If your child has expressed an interest in learning martial arts, then the first thing you need to do is find a great martial arts school. There are many karate schools in the Baton Rouge and Prairieville areas which may meet your needs, but there are plenty of details to consider before making a decision. American Family Martial Arts has locations in both Baton Rouge and Prairieville that are conveniently located.
Reasons for Choosing Martial Arts
While your son or daughter may want to learn the martial arts moves they’ve seen on their favorite tv shows, your reasons are probably a bit different and may include:
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Improve discipline and focus
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Self defense
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Exercise
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Boost socialization skills
Martial arts classes will help your child meet these goals, but you will need to select a style of martial arts for them to practice. RELATED: How to pick the best martial arts class for your kid
Martial Arts for Kids
We advise parents to look for martial arts schools that stick to the original concepts of the style it teaches. It is also important to understand the goals and values of schools you are looking at. At American Family Martial Arts, we teach the same life skill values you teach at home! As mentioned above, we recommend children focusing on either Karate or the style we teach Tang Soo Do-a Korean Martial Art. Taekwondo is the more well known Korean Martial Art. LEARN MORE ABOUT TANG SOO DO
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Karate – Originating in Japan, this martial art teaches self-defense using punches, strikes, and kicks. There are several sub-styles of karate like Shotokan, Budokan, and Kenpo karate. Most martial arts schools in the United States teach “American” karate, which is a combination of several karate styles.
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Tang Soo Do – This roughly translates as “The way of the hand”. It is a form of self-defense using kicks, punches, strikes and blocks. Breathing and meditation techniques are often taught to improve students’ focus. This is often accomplished through the teaching of forms or hyung (kata)
- Judo
- Kickboxing
- Kung Fu
- Mixed Martial Arts. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t recommend MMA for persons under the age of 15.
- Jujitsu
When Should Children Start Martial Arts?
Some martial arts schools teach children as young as four, but many experts consider six to be a good age to start learning most disciplines. At American Family Martial Arts, we can start them at age 3 in a special developmental class called Tiny Tigers. At age five and six, their balance and coordination are better, so they can learn the proper techniques for punching, kicking and turning safely. This class is known as our Little Ninjas.
American Family Martial Arts age specific curriculums are designed based on the scientific fact that children of different ages have different levels of motor skills, social and emotional development. You wouldn’t try to teach advanced calculus to a 6 year old nor would you teach an 11 year old how to hop and skip. 
Classes are broken into 5 distinct age groups: Tiny Tigers (ages 3-4); Little Ninjas (ages 5-6); Core (ages 7-9); Extreme (ages 10-14); Traditional (ages 15+).
We break our classes into 4 distinct ages groups based on child development so each age group can receive the best martial arts training based on their current abilities as well as areas they need to improve on. This is based on the internationally recognized Skillz Program.
RELATED: Age Specific Martial Arts Curriculum
Tour the karate school (dojang)
After doing your research and checking out schools’ websites, make a list of schools or classes in a convenient location for you, then call the schools you’ve found to set up an appointment to meet the instructors if the owners don’t teach classes themselves. American Family Martial Arts master instructor and owner is Michael Tullier, a 6th degree black belt and school owner since 1995.
It’s important to make an appointment instead of stopping in for your first visit to ensure the owners or main instructor is available to answer questions. If you just stop by, the owner may not be there, and instructors may be busy with their students.
During your scheduled visit, If you like the answers you’re given, ask to sit in on a class so you can observe how the students are taught. How the children are treated and taught may help you narrow down some of the martial arts classes you’re evaluating for your child. During your visit notice if the school is living up to their mission that you may have seen on their website. For example, at American Family Martial Arts we believe it is very important to teach our students much more than merely the physical aspects of martial arts. We teach our students to foster the emotions that will empower them to better confront the many challenges they will encounter in life.
We offer 2 free classes at American Family Martial Arts so you can test drive our classes and also have a 2 week trial program so you can really get a feel for our school and classes.
