I know your not a BJJ guy Phil, but have you ever seen 6 - 10 yr old kids at a big BJJ comp? At my club there are at least 3 that age I can think of, who allready have cauliflower ear \ ears... They get choked unconcious, can't tell me that's good for a growing brain. I've seen one kid ko'd from hitting the mat with his head so hard during a take down, he did'nt move for a full 5 sec at least. Seen torn shoulders, a dislocated elbow, broken collar bones, etc, etc.... But is that o.k because at least their not hitting each other ??? Ref's aren't perfect, they can't stop everything in a kids match, anymore than an adult's. And let me tell ya, those little tornadoes can move! In fairness thou, that's been spread out over a couple of years, unusual to see more than 1 or 2 at any one comp. So....if these girls weren't allowed to make full or any contact with the grey matter, would every one's opinions be different then?
Interesting you say that, I had a friend went to Thailand, trained for a few weeks then had a "pro" fight, he won by KO in the first round and now goes round calling himself a "pro Kickboxer"
It was a good fight. I take my hat off to both girls. I don't have a problem with kids or girls fighting, as long as its what they want to do not something they've been forced into by their parents. I had a young girl train with me who wanted to fight so I let her, her parents allowed it. She got her ass kicked, but she came away happy. I also knew an instructor who forced his young son to fight even when the poor lad was crying that he didn't want to. THAT was wrong. Shouldn't live out your desires through your kids, especially if they don't want to.
Although I agree in principle with most of the rest of your response, I just had to comment on these "things to do" - NONE of which are a particularly direct way of doing things or getting things done. You can be sure that if it were MY daughter doing this I'd be down at that arena tossing bodies left and right until I found the person responsible for this. This might tie-in with R.J.'s idea of what a defanged, declawed creature today's "warrior" is ...
No, it is NOT OK - what the fuck is wrong with the parents of these kids?!? What's wrong with a society that would condone this? THIS is the kind of shit that makes me embarrassed to be called a martial artist.
If you were the father of one of those girls I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have allowed her to fight if you didn't think it was good/healthy for her. No one should be FORCED to compete in anything. I've never seen a young boxer properly knocked out, the girls in the vid didn't score a KO or even come close. At that age kids CAN develop power but I think it's rare to see true knock out power in one so young. Being choked unconscious is very different and the red ought to step in before that happens. As for striking martial arts my only real concern is when they use little to no padding like in MT, maybe they could've used elbow, knee and foot pads but other than that I see nothing wrong with the fight on the vid.
And they do and to be fair, I've seen that more at training than at comps. As current rules state that in kids matches if the person being choked or submitted is unable to escape, then the action of initiating a clean choke or sub is enough to declare victory. But still, chokes can come on surprisingly quick, especially if the person is allready short of breath and nearing exhurstion... Speaking from personal experiance
Quite possibly... Since I have a daughter... even though she is older now and tough as nails (has to be in her job).
There is always that! Don't think that would stop the bad thing from happening to other people, but it would stop it for you! No reason you couldn't do both, I suppose, definitely take care of you and yours first, then help others. Like going down on an airplane, I reckon. Secure your mask before you help someone else!
This is something that springs to mind when on that subject: The Panther His vision, from the constantly passing bars, has grown so weary that it cannot hold anything else. It seems to him there are a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world. As he paces in cramped circles, over and over, the movement of his powerful soft strides is like a ritual dance around a center in which a mighty will stands paralyzed. Only at times, the curtain of the pupils lifts, quietly--. An image enters in, rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles, plunges into the heart and is gone. Rainer Maria Rilke
I shudder when I think about it happening to me It's definetly not the norm. It's the exception. Just, if you go to enough comps, you see people get hurt, as hard as everyone tries, sadly, kids are no exception.
I've seen some pretty bad injuries and knock outs at semi contact tournaments. Guys I've had more injuries from playing football (soccer to some of you weirdos) than I ever have from competing in martial arts tournaments. Crossing the street can be very dangerous but we don't stop doing it. Sure you make certain young children do t do it alone on a busy street but my point is life is dangerous there are gongs that will cause injury no matter how careful you are. If a child wants to compete I say let them. If they don't like it they can quit. As long as a parent isn't forcing them to do it I see no problem with it.
