming, destroy as a last resort. It's also very into respect--both for yourself and others. It's been great for both my kids (and me) but especially for Robin.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 01:58 am:

Cat, what are all the pieces of protective equipment that should be used? It might be a good idea to list them.

By Colette on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 07:47 am:

Ask parents who have had kids in the schools for a long time what they think about it. My karate school has a tendency to keep coming up with "new fees" for every little thing. Karate can be very expensive. You can look at sparring gear here
http://www.centuryma.com/
sometimes you can find used sparring gear from parents whose kids either outgrew it or lost interest.

The really best advice I can think of is as I said, ask a variety of parents their opinion and get the lowdown on all extra fees, they might give you a free gei - the white one, but then once you get to a certain belt you are no longer considered a basic student and they move you up to the black belt club or master club or whatever they decide to call it and then they may want you to buy a new gei, they are about $100. You should also find out about belt fees. Ours are $50 a belt - except black belt and thats considered "phase training" and that is, or was, $200. Also find out how often belt ceremonys take place, ours are every 6 weeks, so that's $50 per child ever six weeks. Don't get me wrong, karate can be great for self confidence/discipline, just read the fine print and check out a lot of schools before committing.

By Cat on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 08:01 am:

I have protective foot, hand, and head gear, a rib protector and mouth guard. I got the mouth guard at the base exchange (can get them at Wal-Mart) and the rest through our instructor. You can find gear on eBay or at sporting goods stores. Some sports stores have used gear, but make sure it's not worn or torn. Also, like Colette said, other students outgrow the stuff. Our gei's are black and they're $25 from our instructor (first one's free). Then there's the school's patch that has to be sewn on and it's $5. Our testing fees are $25 about every four months. When our kids advance to first degree black belt there is no fee for that particular one. It takes almost 4 years to get student black belt and then between 18mo-2yrs to get 1st degree from there (I think). Like I said, my kids are jr brown belts and that took a month shy of 2 years. It will take at least 22 months for them to get to jr black belt from then. Our class is pee-wee up to age 6, jr from 6 to about 14-16 (depending on the student and the instructor) and then adult. I should have my brown belt by next summer (will have been in almost 2 years). The gear is expensive, so do look for used, especially until you know if your ds wants to stay in or not. Ours runs about $110 for all four pieces (head, hands, feet and ribs). Then we need a jump rope and weapons (staff, nunchuckas, sickles, wooden knife, short sticks, etc). These are not used to learn how to attack someone with the weapons. They're used to learn to defend against attacks. They're also used for tiokas (sp) or the forms we do. I have to say, the first 6 months or so when the kids joined was really expensive because I had to buy all the equipment. I spread it out, though and bought a couple pieces at a time. It's been great for us and definately worth it.