Too young to fight?

[Zillaky]

http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/200...hes-a-fighter/

I don't know what else to say but this kid is 8 yrs old and already has 2 official bouts? While I agree with child wrestling and jiujitsu, will boxing (getting punched in the head alot) at this early age affect his mental development? I'm just searching for opinions because I don't know if I want to say hell yes teach that kid how to fight or what the hell is wrong with that trainer for somehow setting up 2 "official" fights and 5 exhibition fights.

[retrograde]

It's probably not ideal for brain development, no. Though bear in mind that the fights would involve head guards and heavily padded gloves, plus 8 year-olds just can't hit that hard.

Here is some literature on the subject.

[orionironman]

he has the chance to develop joint pains in the carpals and phalanges i think and he can suffer abnormalities in thinking and he can suffer also in brain swelling in a young age that can cause death





b ut this kid has the heart to do it

[BaronVonDingDong]

Last amateur bout I was at there were kids around that age fighting. I didn't ask them their exact ages, but they looked between 8 at the youngest and 12 at the oldest.

I didn't like it as it made me think of my own kid getting punched, but they wore proper protection, had been properly coached (hands up, defended themselves at all times, no suicidal haymakers) and each one was examined by a doctor after the bouts.

Plus, what retrograde said - they don't punch that hard.

[Matt Phillips]

'Now it's mostly sparring, and dancing, and keeping his chin up'. Ah, Jeez.

I let my kid train MT and boxing at 8, but he's not competing until the spring (he's 13 now)

[Torakaka]

I've fought in a few events where they had kid bouts, I think it's great. I think this sort of thing is a great experience for kids as long as they're not pushed. The safety risks seem really really low to me. Not a lot of shots are exchanged in the kids fights and they're pretty heavily padded. I really can't see any long term damage building up from these bouts.

[Sri Hanuman]

Mods, please move this out of MABS

Where would you normally move it to? I'm still new to the forum.

But to throw in my 2c, consider that this is a child's training. How hard do you expect the coach to pound the kid? Maybe when he gets older, (13 and up) they might up the training. But until then, I don't imagine there is much pounding on the head involved, and the kids don't stand much chance of striking each other too hard with all their safety gear on.

Besides, this is WAY more benificial for the little guy than some super ancient, mystical, end-all TKD based martial arts at the mall that seem to be popular with soccer moms these days. The latter would more likely get him hurt in a real confrontation.

8 is an age when most kids enroll in local strip mall martial arts, this one had the common sesne to ask for something a bit more practical.

To further my point, would you rather have your kids training here?
http://www.mightystrongkids.com/

An excellent point brought up by HungryJoe:
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=78684

[Matt Phillips]

Also keep in mind that all boys get punched in the head, and trained boys end fights fast. My son has come home from school with sore knuckles, but rarely with a black eye.

[Zillaky]

Sorry AlphaFoxTrot51 I thought this was the most appropriate forum for this subject being as its kind of a standards question.

Thanks for that literature Humanzee it was very helpful and informative.

Trust me PeopleSoft I got punched in the head and fell on my head enough when I was kid to understand that.

Kidspatula: Do they normally look like the kid from little giants by all the time the padding is put on?

[Torakaka]

well they're about as padded up as these people



just imagine the same sized gear on people about 1/5th the size