Warning - You'll need a while to read this!

The subject of child welfare within a karate club is something that has remained close to my heart for many years now. Even though it may come as a surprise to the kids themselves! Your child may or may not like karate. You/your child may or may not like the instructor. That’s just a fact of life. It’s very hard to please everyone as most parents have different reasons why they want their children to attend karate classes. As a parent you need to see more than these basic requirements.

The following points are things that as a parent you need to consider when sending your child to any martial arts club anywhere in the country (you may have stumbled on this website looking for one in your area after all). The most important thing in a parent’s life is usually their children. If you’re a parent you know the feeling I’m talking about. It isn’t something you can describe no matter how hard you try. These little people are your pride and joy that you’d protect above your own life.

It has never ceased to amaze me the amount of parents that bring their child along to a karate class for the very first time, pay their money and leave only to return at the end of the session. For all they know I could turn into a raving lunatic during a class. They’d only know an hour later. Bit late then isn’t it?

Not all karate clubs are the same

It always saddens me when I speak to people in my day to day travels that tell me their child took up karate but stopped very quickly because either the instructor was a tyrant and/or the instructors seemed disinterested in the childrens progress. Usually pushing them through their belts whether the child has actually learnt anything or not.

If a friend recounts a story about a very bad experience with a karate club, try another one instead.

Beware - Black belts mean nothing.

Did you know that anyone can go out and buy a black belt? Every martial arts store in the country stocks them and they start from as little as £5. You don’t have to produce anything before you buy it. Did you also know that you can hire any non council owned property and call it a karate class without showing any credentials at all? A few years ago a man was jailed for doing just that (Obtaining funds by deception). The gentleman in question claimed to be a former champion, a 4th Dan black belt and a karate practitioner of 15 years.

He’d never had a lesson in his life.

Not only did he cause some of the kids’ permanent physical damage but he also taught lethal strikes he’d seen in action films. All it would have taken was one little boy or girl showing their friend what they’d done in karate the night before and a serious accident could have occurred. Fortunately it didn’t get that far. By chance he was caught when an old school friend moved into the area and started asking questions about his credentials as he’d never known the gentleman to have done karate before.

Do you remember Jill Dando? The man convicted of murdering her once got into the local papers proudly claiming to be a karate champion. Again, he’d never practiced karate in his life. It’s all too easy.

Is there a black belt in the room?

There are certain organisations that adopt a strategy of getting instructors to wear a belt that on first reflection looks like a black belt but isn't (you'll know it when you see it). If in doubt, ask to see their licence book (not their instructor qualification as some organisations will certify you after 8 weeks experience of martial arts) which will tell you their genuine grade.

"Black belt instructors wear their solid black belt, but lower grades wear the black & white so that students don’t know what grade they really are. It helps stop some students becoming upset at the thought that they’re being trained by a middle ranked instructor"

The above is an unedited quote from a person who at the time was a "karate instructor". At the time of passing his instructor exam, he had been practising karate for only six months. A few months later, he then goes on to say

I’ve been having misgivings about <club> allowing me to instruct during the last few months, and it finally came to a head for me on Thursday night when a yellow belt was announced as the newest Sensei to take his own class. <.club> seems to be so intent on expanding their business that they will place low ranking instructors in charge of classes, and that just seems so wrong to me. I would much prefer to receive quality training from a black belt instructor, and others should expect nothing less.

The organisation he refers to has several clubs in the Essex area. I've left the name of the organisation out but if you'd like to know, email me and I'll happily send you a link to this man's website.

It's important to note that certain karate clubs and associations adopt different colour belts at very senior grades (such as 5th Dan and above). It's not very common, but it helps to know.

Don't be dazzled by trophies and world champions.

Some children will naturally elevate towards competition fighting, others will not.

This is an important point to consider and something that will ordinarily take a long time to cover. In essence some clubs regularly enter competitions (of which there are dozens up and down the country which then means there are dozens of British Champions and hundreds of trophy winners) and other clubs have absolutely no interest in the sport element of karate.

For your information we fall in the latter category as our primary focus for children is self defence and encouraging confidence in them. A child that lacks confidence needs to be handled in an appropriate way to get the best out of them.

I have no problem at all with clubs that take the sport route (In fact I have some children that enter external competitions because they enjoy it and I don't discourage them) - each to their own. However, some of the best karate clubs I've ever been to are run by instructors that do not promote sport karate - even if they may have gone that route themselves and been very successful when they were younger.

This doesn't mean our children, especially the older and more experienced ones, don't get physical with each other. It merely means our particular method of sparring involves no point scoring and as such no trophies.

Ask questions

A good instructor has nothing to hide and wouldn’t be in the slightest bit offended if you ask to see credentials. They may not necessarily have them immediately to hand (I always have them in the club) but will be able to provide them fairly quickly. If they tell you to take a running jump you have to ask yourself why. You should be looking to see one or all of the following:

A professional/association teaching qualification

Ideally an instructor will be qualified to teach children but there are no legal requirements and each association has its own guidelines. There are many fantastic instructors out there without an official teaching qualification, so don’t discount anyone purely on this basis. The instructor being a parent themselves is always a good thing.

An up to date criminal record check

All instructors and assistant instructors should have an up to date police check these days. Although this is not fail safe (It will only show up something if someone has actually been caught after all), it at the very least shows that the instructor and his/her assistants have no skeletons in their closet.

An association licence

A licence is a record of that individual’s achievement including the standard to which they’ve graded, who graded them and what rank they presently hold. Every instructor will have one of these. Each licence varies in its content depending on the association.

Associations such as the AMA, JKA, KUGB, BKK and IFK are fairly commonplace. (I don’t wish to elevate these associations above all others but they are well known organisations. If you’re a member of another association please don’t write in. The list could get very long).

An insurance certificate (instructors only)

All instructors should have public liability and professional indemnity insurance. It’s mainly for their protection but you need to know they have it just in case.

A Child Protection Policy

Kernow Karate has a child protection policy taken directly from our governing body (Karate England). We also have a child protection 'officer' who has independent credentials from the Football Association.

Observe

You don’t need to be a karate expert to know when something’s wrong. If the club doesn’t feel right you’ll know – sometimes without being able to explain it. By attending your child’s classes, at least for the first few sessions, you’ll also be able to pick up on inappropriate comments/behaviour, bullying or something that looks like children are getting hurt.

Don’t get me wrong we’re doing karate after all, But there’s a distinct line between an instructor who’s strict (perfectly OK) and one that shouts, swears and manhandles 8 year olds. Equally, every child gets a bump or bruise now and then. However if kids are reeling in agony and there’s more than a fair share of black eyes in the club then something’s very wrong. No child should be subjected to any teaching method where the end result is intentional injury.

__________________________________________________________________

Things to look out for you might not have known to

As a parent it’s important to look out for some key signs. Don’t just assume if you see something you’re not comfortable with that “It’s just that way it’s done”. Like any physical activity there's no set way to teach karate and many mistakes can be made.

Impact work

Lift your child up and run for your life if anyone ever asks them to punch or chop a piece of hardwood in half. Children’s bones haven’t developed to their full strength and size and as such can be more prone to damage than adults. The easiest way of explaining impact work is anything that involves any part of your body hitting or being hit by another object (whether it be chopping a plank of wood or blocking someone else’s punch/kick).

This type of training will do a tremendous amount of damage to a child’s future bone structure, so if you observe a club doing this repeatedly (week in week out) then avoid it. Occasionally doing a session where you block a partner’s punch or kick is fine provided it isn’t done all the time. The prospect of your child having to use a block in the street compared to damaged bones through constant misuse isn’t worth the risk.

Assisted stretching

Children shouldn’t do assisted stretching. Generally they don’t need to anyway, but there is a real risk of damage with an overenthusiastic or inconsiderate partner. An instructor should never force a child’s feet apart into the splits nor lean on/push them into a better stretch.

Touching

It’s very difficult to teach children karate without touching them occasionally. Explaining to a room full of 50 kids to line up behind each other is useless and will need the odd gentle prod if you don’t want it to take an hour. However, there’s a distinct difference between what’s acceptable and what isn’t. What is OK is to adjust the head position (kids, especially those that lack confidence will nearly always look downwards), move their arms, and tap their fists and feet to change the height/position. An instructor may also need to adjust shoulders from hunching. 

The absolute no-no’s are obvious to any parent and don’t need explaining by me. Don’t think any instructor has the right to touch your child in a manner you wouldn’t let an adult do in every day life. There’s no reason for it. I’d also be very wary of instructors that cuddle or tickle kids as well. Without coming across as hysterical, a good instructor knows the boundaries so be wary if things don’t seem right.

“Sit down in the corner you wimp”

In more than one karate club I’ve seen young kids put through their paces at the same time as the adults only to flake out after 10 minutes. Pre-adolescent children have a metabolism that is not naturally suited to anaerobic exercise* and putting them into this state can cause a condition called hunger knock (or insulin shock).  

Hunger knock happens when your body has used up all the available glucose in the blood and the brain thinks the pancreas has broken down (i.e. Sugar diabetes). It’s often seen when kids train in the morning and haven’t eaten any breakfast. The victim will be pale, have a dramatic cold sweat and will be disorientated. A small amount of chocolate, sweets or (non diet) fizzy drink will generally resolve the matter.

I once trained in a club where one boy was hunger knocked. He was told to go in the corner with the appropriate caring words (see title). He duly passed out. I explained to the instructor what I thought the problem was. When the child came to he was then shouted at for not eating breakfast. You couldn’t make it up. 

*Principally there are two types of exercise. Aerobic and anaerobic. Anaerobic exercise can be defined as using inner reserves of oxygen. A rough guideline is that if you’re unable to talk freely after your workout, you’ve just exercised anaerobically.

General Considerations

Other issues that need to be considered are:

One hour is usually a long enough session for a child under 12 due to their attention span. 1-2 sessions a week is most common for a young child. 3 sessions a week is enough. Anything more is too much regardless of their enthusiasm.

Children should be carefully matched for size and experience.

Children should not be doing load bearing exercises (e.g. weight training) and should not be doing push ups on their knuckles or the back of their wrists.

Be very wary of doorstep recruiters. If a karate club is good enough, it doesn't need to resort to tactics such as knocking on your door to drum up membership. Some of my members get called on regularly by a certain club. If they were that good, regular 'canvassing' (as they call it) wouldn't be required as they'd be keeping their members and their classes would be full.

Membership fees come in all kinds of guises and some are extremely high. Ask the instructor before you commit your child to the club - things could get expensive.

Conclusion

I hope that if you’re looking for a club for your child in Essex then this has given you an insight into how seriously we take child welfare. If you don’t live in Essex but have stumbled across this article then I hope it will help you place your boy/girl in a suitable club.

One important point to make is that I’ve visited many karate clubs over the years. 99% of the clubs and their instructors are honourable, decent people that understand the best ways to teach children in a safe and effective manner. Please don’t be alarmed into thinking that most martial arts instructors are knuckle-dragging loonies. In fact the opposite is quite true. Unfortunately like any other club or society, martial arts or not, you’re going to get a bad apple. The purpose of this article is to heighten your awareness to something you’re never likely to encounter. In the same way some people practice karate for 50 years without ever being attacked. It’s always better to be safe than sorry though - especially with your children.