by Keith Dipboye, MD
Is karate for children?
How young?
Is it safe?
Does it make kids more aggressive?
Karate has been taught to young people for quite some time. The founder of Chito-ryu, Dr. Chitose, started at age 7 and much of his renowned skill has 
been attributed to somewhat unorthodox (but fun) training methods that he enjoyed in his first several years of karate study. In the picture shown here from the 1930's Japan, the kids in Dr. Chitose's early dojo far outnumber the adults.
Some of the reasons that parents express interest in involving their children in karate are:
- The kids want to do it because it is 'cool' and fun
- To develop self-discipline
- To improve physical fitness
Other life skills that karate training can foster are:
- Perseverance/ work ethic
- Self-control
- Self-confidence
- Courtesy toward others
- Self-awareness
- Self-esteem
- A habit of perfectionism
Physically, I know of no other form of exercise that is better for all-around development of coordination, flexibility, core muscle strength, and both aerobic and anaerobic cardiovascular development. 
The world's most famous karate practitioner, Sensei Gichin Funakoshi, credited karate training for his transition from a sickly childhood in the 1870's to a healthy adulthood. Sensei Funakoshi was doing karate up until his death as a vigorous 89 year-old.
Many commercial karate schools target children in their marketing and often have classes composed almost entirely of young people. Perhaps because of this, many adults seem to think of karate as being primarily for kids even though the list of skills and physical goals above are as important for us grownups as they are for children. Are there any adult readers who could use better core muscle strength, improved cardiovascular capacity, more self-confidence?
How young?
I have seen very few children below the age of 8 who can focus on karate as anything other than play. While there would be nothing wrong with a child-only class -- an 'Intro to karate as play'-- we don't currently offer that sort of class. I've set the floor for our class at 8 years old, though I am willing to discuss making exceptions, particularly in situations where a parent wants to participate in a class alongside his/her child.
Is it safe? 
Yes. Much of karate training involves physical activities that are akin to calisthenics or gymnastics -- they carry very low risk of injury. While some karate schools introduce sparring at the beginner level, in Chito-ryu, as a traditional karate style, we introduce free-style sparring gradually. We only allow full-speed sparring once a student has demonstrated a solid foundation in the basics, and has learned precision in targeting, power and distancing of techniques. Scientific comparative studies of different martial arts found that traditional Japanese karate is extremely safe for children (1-3); the best study demonstrated a very low annual risk of injury (less than 1%) for practitioners under age 18. Mild injury in this study was defined as an injury that required any time off from training, a major injury required > 7 days off, and multiple injuries involved more than 3 parts of the body. The same study found that traditional Japanese karate is far safer than aikido, tae kwon do and kung fu. Only tai chi had a lower rate of injury.
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When taught in a traditional way, karate training is safe. It is, however, important to keep in mind that karate-do is not a sport, is not calisthenics, but is a martial art. Kumite, or sparring, is part of the training for students starting at about 6 months and this carries the risk of minor injury -- primarily bruises on the arms and legs. We do not allow full-contact to any part of the body and allow no contact above the neck or below the belt. Based on my experience, and on the studies I cited above, these and other simple rules, when strictly enforced, lead to very low risk of serious injury. Karate is, of course, a martial art -- a means of self defense in addition to being a traditional Japanese art. The student who has never had a bruise has not been adequately prepared for survival against a thug intent on doing harm. This does not mean that willfully inflicting injury on students is a legitimate training method, though there are martial arts schools where this is routine; I know because I've trained in some of these schools. That sort of behavior will not be tolerated in our dojo and will lead to prompt dismissal of the offending student from the group. |
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Does karate training increase or decrease aggression?
This question of whether or not martial arts training increases aggression was examined in 2004 in a somewhat small study of children practicing karate, judo and other sports. The study found that judo tended to increase physical aggressiveness among boys while the students in karate did not show an increase (or decrease) in aggressiveness compared with children the same age engaged in other sports (4,5). These and other studies have demonstrated that the emphasis on kata training and meditation in traditional karate does improve objective measures of self-control among children (4-7). I am confident that a head-to-head comparison of 3 hours per week of karate training with 3 hours of television or 3 hours of video games would show that martial arts make better citizens.
These are the most common questions I've been asked by parents interested in enrolling their children in a martial arts class. Please feel free to send other questions to me.
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1. Zetaruk, M.N., et al. 2005. "Injuries in Martial Arts: a comparison of five styles." British Journal of Sports Medicine. Vol 39, 29-33.
2 Violan, MA, et al. 2000. "Karate injuries in children and adolescents." Accident Analysis and Prevention. Vol 32, 421-5.
3 O'Neill, DB, Micheli, LI. 1988. "Overuse injuries in the young athlete."1 Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine. Vol 7, 591-610.
4 Reynes, E., Lorant, J. 2004. "Competetive martial arts and aggressiveness: a 2-yr longitudinal study among young boys." Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol 98, 103-115.
5 Reynes, E., Lorant, J. 2002. "Karate and aggressiveness among eight-year-old boys." Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol 94, 1041-1042.
6 Nosanchuk, T.A., MacNeil, MLC. 1989. "Examination of the effects of traditional and modern martial arts training on aggressiveness." Aggressive Behaviour. Vol 15, 153-159.
7 Trulson, M.E. 1986. "Martial arts training: a novel 'cure' for juvenile delinquency." Human Relations. Vol 39, 1131-1140.