CLF & Kids

[yutyeesam]

How do you teach kids CLF? like ages 5 - 10?

Tons and tones of kung-fu games with a little bit of learning?

Do you have them strike targets? If so, do you make them wear gloves for that?

How do you keep them focused during forms practice?

Should locks and throws be introduced?

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[David Jamieson]

I would imagine you would teach them kungfu the way many teach children.

give em the basics, get them stretching, etc etc.

Hard core conditioning isn't for young kids. Their bones are unformed and hard conditioning can deform them and cause impedement in tehir natural development.

By about 18 years old, all fissures in bone are sealed and hard conditioning can begin at a progressive rate.

breaking, hard striking etc etc really isn't in the best interest of teh health of children, particularly small ones.

[yutyeesam]

oh wow, thank you. i never even considered bone development issues. hmm. wait so combat drills are pretty much out of the question? what if padding were used?

[Ai Lek Ou Seun]

Nah....let em spar. Let em bang arms. We've let kids as young as 7 or 8 spar.

I'm not sure what Kung Lek means by "hard core" conditioning?

Kung fu is mostly a body weight excercise anyways, so its great for kids.

Lifting weights and stuff like that is what you want to keep kids away from.

In my experience, the hardest thing about teaching young kids is keeping their attention and discipline issues.

You might want to make the classes only an hour long and break it up into smaller sections than you would normally do for an adult class.

[MasterKiller]

50 minute class.

10 minutes warm-up exercises (lunges, jogging, stretching)

15 minutes forms work. (short forms. Most kids can't remember anything over 15 to 20 moves going twice a week)

10 minutes drilling new techniques, pad work, etc...

15 minutes sparring, rotate the kids out in 'round robin fashion every 40 seconds or so so they get a chance to fight everyone.

[Ravenshaw]

Since I coach kids (Northern Shaolin), maybe I'll add a few suggestions.

Firstly, keeping kids' attention can be really tough. Some kids will be very attentive, while others will be impossible. In general, though, the most successful tactic by far is to keep them active. Holding a horse stance for an hour really isn't for kids. During my harder workout classes, I let them sit in horse to catch their breath. Most of the time, though, you'll lose their interest fast that way.

Keep explanations as short as possible and repeat key words often, like "stay low" or "eyes forward." This way, they aren't standing around for five minutes listening to you talk. You probably have a lot of good information about why they should do this or that, but they frankly don't care and will probably forget the "why" in 30 seconds. Give them some guidelines that are easy to follow and use repetition. Also, don't give them too many things to work on at once. Just focus on one or two things until they show good improvement, then move on. This might take five minutes or it might take five practice sessions. If you give them more than one or two things, they won't learn any of them.

If you have multiple students, you can use them to push one another to higher levels. Set up little competitions during the regular training like "who can hold this stance the longest" or "who can punch the fastest?" It normally helps their motivation if the children are facing one another. You have to be careful with this tactic, though, and try not to let them focus on winning and losing.

Now on to the subject matter...

Kids tend to really like forms. Some might not enjoy doing them much, but they are definitely more interesting than stance training. Also, kids really want to look cool - especially the boys. So you might place extra emphasis on the sets. Still, it would be a mistake not to implement partner drills and simple sparring drills. Basic solo drills are also very significant. You might spend an equal amount of time on each of those three things during a training session and get decent results. The challenge is to make it interesting while developing skill at the same time, which is no easy task.

The kinds of children I find hardest to teach:
- Girls younger than 4 years
- Boys younger than 6 years
- A significant number of adolecents
There are always exceptions, but these are generally true.

I'm not the best coach in the world, but these are the methods I've found to be the most effective. Believe me when I say that I've tried many others that were less so.

[CLFNole]

Start with a warm up but don't make it too long as children tend to be flexible to begin with. Drill in some basic punches and kicks either stationary or moving in lines.

Develop some stance training forms that incorporate the basic forms and teach these first (1-2 sets with more difficult stances in the 2nd). Have them learn the names of the stances and call them out. Helps with their memorization skills and basic stances.

After the basic stance training develop basic forms, we taught 2-3 basic forms that would incorporate the basic fundamental CLF techniques such as gwa choy, biu jong, chop choy and chin lah.

This should keep them busy for a few months at least depending on how often you teach.

Later teach normal sets but at a slower pace for the real little ones and a typical pace for those who can handle it. My si dai created a bunch of "little" animal forms that were taught along with the normal sets designed specifically to be somewhat repetative and help drill main points making the transition to other sets easier.

Mixing up classes from forms to bag work is important. Bag days have instructors hold bags and arrange them into groups and practice various techinques in a line format.

These are some of the ways I am familiar with and its had good success.

Peace.

[David Jamieson]

Light sparring with metered contact and plenty of protection and of course all parental concerns onside is ok and par for the course.

wooden man, iron or brass rings, breaking exercises, sam sing (3 star arm conditioning drills) or general full force contact to others or hard surfaces is not so good for the little ones.

some of you know what kind of wear and tear this has on your own older bodies so you can only imagine the kind of damage that can cause to young kids.

not to mention insurance issues or other parental concerns that will arise with strong conditioning drills.

the approach should definitely be one of lightness and lots and lots of supervision. the attention span question is a good one. kids need direct instruction and can do without longwinded explanations of things, they will do what you ask them to do for the most part.

Being very careful with small children should be at the top of the mind when dealing with them at all times.

older teens in the 13-17 range can go a little higher in difficulty when they get their basics, but still, they are young and deserve to grow progressively as anyone else does. In the long run the pay off will be tremendous and will develop the same caring for others that you give to them.

and yes, form work is not only good for their bodies it is an excellent exercise for their minds. It teaches them a lot more and actually helps them grow smarter just through the amount of information taht they are internalizing through this type of instruction and training.

[yutyeesam]

What about age differentiation? Having 5yr olds and 11yr olds in one class...is that too much of an age gap? Should there be separate classes for like 5-8 and 8-11? It seems kind of silly to pair a 5 yr old with an 11 yr old...

123

[David Jamieson]

It really depends on the perspicacity of the children as individuals.

some kids are quicker and eager to learn, and others are meeting their potential as couch potatoes early on.

I think the 11 yr olds would probably have a bigger problem with it being tweens and all and as they are starting to get a real sense of self and wanting to break free from their childhood.

I would seperate the 5-9 yr olds from the 10-15 yr olds and have an older teen class that could mix with the adults as a general rule myself. But ultimately, it is up to you and again to the eagerness of the kids and the factor of the big ass word I used above

[Shaolinlueb]

Originally posted by Ravenshaw
Since I coach kids (Northern Shaolin), maybe I'll add a few suggestions.

Firstly, keeping kids' attention can be really tough. Some kids will be very attentive, while others will be impossible. In general, though, the most successful tactic by far is to keep them active. Holding a horse stance for an hour really isn't for kids. During my harder workout classes, I let them sit in horse to catch their breath. Most of the time, though, you'll lose their interest fast that way.

Keep explanations as short as possible and repeat key words often, like "stay low" or "eyes forward." This way, they aren't standing around for five minutes listening to you talk. You probably have a lot of good information about why they should do this or that, but they frankly don't care and will probably forget the "why" in 30 seconds. Give them some guidelines that are easy to follow and use repetition. Also, don't give them too many things to work on at once. Just focus on one or two things until they show good improvement, then move on. This might take five minutes or it might take five practice sessions. If you give them more than one or two things, they won't learn any of them.

If you have multiple students, you can use them to push one another to higher levels. Set up little competitions during the regular training like "who can hold this stance the longest" or "who can punch the fastest?" It normally helps their motivation if the children are facing one another. You have to be careful with this tactic, though, and try not to let them focus on winning and losing.

Now on to the subject matter...

Kids tend to really like forms. Some might not enjoy doing them much, but they are definitely more interesting than stance training. Also, kids really want to look cool - especially the boys. So you might place extra emphasis on the sets. Still, it would be a mistake not to implement partner drills and simple sparring drills. Basic solo drills are also very significant. You might spend an equal amount of time on each of those three things during a training session and get decent results. The challenge is to make it interesting while developing skill at the same time, which is no easy task.

The kinds of children I find hardest to teach:
- Girls younger than 4 years
- Boys younger than 6 years
- A significant number of adolecents
There are always exceptions, but these are generally true.

I'm not the best coach in the world, but these are the methods I've found to be the most effective. Believe me when I say that I've tried many others that were less so.

thast some really good advice. i have been teaching little kids for 2 years or so and i would have said the same thing. clas times, i wouldnt go longer then 30 minutes for kids under age of 6. their attention span isnt that long. stay with basics short form, kids like to have fun. nothing wrong with letting them put on sparring gear either and do some light contact. you will be surprised what kids can learn though.