A good idea or not. My little lad (6yr old) has a bit of pent up aggression and an awesome right hand, admittedly, probably not a good combination. I’ve sounded out the local ABA and they do a class three nights a week for 6 to 9’s just wondered if anyone else had sent their kids to boxing club as i suppose it’s seen as a bit old fashioned these days.

Do it. I did karate and then boxing as a kid, I didn’t get a great deal out of karate but boxing improved my fitness rapidly and controlled my anger which at the time I would just snap and lash out.

Do it – nothing wrong in channeling a child’s abilities in the right way. People wouldn’t think twice about you sending him for Judo lessons so why not boxing?

I box with my kids in the house and they love it.

my eldest goes to taekwondo and really enjoys it…my youngest who is 3 has like your son an awesome right hook and just enjoys hitting things, i will be looking at putting him into boxing instead of tkd as he is just not interested in it at all, when we practise on the pads he just wants to hit not kick so boxing should suit him better.
going on a friends experiences of boxing it will be much more structured than you think not the ‘get in the ring and beat the shit out of each other mentality’ its associated with.
take him along..he may love it..

I’ve boxed for a few years now, it’s great, and makes you very aware of how much damage you can do. Will give him great confidence, great fitness, and it’s a lot of fun.

Don’t force him into the ring or anything though, some people are scared ****less of getting hit, other people just want to get in there and hit other people.

He really is very keen so it looks like we’re going tomorrow night. Reckon I’m as excited as him!!

I guess I see far more aggression in boxing but never been involved at a local level so the comment is based on promoter led stuff where they are trying to boost figures/viewing.

Martial arts are lot more about controlling aggression. Sent my son when he was younger and think it was beneficial for him.

just my 2p

db

My daughter does Kickboxing and loves it. They play Dodge ball and do a lot of core strength exercises as well as kicking the shite out of each other. All kids come out with smiles which is a good thing. The other bonus is that I can drop her in for a two hour session on a Monday night and disappear off on the bike.

Boxings a bit of a thing in our familly, but talking to my relatives who are staying with me they think six is too young.
We’ve got a lad in our family that’s doing very well on the national circuit.
My daughter did kick Boxing, she loved that

Started with my grandad forming a boxing club for Indian boys whilst he was serving there with the Royal Rifles. I boxed for Watling Boys club then the Army. So it spans a fwe generations……but I digress.

There used to be a kids session at my old gym, looked great, really well controlled but still fun. Its sport, at the end of the day and no more aggressive that rugby (but less muddy), football (less flouncy) and horse riding (cheaper).

Worse case scenario he gets super fit, agile and a few bruises!

My worry was six was too young and Oldgit confirmed it a bit. I have a good mate who was an amateur kickboxing world champion, and he said the same the other week when we discussed it. Reckon we’ll give it a whirl and keep an eye on the little scrote 😆

I’ve trained in many diciplins and run a kick boxing club for a short while and one major observation I’ve noticed over recent years is that a lot of clubs want to do MMA which again in my regional experience means the tutor is a jack of all trades master of none (some exceptions obviously).

I’d stick with a true boxing club or a traditional martial art as they tend to not have kids and adults with huge ego but simple respect for the art.

Go for it I’ve seen it change lives and families.

Gaz

My daughter’s 7 and loves her taekwondo. A lot more than the ballet classes she tried the year before 😀

Old man was pretty handy amateur boxer so as a young boy I went along too…hated it at the time as did not like to hit or get hit. Ice-cream after was the only benefit.

However, headed back to training and sparring in my mid 20’s then tried Muay Thai and got fitness like no other time in my life…but…rapidly found out that I was not a natural fighter unlike a fair amount of the others. Ouch….

Pop your lad along and see how he gets on – it may help with the aggression / discipline but if the aggression then gets aimed towards others then you have a different job to do.

Have you tried other sports?

I’d say 12 is the age to start boxing, and with a little sporting background. Boxing can be a bit Billy No Mates and the training far outweighs the competition.

My boy went to a boxing club at 7 and seemed to enjoy it. I think the training was a bit too serious though – nippers need to have fun while they’re learning, so he stopped going after about 6 months and now does karate. He enjoys that as they have a bit more fun as well as having the coloured belts to attain.

Not that I know anything about it, but I’d imagine other martial arts would be better than boxing, surely?

Why?

Doesn’t boxing involve more blows to the head than other forms?

It’s a while before they do any sparring and then they are only being hit by other 6/7/8 year olds using big gloves and headguards.

As DezB – unless the OP is a Gypsy and wants his kid to do bare-knuckle fights for money I think it will all be pretty safe.

Anyway – I thought you were all for allowing your kids to be exposed to risk?

Ive been doing karate with my 6 year old for a year now and we really enjoy it. He is keen to progress and get new belts. They also get monthly badges for their suits for attendance and it all helps [the club] and the child to keep them interested and motivated.
Instead of dropping him off i stay and take part in a mixed class.
I have done karate before but i just intended to tag along with him for cross training and a bit of stretching but its become much more than that.
Great sport. 8)
However i have no experience of boxing, sorry! 😳

Try judo first – much easier to justify using it later in life as it is a defensive sport – plus he will learn to fall better which may be useful in his future mtb bike career.

At secondary school we had just joined a mate of mine started getting bullied from some of the top year. One day a big gang formed round him and the main oik started pushing my mate. Eventually my mate just used the guys off-balance weight to throw him a few feet up in the air and crashing down onto his back, with my mate shoulder round his neck/throat.

None of the crowd stepped in to help their mate and my mate was never bullied again.

Whereas a 12 year old would have to be a damn good fighter to take on a 4 year older and much larger bully.

Mauy Thai is a good compremise. Very fast paced and kids seem to really love it. And actually blindingly efficient as a form of self defence, if you call being presented with a high speed wall of flailing arms and legs an act of defence. So without wanting to sound patronising it’s ideal for women.

An image I have is of my daughter when she was 12, she wouldn’t have even been Straw weight. For a little demo she was asked to give it her best shot against a Super Heavyweight. We all sat there listening to this guy who was all muscle and good manners explaining the virtues of the sport, he then turned to my daughter and smiling gave her the nod.
Just for very one short moment the smile went completely while he delt with a small girls knee firmly contacting his chin. It was priceless, and a good advert I suppose.

Edit; Turnerguy sorry if my post sounds like a contradiction, I typed this while you were posting.

i worked with a community project giving boxing classes to kids from a local estate – the only one in brighton without a boxing club – gave kids a real sense of acheivment. positive encouragement. think the youngest there were about 6 and they just liked doing exercise and having a go at a sport. (just as any 6 yr old sport club would be)

most clubs will let you come and have a look without taking part. take hime down there. see what you think,.

I boxed for a bit as a kid. Enjoyed it, but I’m not really the fighting type (if that makes sense), so I continued to focus on other sports.

No idea if 6 is too young, but I like the fact it’s old school. More of that..!

Anyway – I thought you were all for allowing your kids to be exposed to risk?

There’s risk and there’s risk. I won’t let them sit in the front seat without a seatbelt for example.

Just vaguely unsure about boxing from a personal point of view. It seems to be more about inflicting pain than some other martial arts.

I guess it could be looked at like that but I would assume (and hope) that they aren’t teaching very young children to beat the living shit out of other kids, rather teach them technique and stuff.

I could be wrong mind you.

I wish I had boxed as a kid – always fancied giving it a go but when I decided to give it a go they had already closed down the only local club and it was a 15 mile trip to the next closest one.

A friend who works in the boxing industry reckoned you could brain scan a boxer at the beginning and end of his career and tell how many fights he’d had. Head guards do not stop the brain getting knocked about. Having said that, it’s good to have the confidence of being able to flatten Joe Average.

Give it a go and see what you and your son think.

As a Judo coach, I say do Judo of course, but Boxing may work. My only concern is his age, and the type of training sessions they run. My old Muay Thai club tried running kids sessions for a while, and they just didn’t work. Main reason being that he ran them exactly like the adult classes, but shorter, so it was all skipping, excercises and padwork.
This was fine for the older kids, but the under 10s minds wandered.

Judo in the UK is dead organised and all BJA coaches should be qualified and CRB checked. It’s also recognised that youngers kids need to have lessons structured differently to keep them interested and learn the fundamental skills required. So classes for 6 to 8 year olds shouldn’t just be cut down versions of what 15 year olds are doing.

it’s too young for boxing I think.. a relative of mine was an excellent young boxer, but at a pretty young age put another boy in a coma, who is alive but sadly not the same and never will be. His oponent was lying in the ring having some type of seizure when it happened from a quick flurry of punches, pretty distressing stuff..he never boxed again. I did Judo from aged 8 and progressed to black belt not the same thing but much safer i think for kids. Im sure that story isnt representative of most peoples experience of boxing but it can happen…

Boxing is a bit of a family tradition for me, My Grandfather was a pretty well know bare knuckle fighter and we had to follow suit if we liked it or not.

One of my sons is a good boxer, the other kids not interested, but it is a sport that requires intense fitness training and old fashioned hard work. not one of these jumping around in your pyjamas in the community centre oriental arts, they are fine – if you’re a girl!

Only kidding, I’m not really a sexist, in fact I quite like girls 😉

He’s fit now, can run/walk for miles with no moaning. He’s asked me again tonight if we can go. The club is a true ABA club and run by a very respected ex ABA fighter. Think we’ll probably go along, see what they get up too then make a decision!

there is a scheme called ‘Kid Gloves’ now, the basic skills of boxing are divided into levels and medals are awarded for progress through each stage (no contact involved) so progress is measured in much the same way as coloured belts in other martial arts. Take him he will make friends and have fun!