This is a really tough question and one that I have no doubt every parent spends a lot of time thinking about.pbwalker wrote: When she gets older, I want her to be able to keep herself safe. To put it bluntly, I want her to be able to legally stop an attacker or kidnapper. Does this mean Martial Arts? Krav Maga? I have no idea...But until she's on par with Julie Golob, she's going to have to rely on other means.
Here is my opinion:
I have been very involved in martial arts for what is getting close to two decades now. I have trained for years and have worked as an instructor for about 10 years. I personally only teach adults, no kids, as teaching children requires a specific skill set which I don't have. I do work with a friend who primarily teaches children and I help him with his big classes where I play the part of the "bad guy". I think martial arts are very helpful for children as far as teaching discipline, encouraging fitness, and creating awareness. Self-defense is pretty low on the ladder. A 40 pound child is simply not going to be able to stop a 200 pound man no matter what training they have. In fact, a 100 pound woman is not going to be able to stop a 200 pound man in a physical confrontation unless she gets very lucky. Hollywood has given us some crazy ideas of how physical confrontations play out.
What martial arts can teach your daughter is to pay attention, be careful of strangers, keep distance and be aware of her own vulnerability. The last one is key. If we can teach our kids that they are vulnerable, they will make better choices. That CAN save her life. My friend and I have done a lot of group classes at a some of the churches around town, and the thing that we stress to kids is that if they want to be safe, the most important thing that they can do is to tell their parents the truth. Don't say you are going to the library and then slip away to meet with friends. Small fibs will put you in places where you are around people you don't know and where your parents can get to you, and that is how you get hurt. So we teach some level of easy techniques, but pound the importance of making wise choices into their head.
About five years ago we were teaching a big class of about 300 girls between 10 and 14 years old. The class was organized by one of the churches and the pregnancy crises center. Most of the girls were pretty rough kids and were heading down the path to getting involved in gangs. One of the girls, probably about 14, was a big smart mouth and kept joking around saying "no one could do anything to me". My buddy called her up to the mat and asked her "what would you do if someone grabbed you?" Her reply was "I'd kick him in the *!@$# ". He replies, "ok, do it". I walk over and take her by the wrist. She kind of giggles and throw a half-hearted kick which I swat away. She then gets serious and throws a hard kick, which I swat away, just like the first one. She then hauls off throws a hard punch which misses and I then spin her and pin her down on the mat. Most of the kids just laughed, but she was really shaken up. We had her full attention for the rest of the class and afterwards, she came out and asked us a lot of questions and I think that we made a difference to her, at least temporarily.
Kids, just like adults, need to remember that their brains and judgment are the only tools they have to protect themselves. Unlike adults, kids don't have size and weight to their benefit or the ability to arm themselves. Teenagers need to be 100% truthful about their whereabouts and who they are spending time with, and follow curfews like their lives depend on it, because it may. That is really tough for parents to teach, and there away too many kids who suffer greatly because they did not listen to their parents "stupid rules".
