Hello
My family has been to four lessons.
We all love it.
There's four of us.
Mum, Dad and our two kids.
My daughter is 8 and My son is 6 1/2 years old.
We have all really enjoyed it and have made it a great way for us to spend time together.
My only question is that the dojo we go to seems to only have kids and sometimes a couple of other adults.
Is this normal?

Thanks, Michelle.

Hi Michelle and welcome to GKR and the forum...

the amount of kids/adults in a class depends on the time slot and the dojo you attend.
most dojos have a 6-7 pm time slot as well as a 7:30 - 9 timeslot.
in the 6-7 class most dojos are predominantly kids... however there are a few dojos out there that seem to be half and half... (like you say - a family dojo)... where kids train with their parents.

the later class tends to be mostly adults and a few older children or teenagers due to the late finish.

you may find weekend classes are more to your liking.
there are a few dojos out there that run on a weekend.
most of these are mixed fairly evenly as they are day time classes and are suitable times for parents and children alike.

*if you don't mind... which dojo DO you train in? and which region?*

Hello,
I go to a couple of dojos, both of which are a nice mix of kids and adults. I usually go to the early classes though

We all have our Yellow tip now and are working hard towards our Yellow belts.
Each of us enjoys it for different reasons though.

We go to the Thornbury dojo in Melbourne Victoria.
Thanks Michelle.

Hi

Even though all classes are supposedly 'family' classes and there aren't age restrictions I try to dissuade parents bringing their kids to the later class, at least when it's only the kids training and they are of the younger variety.

My primary reason is that the younger kids tend to get bored and disruptive if you stop to explain something, plus I don't trust to teach them the same self defence stuff as I would teach to adults.


Mick

theres a little kid that trains at my dojo with her dad.
she is awsome.

she does so much better when she trains with the adults.
she improves quicker and her behaviour, focus and discipline is so much more developed than the other kids.

i think classes should be aimed at getting all/most kids like that.

bring the kids standard up not the adults standard down.

Caleb
I couldnt agree more,my son and daughter both attend the later classes and they get so much more from this.(Victoria 11, Sam 8 ) They both love their Karate and take their training seriously,they found at the earlier classes it was very frustrating as not all the children wanted to, or were able to listen to what was being taught then they become a disruptive element.The kids do attend the early lesson but use that lesson to try to help the other children.
Nigel :thumbwink:

i must say

the earlier classes do seem to be "dumbed down" a little
and not purposely either