Hi everyone,
I would like to enroll my son in a karate class ending of next year (when he will be approaching 4). What schools do you recommend or have used for your toddlers? What have you HEARD as well as EXPERIENCED with your schools of choice?
Thank you in advance for your responses!
J
Hi everyone! WOOOW you gals are AWESOOOME!! I'm so excited at all the responses I've received (and please keep them coming). My little one is 2.5 and I like to think ahead for things we'd like to get him involved in; especially when it seems that classes around here fill up pretty quickly!! I have made several phone calls already to a few of the recommendations here. USA Martial Arts in Plano actually has a class that can start him at 2.5 (with only one other student in the class) and the other places start at 3 years old. Karate, like any other enrichment class (such as ballet, music or art) is better developed when kids start and set their foundations early. Even though I know this has a lot of positive aspects, I more want him to have FUN! It's not about tournaments or belts for me, just simpley about self confidence, discipline (learning to respect others not just being concerned about one's own self), having a healthy outlet to deal with emotions and behavior and having fun in the process! Thank you all so much for all the info!! This site has greatly minimized a lot of my researching frustrations and all of you are SO COOL!! :-)
My children go to USA Martial Arts in Plano. I know they also have Frisco and Allen locations. The instructor in Plano is amazing. We've had a wonderful experience with them and I would highly recommend them.
Our daughter takes Martial Arts/Karate at USA Martial Arts in Frisco. We LOVE this place! She started going because of some traumatizing events that happened to her. We needed to put her in karate to help her start feeling empowered again. It has done wonders for her and she is a new kid! You can sit down with the owner and explain to her what you need your child to gain/work on, and she will work with them. For our daughter, she needed to gain more self confidence and feel strong, as well as feel that she could (and has the right to) defend herself if needed.
They teach the children some stranger safety skills, they have a word of the month (like "enthusiasm") that they talk about and focus on at the beginning of class, and are encouraged to have a positive outlook. (our daughter has said stuff to us like, "If you want to be good at something, you can't just give up, you have to keep practicing and working on it and you will get good at it!", and she is only 6)
Once a month, they have a party for the kids on a Friday evening. The parties have themes. The last one was a party where they learned techniques to break a board. The kids did games, etc, learned techniques to break a wood board, ate pizza, and had a great time. Then, they got to bring the board that they broke home with them. It had their name and date on it, so you could keep it as their keepsake. We're putting ours on a little shelf displayed beside her belt certificates.
They also have a thing called a "super star chart" where the kids take it home and you check off what they have done each day. It has stuff listed like, "eat to win", and "complete chores at home", "help with younger sibling", "use black belt respect with family", etc. Every week they can turn this checklist in and earn a stripe on their belt. After five stripes are earned, they get a star on their gi (karate uniform). I didn't think my daughter would care about this list, but she absolutely loves it and works very hard to earn her stripes.
Here is the information:
The owner is a woman (I love supporting small businesses, and a woman owned business is a huge plus in my book!)
Pamela R. Fitzerman
USA Martial Arts Leadership Academy
8822 Teel Pkwy Suite 400
Frisco, TX 75034
###-###-####
www.USAMartialArtsFitness.com
It's on the corner of Teel and Main in Frisco.
They start children as young as 3, and you can get a free pass that gives you the first month free (you'll want to ask about it and tell her that Emily Eaton's mom told you about the free pass, since I can't give it to you online. I'm pretty certain she'll give it to you even without the physical pass.)
We go to USA Martial Arts in Plano - Spring Creek/Coit. We love the classes and the instructor here!! Mr. Castilla is great w/kids! My son has learned so much over the last year - patience, respect, endurance, helping others! It's been great!
Usamartialartsfitness.com
Tell them A. Marshall sent you.
I recommend Rick's Kicks in Frisco off of Lebanon behind the Tom Thumb. Rick is patient with the kids, allows them to be kids while gaining discipline. Rick doesn't focus on just earning belts, he wants the kids to be able to defend themselves and grow in strength and ability. At Ricks it may take you longer to earn a belt but you will see improvement in so many areas of your child's life if you stick with it.
My daughter has been going to Vu's Martial Arts since she was 3.5 yrs old. She absolutely LOVES it and Master Vu is GREAT with kids! We "visited" two other studios before making our final decision to enroll her at Vu's and in one class (Karate for Kids-sorry) the instructor got onto a child so harshly for not listening that the child started crying and at the other place the instructor just didn't seem very friendly. Master Vu, on the other hand, has such a great rapport with his kids....they all look up to him and his class warm-up sessions are hilarious! The kids are always laughing and he makes learning patterns and meeting new challenges FUN!! I just cannot say enough nice things about Mr. Vu.
You can check out he website for the studio location and class schedule. If you call the studio, you can make arrangements for your son to sit-in on a class. He'll actually get to participate, instead of sitting on the sidelines and watching. I know your son will LOVE it! His website address is: http://www.vusmartialarts.com/
My daughter completed his Little Ninja program and is now in black belt training.
Good luck in your search.
My son takes karate at Impact Martial Arts in Plano. At age 4 and 5 they are in the Tiny Tigers class. It's a small class at Impact so my son gets a lot of attention which is great when they first start out. The instructor is wonderful with the kids.
They are located just West of Alma on Parker.
K.
I enrolled my 4 y.o. in karate classes in Carrollton recently. Sidekicks Martial Arts offers classes for ages 3 and up and have evening times. My son is still very new so he's still figuring things out but the instructors are patient and engaging. They have prices for program or a monthly pay-as-you-go plan.
Ricks Kicks in Frisco is the best!!!
My daughter trained and earned her black belt with John Bain of Plano Self Defense.
The main thing about a karate school is to focus on your child's development...not contracts and not belts.
We were going to a particular school in Allen and switched to Mr. Bain when daughter was well into the process. We switched because it appeared that the focus was not on training but to get the next belt.
It ended up taking an extra year for her to achieve the black belt but she can say she EARNED it and she did not get it by us signing a contract and paying off the owners.
It is a great experience and accomplishment. Good luck!
This is not a simple question to answer. It really depends on your child and what you are looking for. If you want something intense and competitive, you will need to investigate a lot of schools and introduce your child to the instructors to see if they click. Definitely look for a good ATA school if you want to get on the competitive circle. Competition has its pros and cons at such a young age. My son goes to the USA martial art school in Frisco. They do not focus on competition but rather life skills and love of the sport. Mr. Pitts is great with the little dragons and offers mixed martial arts. My thinking was at 4 it would be great to expose my son to a mix and let him decide what he likes. In mixed martial arts they expose the kids to Karate, Judo and some weapons ( escrima/nunchakus). My son who is now 9 is a 2nd degree black belt and I feel can make his own decisions on where he would like to take his passion for the sport.
GoodLuck.
Dittos on the USA Martial Arts endorsement. We also go to the one in Plano at Spring Creek and Coit with Mr. Castilla, but the instructor at the one in Frisco is also awesome so you can't go wrong at either location!
