Being a Dad at Kung Fu

On the rare occasions I take my kids to class, they are usually watching while I train. We usually have a minimum age of 12 years to start classes although exceptions are made for children whose parents join the class also.

My son is 6 years old and has never really expressed an interest in martial arts before. Basketball has been his favorite sport since he could talk. We signed him up in a Preschool/Kindergarten league at the YMCA and since then he was all about basketball. I love hoops too but didn't start playing until I was a freshman in high school. Growing up in Zambia, the sport that every kid played was football(soccer) so I played it too until I started playing basketball.

My son asked if he could start studying Kung Fu and I initially told him to wait until he was 10 so he could have the coordination to do it. Plus we use traditional weapons such as the straight sword, Kwan Dao, Staff and other weapons which would be a little unwieldy for a 6 year old.

We had an offer to sign up family members for a month free and I took the opportunity to sign my son and niece up. My niece is 4 going on 5 and my son talked her into going with him since he didn't want to be the only young child in the class. I wanted to make sure he would have the discipline and attention span to sit through a whole class. I stayed next to him the whole time to keep an eye on him. He loved it, his eyes lit up when going through the techniques and he yelled, punched and kicked with such wide eyed zeal and enthusiasm. I don't think I was ever more proud in my entire life. It was great to see him enjoy it as much as I do. Although I was a little too insistent on giving him pointers on his stancework and form when throwing punches. (His bow and horse stance do need a lot of work but hey, he is only six). But I imagine this was how some of the Masters who passed down their teachings to their children must have felt when their children started training their art. Did Yang Luchan smile inwardly when he was teaching his sons Yang Pan-Hou and Yang Chien-hou tai chi as kids? There is no way he couldn't have. Fatherhood and Kung Fu are both awesome, especially when practiced together.