the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Moderators: this posting does relate to tai chi chuan but please move it to Off The Topic if you feel it's more appropriate there.

This year I was hired to translate a tai chi book from German to English: it's a well-established 'long seller' in German-speaking regions and has pretty much become the standard work there for teaching tai chi and qigong to children. Now it's being published in English as well, under the title Inner Balance for Kids: Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong for Children (and all who work with them). In my opinion it's also a very good book. It has a lot of sound background info/theory both on 'Chinese' aspects and on modern educational theory, but always relevant to actual teaching, as well as many exercises and games on various levels, from pre-school through to teenagers, from meditative to martial. Many of these exercises can be transposed pretty much 1:1 to classes for adults, too. (After all, 'playing' is one of the best learning approaches for all of us). I can't be totally objective after working on the text myself for so long, but nonetheless I can genuinely recommend it. So herewith.

There's a fairly extensive Amazon page for the book here, including some sample texts: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CKGL7G6N
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Very interesting, thank you for sharing. I believe in this teaching children this stuff.

I truly don't believe Taiji is suitable for kids. Kids need to jump, run, flip, ...

Yes I think JW is right. If most adults think Taiji is/seem/feel as boring, then how about the kids. Also it is from childhood where we learn from pulling, pushing, hitting things or even each other in the most basic way, jumping running eventually fallings scraping the knees - necessities to learn and build from. Kids storing energy will explode.
Here in China the kids do taekwondo

You need Yang and Yin, I suppose.

Thanks, Giles, will check it out.

I also agree with John W. The only time it makes sense to me to teach a child is if they start imitating what their parent (for ex) is doing. Yang's sons may have learned from childhood, but they were forced.

I'd say judo is an ideal starting martial art. But, it's important to test their physical limits. That said, it's possible to do both. I'd just hate to see someone telling their 10 year old to do standing exercises instead of going outside.

Otooh, anything that gets kids away from their tablets and screens is better than nothing.

Steve James wrote:

I'd say judo is an ideal starting martial art. But, it's important to test their physical limits. That said, it's possible to do both. I'd just hate to see someone telling their 10 year old to do standing exercises instead of going outside.

my kids did some "standing" and some burpees and other things during "time out" a few times lol. but we also played pseudo-judo. kids (and animals) will kind of wrestle quite naturally. i doubt this book is saying "do not do judo" or "do not run around outside" lol. nobody has read the book yet there seems to be some weird assumption going on.

My main point is that whatever it is, the kids should have fun. Personally, I think tcc requires practice and study. I.e., the student has to understand some things that aren't purely physical postures. I'm not sure anyone is learning tcc without being taught those things.

But, yeah, I'm prejudiced. I took all my kids to judo class for character building as much as for self-defense.

Steve James wrote: I'm not sure anyone is learning tcc without being taught those things.

I'm not sure anyone here or elsewhere is being taught those things period lol. or if anyone agrees on what those things are.

but yes to fun as well as the rest. my kids (afaik) and I had some fun playing our baby level push hands. would judo have been more fun? maybe, maybe not.

I have been teaching a kid since he was eight. In the first year, I got him a pair of gloves and asked him to hit me as hard as he could. I put in some catching in the second year so he could step back, sideway, and find my opening to hit. From the hitting, I would suggest him to modify his movements so he could hit harder. We focused on flexibility, fundamental strength training, jumping, kicking, horse stand, stepping ...... in the third and fourth years. After that some short forms, and then two person drill. He is now 14. His movements still look sloppy but he can move so relax to take on a fight with adults in the class with years of martial arts practice.

excellent work, and sounds like fun.

johnwang wrote:I truly don't believe Taiji is suitable for kids. Kids need to jump, run, flip, ...

Of course you're right, John. Kids need to jump, run, flip, fall, roll, wrestle (in a playful and nice way), turn into animals, go crazy, let off steam, discover their own strength and agility with themselves and in a playful way against others, both with partners and in groups. And at the same time they can, in an age-appropriate way, find their center and their structure, discover stillness and also warmth and light within themselves, go on journeys of awareness through their own body, explore some basics of breathing and meditation and energy work, learn some basics of massage and bodywork with a partner, etc.

This book is absolutely not about putting kids into a run-of-the-mill adult Tai Chi class with a little circling of the hips and then straight into an hour of 'abstract' form practice. (Although some 'adult' classes aren't like this either; mine certainly aren't). It's also not about traditional Wushu training for children. It is about a wide range of fun, physical, imaginative and sometimes challenging training (drawing on Tai Chi, Qigong and several other martial arts) that will also help them develop personal, emotional and social skills beyond the purely physical.

The book also gives a lot of information and food for thought about what it actually means to teach children physical arts/martial arts in a way that respects them, challenges them, nurtures them, helps them to develop their own potential and allows them to find their own way (within necessary boundaries, of course). This in an age-appropriate manner, ranging from pre-school through to teenagers. In this area it references both 'Eastern' and 'Western' sources and approaches, including neurobiological development, essentials of pedagogy, TCM, theory of yin/yang and 5 Phases/5 Elements.
Maybe take a few minutes to follow the link I provided above, which will give you a description of what the book actually does offer and also a few sample lessons.

I wasn't originally planning to say more about the book in this thread, just to draw attention to its publication and provide a link. But your comment, John, gives me the impression you haven't looked further to see what this book is about. That you're making an incorrect assumption. So before a false (negative) impression of the book and its approach to teaching kids gets disseminated, I'd prefer to set a few facts straight.

My son started Hapkido at 5
Great martial art for kids
Admittedly he had a great teacher one I would of gladly taken as a teacher
Ex mr Korea bodybuilder
The first person I had ever heard of that was an air Marshall
Long before 9/11
His two teaching assistants were 35 and had been with him since they were 5
I say it again Hapkido much better for kids than the 3 internals
Helped my son in every sport he did
Especially when he would do 15 stair jumps on his skateboard