Hi everyone,

I’ve just joined the forum, I’ve been lurking trying to find some advice so I thought I’d join and post my questions.

Our son is 11 and has been training with a combined martial arts club for two years in the Northern suburbs of Adelaide.
However, 95% of this training has been in kata.
He hasn’t had any sparring training until recently when he told them he wanted to go in an up and coming tournament.
Our son has never been in a fight and I’m not sure his training has prepared him, but hey we’ll soon see!
He’s currently on his 6th kyu.

About six months ago he had to think about his future for a school assignment and told us he’d like a career based around martial arts. So, he has his heart set on a career in MMA.
Now I know lots of young boys probably do and not everyone is going to make it, or have what it takes. I get that.

But for now we really want to support him the best we can and to be honest I’m just not sure if his club is the right one for this.
Wondering if it’s time to move to another club or are we on the right path.

I’d be so grateful if anyone could give us some advice or thoughts on what he and we could or should be doing.

Thanks.

I think your parental gut instinct knows this isn’t really the best club for your son….
Can’t recommend one where you are, but maybe find one where they actually have MMA fighters (competing) in the adult classes…
You sound like a great mum/dad!

right.. “mum” - hence the thread title!

I am sure Kym Robinson or Adam can suggest a club in Adelaide that will be able to help you.

Firstly, that’s incredibly awesome that you’re so supporting of your son’s ambitions, especially at an age where what he wants to do will likely change 6 times before breakfast. Also for a MUM to be supportive of her son getting into MMA makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Congratulations on being a great parent.

At his age, I believe it’s important he gets a good “base” in something before you worry too much about MMA-specific training. Personally, I’d get him into judo or wrestling for a few years. Judo is probably easier to access, and will likely be a lot kinder on your purse strings than other options. Judo (or wrestling) will teach him that “feel” for controlling another person and moving his own body that is so important to develope young. It’s very hard to get good at as an adult. See all the top MMA fighters that wrestled as children for evidence.

By the time he hits 16, get him into a full MMA program if he’s still keen. He’ll have a good base to work from, good balance, and know how to take falls. And he’ll still be young enough to learn the intricacies of striking. 16 is also a good age for him to properly take to the more varied nature of MMA training, and not a bad age to start lifting weights and taking conditioning a little more seriously as well. For now though, get him grounded in something where he has to learn how to move and control a resisting opponent (as long as he enjoys it).

Again, congrats. I’m very envious of the young feller for having such supportive parents!

Well you are in a great state for wrestling, and wrestling is one of the great bases of MMA. Plus plenty of competitions to test his junior abilities as he grows,
Probably the major area’s of MMA a junior can begin in would be the wrestling, and amatuer boxing. Skill and confidence. Adelaide has both.

Thanks for all the replies and great advice.

I appreciate you all taking the time to reply.

I’ll be honest and say the idea of his cute little nose not looking so cute, bothers me just a little
But, I’d never stand in the way of his dreams

First part for Marcie:
Excellent to hear you have taken your son’s interest in the sport to heart & have decided to ask around for some help. They may be spread out all around the suburbs, but SA has a good chunk of the best Wrestling, Boxing and MuayThai coaches in Australia - as well as top BJJ trainers and MMA trainers. Do feel free to ask any questions you want in here - nothing is considered too silly to ask.

I suggest being your son is still fairly young, he would be best served doing a bit of Wrestling or Judo and a Boxing or MuayThai Kickboxing class once a week, too. The most important things really, are that he’s allowed to have fun with what he does, he’s training simply for the fitness and enjoyment, and that it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg in the process. Local community wrestling, MuayThai kickboxing and Judo clubs can provide that, with most only charging a pay-per-class type set up, with no uniforms, 12-month contracts or massive up front fees to have to worry about. If money is not a problem, then i would recommend definitely putting your son in to a Brazilian Jiujitsu program early, rather than late. Just be aware though, that most places around Adelaide (well, North of it, anyway) that teach BJJ, charge around $80-$100 per month, minimum & a few even require 6-month or 12-month up front membership fees (which i would never recommend anyone do, unless they are really REALLY dedicated and obsessed with BJJ competition and training).

You should also probably take your son to a class first and just sit and watch the class, so he can see what he’ll be in for. In my experience with junior and youth members at training clubs/gym’s, the thing that often intimidates them is never usually fear of punching on, it’s the demanding physical fitness and 60minute+ length of training classes. Adults have no issue running 2km as a warm up, then doing sit-up’s, push-up’s & skipping for 10 minutes, but kids often get freaked out by that kind of thing when they see the people in the gym do it as a group & assume that expectation is about to be dropped on their shoulders, too. You and your son should have a good talk with the head trainer at the gym, make sure he/she has a history in working with juniors or kids, and find out what to expect from the classes your son will be doing. Shy away from the type of gym’s who are obsessed with “grading” and getting to some coloured belt level, which costs you an arm and a leg to do. Look out for the type of trainer who’s more interested in just having your son do the training as a great form of fitness and fun.

Understand too that MMA is nothing to do with belt levels, is not really about self defense per-se (although it’s great for it) & is not traditional Martial Arts. MMA is about incorporating Wrestling, Judo, BJJ, Boxing and MuayThai in to a way of fighting. At a junior level & for adults who just take MMA classes casually, it’s all about fitness and fun. But the higher level of MMA classes and training you do, you will be training in stuff that when it boils down to it, is all about inflicting serious harm on another person, in as shorter time-frame as possible. This is not a problem for adults with a rational sense of judgment - they wouldn’t just go out and elbow someone in the face for no reason. But teaching that to an unstable hot-headed teen may cause you some issues, as a parent. That’s why i (as well as others in here) will recommend that you have your son do some basic classes in the fundamentals of MMA (Wrestling/Boxing/BJJ/MuayThai), then maybe when he’s about 16, start doing MMA training more seriously and up the work rate and intensity from there. At a young age, you really just want your son to do this as a form of fitness, a way to make new friends & as a good form of using up all that extra energy & learning some fundamental discipline in the process.

Hope that helped.

2nd Part For Kym Robinson:
Mate, who’s the ace wrestling coach who’s a 16 time state champ (or something as ridiculous as that), that’s based in the northern suburbs? I met him at the last couple of state wrestling championships up at Flinders Uni, but I’m having a mental blank. If he’s still active in coaching, could you please post his name and contact details in here. Cheers.

Marcie, your instinct in regards to your son’s current training reflects a good degree of common sense.
Your description of your son’s current training (“95% of this training has been in kata”) reflects a system of martial arts training that appears to lack “Aliveness”

Matt Thornton wrote a fascinating article on the subject, which you can find here:
http://aliveness101.blogspot.com/2005/07/why-aliveness.html

It’s a very long article, but I’ve extracted the following passage for your benefit.

Aliveness is timing, energy, and motion.
What do you mean by timing, energy, & motion?
for something to be truly alive in what we do then it has have three key elements, movement, timing, and energy (resistance). If you are missing any one of these then it is not Alive.

Movement means real footwork, not contrived, not in a pattern…. on the ground it means exactly that also… movement…. if the person is just laying there, not moving as you apply your lock or move….that is not Alive. In the clinch its the same… .pushing, pulling, moving.

Timing is of course just that…. if its in a predictable rhythm, a pattern, a repeatable series of sets, then you are not acquiring or developing timing, just motion speed.

And of course energy.... swing the stick like someone would really swing it…. dont stop at centerline. Punch with the energy of someone who wants to hit you. Not locking your arm out so your partner can look good doing the destruction, or trap, or silat sweep, etc.

You must move, have a sense of timing, and progressive resistance

Generally speaking, there are seven combat sports/martial arts that are inherently “Alive” in their training methodology - four grappling arts, and three striking arts:
* Boxing
* (western) Kickboxing
* Muay Thai
* Judo
* Wrestling (Greco Roman, Freestyle, or Collegiate)
* Brazilian Jiujitsu (not to be confused with traditional Japanese jujitsu)
* Sambo

Combining Muay Thai and Jiujitsu is perhaps the most popular and common approach, but Wrestling is a very valuable (and currently under utilised in Australia) base for any fighter.

That is not to say arts other than those listed above aren’t effective, just that it is rarer to see Alive training methodologies in other more traditional arts. Kyokushin Karate is a good example of a traditional karate style that is Alive as it includes a significant component of hard sparring as part of it’s general training.

If cost is a factor, local PCYC (police citizens Youth Clubs) generally offer solid and affordable classes in Judo, Wrestling, Boxing, and occasionally Kickboxing/Muay Thai.

Having said all of that, I completely agree with Adam’s post above, and have probably wasted my time as I don’t feel I’ve added anything of substance to the conversation other than perhaps the link to Matt Thornton’s excellent article.

Also,  think there may be Pankration available in your area, which is a good analogue to Mixed Martial Arts.

I think for a kid that age, I’d go for a good Wrestling and Judo base (which ever had the most regular local competitions, or both).
I like boxing, but not sure I would be keen for my kid to be getting hit in the head that regular at that age….plenty of time for that later.

Marcie, it is great to see a parent supporting the child’s ambitions. Members have already summarised my thoughts and I agree with everyone. Just wanted to post to keep us updated and let us know how it goes.

i aggree

I wasn’t sure what everyone would think when I first posted but you guys have been awesome.

So far from searching the net, I’ve found an affordable wrestling club which teaches Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling.
So off to check it out next week.

Still looking around for other options too.
Thanks again.

If you’re in the Northern suburbs Marcie, our gym may be a bit of a hike, but it may be wroth it.
We’re in Mile End just outside of the city on the crner of Sir Donald bradman drive and South road - rear 54 Sir Donald Bradman Dve directly behind Haughton Honda.

The Gym is called Toe 2 Toe and has MMA, Muay Thai and Wingchun classes. We are in the process of organising a high level wrestling coach for the club as well and we will have childrens classes up and running inside of two months.

At 11 your son is quite possibly able to train with the older kids (average about 14) and adults in our MMA and Muay Thai classes. It will depend on how he feels after having watched a class.

I personally believe that MMA is an excellent base style in itself and will help a young student integrate the skills into ONE package much earlier to thier immmense long term benefit.
If taught within a sound system and solid ethical base ( As it is in Toe 2 Toe)  a student of ‘any age’ will learn a superior level of self regulation and personal managment. “Good character first, everything else second.”

If your looking for a fresh, modern progressive school mated with some ‘old school values’ then I can only suggest the drive down to Mile end.

Opening Times:
Mon - Thurs 4:00pm to 7:30pm
Fri - 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Sat - 11:00am to 12:30pm
Phone: 0406 959 994 or 0416 397 819
Closed Public Holidays

“a affordable wrestling club which teaches Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling”
This would be a great foundation for a 11 yr old, let us know of the club and we “might” me able to give some insight.

The Insurgent - 06 March 2010 09:09 PM

If you’re in the Northern suburbs Marcie, our gym may be a bit of a hike, but it may be wroth it.
We’re in Mile End just outside of the city on the crner of Sir Donald bradman drive and South road - rear 54 Sir Donald Bradman Dve directly behind Haughton Honda.

The Gym is called Toe 2 Toe and has MMA, Muay Thai and Wingchun classes. We are in the process of organising a high level wrestling coach for the club as well and we will have childrens classes up and running inside of two months.

Sounds good but it might be a bit far,especially if he’s training a couple times a week.
I’ll keep it in mind though. Thanks

Micka - 07 March 2010 03:10 AM

“a affordable wrestling club which teaches Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling”
This would be a great foundation for a 11 yr old, let us know of the club and we “might” me able to give some insight.

Here’s a link to their site. Waiting to hear back on training times etc.

http://www.owc.wrestling.com.au/