Why Karate & Tae Kwon Do aren't good for kids

Top 5 reasons why Karate & Tae Kwon Do the good for your kid

7/8/2018

My name is John Le and I grew up doing in the system of Tae Kwon Do since I was 7 years old. I did it for 14 years, competed and even ran the Northwestern Tae Kwon Do club, but after getting a 3rd degree black belt, I saw enough of the system and how it morphed from teaching kids discipline and drive to being about money.

Me as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do- looking like a badass. I was a black belt at only 10 years old...that's 4th grade. I didn't know algebra, but I was a black belt.

Now, I run the Chicago School of Grappling and I wanted to share some insider tips on what is wrong with traditional martial arts programs. These are my top 5 reasons why traditional kids martial arts programs are not as great for your kids as you might believe.

1) Instructors want the annual contract more than anything

I'll give you an insider tip as a martial arts gym owner...kids usually quit an activity after three months. Regardless of activity, most kids only find interest in it for three months. Karate and Tae Kwon Do teachers know this and that is why they want you to sign that sweet, sweet annual contract. For Costco, the "best" member is a one that pays the annual fee of $50 and never comes. Similarly, these instructors want you to keep paying $100 a month for your kid to never show up.

However, how would they even enforce it? It's very unlikely they would spend thousands of dollars to get a lawyer to shake you down for a couple hundred dollars. Tip: if a kids martial arts program only has annual contracts and pushes it on you...they are suspect.

With our program, we DON'T DO ANNUAL CONTRACTS. Instead, we do month-to-month so that way you can stop whenever you need because life happens.

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2) Way too many belts, tests and fees

For every belt there is a test and with that test there are testing fees, belt fees, etc. For some belts there are even "pre"tests and fees for that. Now, with different martial arts there are different belt ranks, but with Karate and Tae Kwon Do specifically, there are 8 belts before you hit black belt. With every test, it's basically a funnel these programs use to cycle your child through a sales engine and collect more money from you. Again, they are focused on money and not necessarily helping your child really learn a martial art.

With a program like Kids Jiu Jitsu, there are no testing fees. Your child simply receives a belt or a stripe whenever the instructor thinks he/she has achieved a new skill level.

3) Black belts are given too easily and power can go to their head

I got my black belt at 10 years old (see pic referenced above...look for the badass asian kid). However I don't think I earned my black belt until I was 20. I was not physically, psychology or even emotionally ready for a black belt at only 10 years old.

As mentioned previously, it takes only about 2.5 years to become a "black belt" under traditional martial arts programs. There are some kids that are black belts at age 5!!! Furthermore because there is a hierarchy, some kids let that power go to their head and think they are more than they are. Martial arts is not about power. It is about pushing oneself, discipline, determination, drive and much more.

With programs like Jiu Jitsu, the kids are given different colors all together with none of the black. Instead, they are given only 4 colors of belts (no tests) and once they are old enough, they graduate to a blue belt as an adult in Jiu Jitsu.

Read about Kids Jiu Jitsu

4) Philosophy and moves are unrealistic

Fundamentally, I disagree with Karate's philosophy of "One punch, end it all." As much as that is glorified in movies and Power Rangers, one strike to finish a fight is extremely difficult to do. You have to have enough power and you have to hit a person at the right point to knock them out.

Additionally, it's dangerous to give children the mentality that one punch can end a fight. If they grow up believing that, they will be at risk and in real danger if they ever get into a real altercation or need to protect someone.

About 80% of fights go to the ground. That is why it is so important to teach children ground control techniques. With our Jiu Jitsu program, our students learn how to take down opponents and control them on the ground. Those skills will weave into their muscle memory and stay with them for life.

5) One martial art is not the key...cross training is

Growing up, I really wish I learned wrestling, jiu jitsu, boxing, etc...in addition to Tae Kwon Do. In fact, Bruce Lee said "Give a man 1 year of boxing or wrestling and he can defeat any traditional martial artist." It wasn't until I was an adult that I truly appreciated "mixed" martial arts.

Not all martial arts are the same. With Aikido, you learn how to fall. With Tae Kwon Do, you learn how to kick. With Jiu Jitsu you learn body positioning on the ground. With children, their minds are like sponges and they absorb so much. That is why it is so important to teach them different martial arts at a young age. When parents ask what they should learn, I always recommend a striking type of martial art to build hand to eye coordination + a grappling based martial art to learn full body awareness.

With our Kids Martial Arts program, we deliver on that and offer Kids Jiu Jitsu and Kids Kickboxing. We believe it's the best combination for helping children grow and giving them the best skills to help them in the future.

Final words

Those are my top 5 reasons why traditional martial arts are not good for your kids. Always happy to debate it and answer any questions. If you want to talk privately, please feel free to email me at John.Le@chicagoschoolofgrappling.com

View our Kids Program

8 Comments

Alfred, Karate after School Program link

7/25/2019 07:26:20 pm

It’s important to know what you want from karate, if it’s self defence, you will need to find a karate school that place emphasise on street self defence training. If it’s fitness, you may not want sparring or kata (forms), but lots of stamina training. For competition training you need to find a dojo that concentrate on the competition side of karate. If you are looking for health and character development, it may be a karate dojo that practice kata (forms), kihon (basic karate moves) and kumite (sparring), a majority of the time. The majority of karate schools practice a mixture of the above areas, but check before you start training and be sure it’s what you’re looking for.

John doe

12/20/2019 09:31:09 am

Jack of all trades master of none. You want fitness you go to a regular gym. Period

John Le

12/23/2019 03:29:32 pm

What would you do for fitness for a child though? This article is mainly about children in martial arts. I wouldn't have them lift any weights or spend time on an elliptical.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Tonya Whitaker

12/23/2019 02:31:23 pm

I feel like this article just teased Taekwondo. The behaviors discussed in this arrival touch all kinds of martial art programs. I put my two babies in Taekwondo and I have no regrets because I vetted the master and his school before enrolling my kids.

Money is involved, it’s a business like everything else. There a some fantastic masters out there who teach the arts the way they should and every belt is ward with your blood, sweat, tears, and the hard work you put into it.

Any real black belt knows and understand you are a shite belt that never quit. Your black belt journey is the beginning, not the end. Sounds like the writer of this article had a bad master and that because he wasn’t trained properly he is angry. I don’t blame you.

However please don’t crucify all the great Taekwondo programs that span the globe. There are many of us and the programs we participate in that are Awesome.

I am grateful for what Taekwondo gave to my kids and to me. I still give my time to training and help others. So much love and family exist at many schools. I hope you one day get to experience that and I hope you are creating that for your students!

Parents do your research and trust your gut when you visit the school. You don’t have to know Taekwondo to tell if a place encompasses all the values you want your child to be surrounded by!

John Le

12/23/2019 03:28:21 pm

Thank you so much Tonya for your comments. I truly and wholeheartedly mean it.

I grew up doing martial arts since I was 7. I did Tae Kwon Do for 14 years and grew up in it. Martial arts is the only sport I know...I'm terrible at playing any thing that involves a ball, but if you ask me to hit targets or pads, I can do it automatically like I'm a computer.

I had a great experience doing Tae Kwon Do. I wrote this article because I hate seeing what it has become. To be honest though, I got my black belt at age 10 and cognitively I wasn't ready for it. I don't think children should get "black belts" that young. Power goes to their heads as it did with mine. I would do Tae Kwon Do for at least 3 hours every weekday from 7 to 21 so I was IN IT.

As a gym owner now, I just realized a lot of the tactics pulled from any martial art gym that don't put the interest of the student first such as annual memberships, belts upon belts upon belts that also have fees. Those to me are indicative of trying to pull for money instead of instruction. Again, I did Tae Kwon Do for a long time and I'm not bashing the martial art...I'm just bashing the system that uses the art as a way to get money from parents.

Would love to hear your feeedback.

Tonya

3/6/2020 04:46:38 pm

Hi Sir. I just saw your response. I have been training TKD for 16 years (prior Judo). I am 54 and a 4 Dan.

My now 22 & 25 year olds training up through current ages (2 Dan $ 3 Dan).

I agree some schools are about money, but there are a number of places that are still about the art and how it applies across life.

My kids wore their first black belts as children and they carried the responsibility of the belt with grace and honor.

It’s about the master and how he teaches that makes the difference. When I look at the kids I Jhabvala worked with over the years and see what they have transformed into, I know Taekwondo helped shape that.

It’s why I still train today. It’s why I freely dedicate my time.

We train on a monthly quit when you want.

Greg

12/23/2019 08:02:55 pm

John:

I agree with you with your disagreement of how some martial art schools are only for the money, but that does not mean that the arts (Karate, Tae Kwon Do, etc.) don’t work or are simply not good for kids.

Martial arts are a discipline and if instructors focus more in the money, rather than properly teaching the art, discipline and philosophy that is simply a reflection on the instructors and the commercialism, rather than the martial art and the benefits it provides.

John Le

12/24/2019 10:39:03 am

Thank you for your comments Greg. I’m glad you see the commercialism looms in many of the kid martial arts programs.

As someone who has done martial arts since he was 7, I have my appreciation points of the traditional martial arts. In fact, the last point I wrote in the article says that kids need cross training to be well rounded: grappling and standup.

My point was to expose the terrible practices I see in kids traditional martial arts programs I see and grew up with. Even Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is succumbing to the same tactics. My life wouldn’t be my life without martial arts at a very early age, but I’ve learned to adapt. In fact, Bruce Lee said if you give someone one year of boxing and one year of wrestling, he/she will be any traditional martial artist.

If you are looking at the traditional martial arts as art then that’s fine and I agree with your words. The greater point was to expose the tactics gym owners use to lock your child into a contract and pull money out of you rather than really focusing on what the art is about. I had great tae kwon do teachers and it’s a shame to see how much commercial it has become.

Top 5 reasons why Karate & Tae Kwon Do the good for your kid

1) Instructors want the annual contract more than anything

2) Way too many belts, tests and fees

3) Black belts are given too easily and power can go to their head

4) Philosophy and moves are unrealistic

5) One martial art is not the key...cross training is

Final words

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