Truthfully is that there is no limiting factor on when a child should start their martial arts journey (beyond being able to run, walk and punch the air). Here at Sanda Kickboxing Academy, we allow children to start training with us at the age of 5 plus as we believe that this the age where children have the mental and physical development to practice kickboxing in a safe way.

But does starting earlier have any benefits? And when should your child start specialising in kickboxing if they want to become a professional athlete?

Starting young (ages 5 to 16)

Starting young will influence your child’s martial development. They will learn the basic techniques and skills earlier and, if they continue, will have much more time to develop those skills during adolescence and adult hood.

Starting young however is not the be all to end all. The important thing for your child is that they practice many different skills and sports as their bodies and minds develop. This is called ‘Multilateral Development’ and allows child to develop a wide range of skills and has many long-term benefits.

In fact, specialising in a sport too early has been proven to lead to inconsistent performance in competition and high burnout, with most young athletes quitting before they reach 18 years of age. Not to say that there are not expectations to this rule, some children love to specialise early and some of the best athletes in the world have, but this is the exception not the rule and if you push your child to early 99% of the time they will quit before they can reach their full potential.

So if my child eventually wants to become a kickboxing athlete, when should they start to specialise in kickboxing?

Becoming an expert (ages 16 to 18)

It is generally agreed that if your child wishes to become a professional athlete, they will need to start specialising from the ages of 16 to 18 (although this may vary sligtlly across different sports). This will allow the young athlete a longer period to develop in their given sport both physically and psychologically. This may lead to slower development initially but in the long-term will lead to better athletic performances, less injuries, and a longer athletic performance.

So, have your child start the sport they enjoy young, as it is beneficial, but to give them the best chance of becoming an elite athlete in the given sport most children will need to practice many different disciplines alongside one another until they are ready to specialise in their chosen sport!

Oubaitori

There is a great Japanese idiom ‘Oubaitori’ which represents four trees that flower and blossom at different times of the year. This signifies that we develop at different times in our lives.

 If you are reading this and feel that your child is not developing as they should be compared to their piers or that is too late for them to become the athlete they wish to become… remember we all develop differently, there are many cases of athletes starting their journey later in life and becoming the best in their field, Deontay Wilder started boxing when he was 30 years old.

Although the principals I have spoken about in this article are very important there is no one size fits all.