Any Karate / martial art folk here?

looking to start my 6 year old son in a karate class.
no nothing about this at all. looking for classes in the D9 / D11 area.

What are the main differences between the styles. what is the most popular style in Ireland.

looking for something that has a spiritual side and not just physical if you know what I mean. want him to use it as a defensive measure rather then kick the bejesus out of kids on the road.

bigjoe_dub said:

looking for something that has a spiritual side and not just physical if you know what I mean.

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No - perhaps you could explain in more detail?

looking for something that teaches self discipline as well as self defense.
getting flash backs of grasshopper now.

The taeKwonDo centre on Exchequer Street next to Dunnes Stores has been established for well over 20 years and is a pretty good place to go but not cheap. They teach a lot of values and self discipline such as the tenets of taeKwonDo: courtesy integrity, self control , indomitable spirit (without getting too grasshopperish). Its centrally located too.
Its more like kick boxing and relies a lot on physical fitness and flexibility than martial arts such as aikido and karate. It may or may not be the ideal martial art for your son depending on his body shape and flexibility/aptitude. The fact hes only 6 years old means he will be able to achieve a high level of flexibility if he sticks at it.

Heres the link to the homepage

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I used to do Tae-Kwon-Do in my youth - it's good for all round discipline, fitness and of course self-defence. It's known as an 'external' martial art (otehr examples would be Karate, Judo, ju-jitsu), in that it generally relies on physical fitness / strength / technique to produce results.

Some of the Chinese martial arts (Kung-fu / Shaolin) might be a bit more 'spiritual', AFAIK, and they would generally be classified as 'internal' martial arts, where internal energy ('Chi') are also important components of the martial art. So I can understand where your going with the spiritual side.

That's my understanding of the main differences - but as ever open to correction / elaboration.

many thanks thus far. keep it coming.

There is a very senior Chinese martial arts coach teaching classes for children in Coolmine Sports Centre Dublin 15 and also from the UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland.
This is she in the links below - this is a rare opportunity for your child to receive the best possible instruction. She is on the wushu /shaolin side of things (not an expert myself).

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Best call the Coolmine Sports Centre and UCD Conficius Institute, I am not sure of the details of all the courses she is running.

I picked up a leaflet in Tesco in Clearwater the other day. It said that there are Brazilian jiu jitsu classes for kids in Corpus Christi Hall on Griffith Ave on Monday and Thursday evenings from 5 to 6. The first class is free. It has a mobile number and email address but i'm not sure whether it is appropriate to post. Ages are from 5 to 12.

There is a Tae Kwon Do club in Colaiste Ide in Finglas on Wednesdays and Fridays 5-6pm for U12s. Theres a good few around 6 years of age.
AFAIK all Martial Arts have a spiritual side and emphasize that the techniques used in training aren't to be used on the streets. Its usually the child who decides on this though.

I've done Shotokan Karate (basically the most common form) for a number of years.

The emphasis on the spiritual aspects would depend on the club in question. One can have a club which emphasises competition, tradition, self defence etc. - so it is a little hard to say what to go with.
A lotof the Karate clubs emphasise the more spiritual side though.

I'd imagine that the non-Eastern type of club are generally less spiritual:
so Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, American Kenpo, MMA, self defence classes etc. would have a far lower spiritual component.

Martial arts which would have a particularly high spiritual component would be Aikido and Tai Chi for example (if you count Tai Chi as a Martial Art at all).

For self-defence, I would not recommend something like TaeKwonDo - which is generally a ranged fighting style involving lots of kicks. The problem is that most fights start out from in close (talking distance), and in restricted surroundings. For self-defence alone, good quality self defence classes are by far the best, as they do not follow any dogma - just following effective fighting techniques from various martial arts. After that Jiu-Jitsu is very, very effective - combining Aikido, Judo and Karate.

Personally I'd recommend Japanese Jiu Jitsu in particular and after that Karate (Shotokan or Wado-Ryu are good) for the optimum balance of effective self defence training with philosophical training as well.

I don't know enough about Kung Fu to comment on that, I'm afraid.

this is excellent stuff. many thanks again to all.

I've done both shotokan karate and jiu-jitsu, and found for purely self defence that ju-jitsu is superior. The moves focus on being able to disarm/neutralize an threat in a few simple moves, and from what I've learned (didn't exactly get to a black belt in either discipline) the moves will enable you to put your opponent down within about two or three seconds. It's not necessarily overly spiritual but it does teach aspects such as respect (towards your teachers and fellow students) and self-control, ie to only use it when absolutely necessary in self defence. The initial classes I attended focused on what to do if someone comes at you with say, a bottle, a knife, from behind you, etc., so is very useful for "real life" situations as opposed to a staged situation in class/exhibition.

It also teaches you how to fall/land without hurting yourself which could come in handy in the rough and tumble of a playground! I've not gotten to a very advanced stage myself yet, but would feel confident enough in my humble beginner status that should I be unfortunate enough to have someone come at me I could defend myself sucessfully, which could be a big confidence booster to a young person (it worked wonders for me and I'm pushing 30!).

It also relies more on knowing the physics of how the body works rather than brute strength, therefore someone at a disadvantage in the height/strength/weight areas would be more than capable of learning how to (for eg) throw someone twice their size over their shoulders just using technique.

Hope your little fella enjoys the classes whatever you choose!

there is a shotokan class in Larkhill,I think. many moons ago it was besides St kevins Boys club, could be in larkhill school. They were collecting in Tesco in the Omni last week,thats how I know they are still around.