White Tiger Martial Arts

How old / young / fit do I need to be?

How old?

Many martial arts clubs are prepared to take children from a very young age, sometimes as young as three or four.

White Tiger Martial Arts will only accept children once they have reached the age of eight. This is for many reasons:

All of the classes are mixed age and therefore any children training are treated as little adults
The weekday sessions finish at 8.00pm which is too late for the very young
If a child starts too young, they could be put off martial arts for life by a bad experience (or Sensei)
At eight, the attention span is just enough to last for a one hour session (most of the time)
There are already many after school clubs acting as childminding services teaching very little martial arts

How young?

There should never be an upper age limit in martial arts. However, this form of exercise can be very strenuous, and places high demands on your body as well as your mind. Many of the karate Grandmasters continued to practice karate well into their eighties, but they started many years before, and over time their bodies became conditioned to the stresses put on them.

If you are at all unsure as to what to expect, please come along and watch a training session. White Tiger Martial Arts has an open door policy and allows spectators to watch the training, as long as they show the correct respect, and do not disrupt the session.

How fit?

As per the answer above, this is a high impact exercise, and the stresses on your mind and body should not be taken for granted. Before starting any form of strenuous exercise, White Tiger Martial Arts recommends you consult with your doctor or medical professional.

No student is expected to drop straight into the splits or kick to head height when they begin their training. Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of students will never achieve either of these, even after years of training, and the reality is, neither are actually that important to the development of a martial artist.

You will become fitter, faster, stronger and more flexible over time the more you train. Everyone has their natural limits, and the club instructors will not expect any student to exceed these.