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Northern Crane
Limerick Business Park
39 Limerick Road
Arundel / Kennebunkport, Maine 04046
Phone & Voice Mail: (207) 985-8582
E-Mail: senseiphil@northerncrane.net
FREQ
This section will hopefully answer most of the questions not already answered in the other sections. Feel free to call us for further information. Please leave a voice-mail if we can’t personally respond at that moment. We will call you back promptly. Northern Crane strives to keep operating costs down - making all our programs much more affordable.
THE BEST WAY TO KEEP YOUR YOUNG CHILD INTERESTED IN STARTING A MARTIAL ARTS EDUCATION WHEN HE OR SHE IS OLD ENOUGH TO DO SO IS TO GET AND STAY INVOLVED IN ONE YOURSELF! YOU WILL FIND IT JUST AS BENEFICIAL FOR YOU AS IT IS FOR THEM.
HERE ARE THE FACTS:
"If I had a dime for every time I asked a 12 year old if he or she was interested in Karate and got the answer: "I already KNOW Karate, I used to take it when I was 6." I would indeed be a rich man by now. What a shame and a SHAM! I would also be quite well off if I had taken the money when it was offered (at the age of 4, 5 or 6 when it is usually offered by most parents) out of ignorance of the facts stated below.
Please read on for many of these facts:
1. Under twelve or eleven years years of age, most children do not have the emotional maturity and social skills necessary to handle issues presented in real martial arts training, any other training would be either fraudulent or severely watered down.
2. Most children who start training in martial arts do not stay long enough in real martial arts programs to be truly beneficial to the development of the child. National statistic state that 99% of all children who start training under the age of eight quit during their initial 3 to 6 months of training. Between the age of 8 and 12 the drop out rate is not as bad but is still substantial at 85% during their first few months of training.
3. The growth plates of children’s bones before the age of eight are still too immature and susceptible to permanent damage if injured or over-stressed by frequent rigorous physical training. It isn't until adolescence however that bones and joints are finally strong and well formed enough for continuous vigorous activity.
4. Before the age of eleven or twelve most children can not truly grasp the ethics of personal or civil defense, in other words: They have a hard time understanding when to use or not use the physical self-defense skills they have learned.
5. True Martial Arts training is tough at any age. It is too much to ask a pre-adolescent child to train at a level necessary to attain any real level of realistic competence in self defense skill and if it is unrealistic to expect that kind of competence, then why subject them to it in the first place. There are some things children are just not ready for.
Would a responsible parent let an 8 year old drive the family car? Driving, then is considered to be a skill we do not allow our children to possess. Why? Surely not because they can't physically drive or learn to do so. Many a child at the age of 10 or 11 is taller than some of their parents and can certainly acquire the physical skills. We still don't allow them to because our government understands that they are still not ready for driving but for completely different reasons than being able to learn the physical skills associated with driving, most importantly an acceptable maturity level or more importantly, a lack of it.
Traditionally in the Orient AND in the West (before the mass marketing of martial arts began in the 1980's) no one under the age of 12 was ever admitted into martial arts training.*
I personally attempted to join a Karate Dojo at the age of 11 and repeatedly attempted on a weekly basis for almost 7 months before receiving permission to join from the Sensei. The next youngest student was 20! Today, many martial arts schools will actually pick up a child as young as Kindergarteners at their school and transport them to their training center. Karate has become a socially acceptable after school activity! Ironically, the sensei (with a small "s") with Big Lucrative martial arts academies that cater to these little kids are the ones least respected by true masters of martial arts around the world.
The kind of training these after school program schools offer is so laughable that most police forces prefer to send their officers to boxing clubs to continue their education in realistic defensive unarmed skill development - even though boxing can result in unwarranted civil lawsuits due to the overly aggressive techniques the art of boxing teaches. Karate has such a variety of techniques available that it is a superior art for police use yet the current popular perception of the art just turns off police personnel. This perception is highly driven by these juvenile programs.
Karate schools have done this damage of public perception to themselves. They have also received a lot of help in this trend from the profit oriented film and entertainment industries which continue to showcase a very infantile perspective of the martial arts. Many people, including many adolescents themselves consider Karate training to be a "Little Kid" Sport because of this long standing trend.
On the opposite end of the entertainment spectrum - the no holds barred competitions showcased for entertainment are something that is anathema to true martial arts training. There are many schools popping up everywhere offering these "mixed martial arts" curriculum. What is usually meant by this particular term is that the school that uses it specializes in preparing students for these human cockfights since a truly traditional martial art already has a complete mix of techniques, without it survival on the ancient (pre-firearm) battlefield would have been impossible! Unfortunately, they all help to drag down the reputation of karate's realistic effectiveness down with them in general.
Northern Crane's karate program is designed to promote a healthy, strong body and mind. This program is however not recommended until around the age of 11 or 12,* the beginning of adolescence.
It is during adolescence that a child is usually confronted with unhealthy peer pressure to indulge in drugs, tobacco, alcohol and promiscuous behavior. It is also during these precious teen-age years that they typically start to lose interest in their academic studies, just when they need to focus even more on them in order to enter the best possible colleges or professional training institutions.
It is during adolescence that they should be involved in continuous vigorous physical training that will determine their adult constitution, health habits, bone density levels, etc. Karate is one of the best health practices to participate in since they can continue to enjoy it and its benefits for a lifetime and not just for a short competitive collegiate sports career.
The June 7th issue of U.S. News & World Report Cover Story closely re-iterates my issues concerning children and organized sports. Children who are involved in organized sports before the age of adolescence have an incredible drop out and injury rate. Most of the truly talented ones burn out on competition before High School! Many are physically and or psychologically damaged for life because of it. Here is the breakdown:
From the June 7, 2004 U.S. News & World Report pp.52-53:
Using data from nationally affiliated basketball leagues (many other sports come in at the same ratios or even worse - including sport Karate), they estimate that the total number of fourth-grade boys playing organized basketball was about 475,000. At the same time, the team (Dan Doyle's team - see below) found, only 87,000 teens were playing basketball as seniors in high school. Of the 87,000, they say 1,560 will win Division I college scholarships, 1,350 will get Division II scholarships, and 1,400 more will play at Division III schools. And of those 4,310, about 30 will make it to the National Basketball Association. An additional 130 will play pro ball in Europe.
In soccer, the odds are even longer, because so many colleges recruit foreign players. "It's not a worthy objective at the fourth- or fifth- or sixth-grade level," Doyle says (Dan Doyle - author of the forthcoming The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting to be published in September 2005) "which is what some of these coaches are telling them (parents)":
"You know, 'If you don't play for me you're not going to get to college.' " And Tennis? Doyle found that there are approximately 3 million males between 10 and 18 world-wide aspiring to be top tennis players. How many make money on the pro circuit? 175. "The professional aspiration is just crazy."
Equally crazy, experts say, is the idea that (child) stars can be created by starting early. "It doesn't matter when you start a sport. If you start at 3, it doesn't necessarily help," says Paul Stricker, a pediatric sports medicine specialist in San Diego...."often it's the late bloomers who turn into stars....I've seen at least a 30 to 40 percent increase in overuse injuries like stress fractures and tendonitis. Those are things we just didn't see much in kids previously....The bones break down faster than they can build up...The growth plate gets pulled apart like an Oreo cookie."
The American Academy of Pediatrics states: "Those who participate in sports and specialize (involved in organized and competitive sports) only after reaching the age of puberty tend to be more consistent performers, have fewer injuries, and adhere to sports play longer than those who specialize early.
The chances of your child receiving any kind of college scholarship for sports:
0.006%
So let your little boy or girl just enjoy playing freely without any kind of overly structured or competitive pressure until they are around 11 or 12. Let them just have fun with other kids with minimal supervision, they need this more than you think. Creativity and socialization skills are best developed this way until adolescence.
*In the Orient age is traditionally calculated from the time of conception rather than from the actual birth date. For example if a person is born on any given date, that date is determined to be their 1st birthday (1 year old). Keeping this in mind our 11 year olds are considered to be 12 years old there.
We do not give out pricing
information unless personally requested because we do not believe that monetary
costs should be the most important aspect in selecting a martial arts school.
Much more important should be features such as: Is this art form and this
instructor compatible with what I am looking for?
If you are not very
knowledgeable about martial arts training this can be a daunting task.
The only sincere advice we can give is to comparison shop by observing at
least one complete class at each of the schools you may be considering.
If you have decided that our
program and training approach suits you we will gladly supply you with our
affordable pricing. When you compare the value of the curriculums offered at
Northern Crane to the curriculums of others we know we will fare rather well.
Our curriculums are rich in information, authentically sourced and well taught.
You will be happiest in the
long term with a well-informed decision made by comparing the contents of the
curriculums offered versus the costs for the curriculums offered. Keep in mind
that if the school you are considering is sport oriented there may be additional
substantial costs incurred because of competition. These and rank testing fees
are not typically reflected in curriculum costs. Tournament competition is
usually either required or highly recommended for rank advancement in sport
schools.
The
Karate curriculum is the only one offered to minors at Northern Crane. If you
are over fifty years old and have had very little recent experience (within the
last five years) in a vigorous athletic activity we definitely recommend the
Taijiquan program.
If you don’t fit either of these two categories, we suggest you examine your current physical fitness level. The Karate program is definitely more rigorous. The Taijiquan program although still physically demanding, is much safer, indeed it can be beneficial for those with any cardiovascular medical concerns. If you still can’t make up your mind, come watch a class of each. Then decide which one suits you best.
Northern Crane’s curriculum
is infused with a wealth of anatomical and acupressure knowledge. This
fundamental oriental concept of Qi energy and its anatomical meridian and point
information is the basis of all oriental hand or needle healing arts and
coincidentally also all traditional oriental striking and grappling arts. Sensei
Perez has over 20 years of Japanese acupressure shiatsu and massage experience.
Our non-competitive training approach is not only more traditional but also more nourishing to self-esteem building in adolescents and adults. It also allows the curriculum at Northern Crane to emphasize real-world self-defense needs that are usually not part of a competition or sport curriculum. These curriculums are in conflict with competition rules. Unfortunately most truly effective and devastating survival self-defense techniques are not allowed in tournaments for safety concerns.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO NORTHERN CRANE HOME PAGE
IF THE SIDE BAR APPEARS YOU ARE ALREADY THERE