Best MA for a child?

Over the holliday weekend my brother asked what my opinion on the best starter martial art for his 5 year old son would be. After thinking about it for a few minutes I told him wrestling would be by far the best.

Unlike many other Martial Arts wrestling will give him the best base to work from. Physically it trains balance, explosiveness and conditioning, all of which are very important factors in fighting and sports in general. All other arts don't emphasize it the way wrestling does, in fact I have seen more than a few portly bjj'ers and judokas but I have never seen an obese wrestler.

Positioning and takedowns are also crutial and for a child to learn these early will give them a big heads up over any green submission grapplers.

I am not going to get into a debate over TMA's since they are mostly worthless, but if you have any suggestions let me know.

thanks

I think you are right

For a five year old I would suggest anything that the child enjoys and keeps him/her interested .

Wrestling for kids is the way to go because it instills hard work ethic in them as well as being fun for the child at the same time.

I also have my son in TKD though for the discipline aspect.I don't feel the techniques in TKD are nearly as practical but he enjoys it and it instills a formal discipline in him where as wrestling is coached in a more informl fashion.

TKD is very fun for kids.
I've also read that judo is one of the safest martial arts for kids to practice. They don't have that far to fall, if you think about it.

I also would say wrestling is excellent for a young child.

TKD would be a good choice as well. Not for a combat aspect, but for learning discipline and respect, and physically for stretching and coordination. Also, kids love it. They get to play Jackie Chan.

Wrestling is low cost, and readily available for kids.

Wrestling is low cost?Our local wrestling club charges 150 dollars per kid per season.

wrestling for sure. Then go into MT/BJJ later.

wrestling is not available in all countries.

They're all good. If you have the right instructor, they should all build confidence, disicipline, respect, and physical education.

For under 14, my top three picks would be:
1) Judo
2) Wrestling
3) Boxing

For over 14, my top four picks would be:
1) BJJ
2) Judo
3) Wrestling
4) Boxing

I said judo and bjj are my 2nd & 3rd choice

both are good but teaching a little kid armbars and leg locks could be bad news if he gets in a fight at an early age.

I have heard high ranking non-judo people say that judo is the best (although whether they would have considered wrestling is another matter).

folk style wrestling by far!

I think an MMA school with a child's program is the way to go. Might as well teach them to be well rounded from the start. I have 2 sons 6 and 2 and my oldest has been training since 3 and started at my club last year in the kid's program and he knows the basics of Kickboxing and wrestling for positions, as I don't beleive a child should learn submissions

Wrestling

wrasslin or JUDO

Wrestling seems like a good move since you don't want your kid getting hit in the brain or getting a limb broke if you are not there to supervise.

For kids, martial arts like judo, wrestling, boxing and bjj are excellent (I recommned those first). The school I train at has a great bjj program for kids. The highlight of their night is rolling. Those kids just LOVE to roll. Though Im not a fan of most traditional martial arts, sometimes putting a kid in TKD, Kempo or some type of kung fu (like wushu) can be good for them.

It can give them good dicipline, flexibility, cordination etc. The most important thing is to find something that the kid enjoys doing. Over my years of training, Ive seen tons of kids being forced to train in something that they didnt like and in that case, its counter productive. Regardless of what art they start in, if the love it then it will pave the way for them to have a desire to learn other martial arts.

RDS

Judo defenately!

wrestling is not very good for a little kid, cause it's a pressure on the spine