When it comes to looking for martial arts classes for kids, unless a parent is a fan of UFC or MMA, its likely they will look for karate classes when looking to improve their child’s self defence skills and discipline. Unaware of the ineffectiveness of most forms of karate and its poor results in the early UFC’s where many of its practitioners took awful beatings, Karate can sound compelling. It claims of increasing children’s safety, confidence and discipline just like many other martial arts such as Taekwondo, Aikido, and Kung Fu.
Beyond its general ineffectiveness at the elite levels of Mixed Martial Arts, there are a number of reasons why we don’t offer Karate at our Ramsbottom Gym (Dojo), and as parents ourselves, especially not to children. Furthermore we have developed a safer, more effective approach, based on the law and SBGs experience at the highest levels of Mixed Martial Arts with representatives of SBG such as UFC Champions Conor McGregor and Forrest Griffin.
- Punching, Kicking & The Law – whilst many forms of striking can be effective, its difficult for even high level martial artists to control the outcome of a punch or kick. How can a child, even when skilled in the striking arts, know exactly how hard to apply a technique or when? What can fail to deter one individual may lead to serious injury in another. Is it right for a child to punch another who has grabbed their wrist or engaged in behaviours demonstrating mild dominance?
- Lack of grappling – Karate classes generally offer little, if anything, in the form of grappling, which has been shown time and again to be more effective and more safe than striking arts, both to the defender and aggressor. It generally gives the option of a punch or kick as the physical solution to all issues. By contrast, gently breaking a wrist grab or if required pinning a bully to a floor or wall without hitting them in a calm controlled manner, tends to be far more effective and safe for all concerned and generally leads to minor rather than major outcomes.
- Head Trauma – Increasing research into adults is showing that head trauma is far more dangerous and more easily caused than previously thought. Many former professional fighters turned coaches, such as SBG’s Cage Warriors Champion Alex Enlund have now banned the training of head shots for their under 12s, based on his research, as an unnecessary risk to benefit ratio for his students.
At SBG Bury, we have 20 years experience in Mixed Martial Arts and Self Defence so we know what works and what does not. However, we are also parents and know that safety must be balanced with effectiveness and in full consideration of the law. The SBG Gorilla’s Programme has been developed globally by world class MMA and BJJ coaches at some of the top gyms in the world. Its simply a better approach than you will find in any Karate classes for kids anywhere. Its more effective, far safer, and a lot more fun.