Kids birthday parties are meant to be fun. Karate is meant to be serious.
Providing kids karate at a birthday party
Years ago when I started my kids karate business, I provided the “entertainment” at a birthday party for a student of mine, whose mother requested it. I use the word entertainment, because that is exactly what it is, nothing more and nothing less. I did my best to keep the kids’ attention as we went through the blocks, strikes, kicks, and karate games. It was mass chaos. Kids were running through the “class”, throwing things, jumping the queues, and mucking around in general. What do you do at a birthday party if the kids won’t listen, won’t behave, and don’t care? Do you sit them down? It is not appropriate at a birthday party, as they are there to have fun. Just the same, what if some child got hurt because of the horseplay?
Karate is serious
Karate is not entertainment. It is serious business. Although we make our classes fun and exciting, we try to impart to the students how important it is to be serious about their training. As I tell my students in our classes when they need a bit of a “settling down”, what they learn in karate class may someday save their lives. It is next to impossible to convey this to a bunch of kids at a birthday party.
Why provide this service?
Some martial arts organisations use birthday parties as a revenue raiser, and also as a way to build business through the referrals of children at the venue. The theory is that the kids will see what fun it is, and join the regular classes. I tried it again at a later party, in the hopes that the first experience was an anomaly. It was not. Same experience the second time around. I think we gained one student from each party. After that, I told myself I would never do it again, and many years later, have never regretted it.
I am aware that many of my competitors in the business provide this service. For me, I am happy to put my time and energy into my students who are serious about the martial arts and are in it for more than just “entertainment”.
What is your experience with kids karate parties?
I taught karate at a local dance studio for one year. This was in addition to our dojo. The students were young (3-6). The studio had “Princess Tea Parties” and the owner wanted to offer “Karate Parties”. We declined for the same reason…Karate is serious.
Hi Michele, glad to hear another instructor shares my viewpoint about the seriousness of martial arts. Thanks for your insights. Dance and karate–interesting mix.
I’ve only been to one party that offered karate as ‘entertainment’. I thought it was a great idea, as it would get the kids moving and experience something they may not have before. The children were about 6-7 years old. Although a few kids enjoyed it, others seemed intimidated and there were even a few tears. Perhaps one thing you could consider (if you ever decided to go down that path again) is to demonstrate karate rather than have the children involved. I know how much kids love watching some of the black belts show their skills.
You bring up an interesting issue Ivana. What if not all the kids at the party want to do karate? Were they pressured into it? Karate is definitely not for everyone. The demo is not a bad idea, although I think kids would rather do than watch. I know they do like to watch the black belts, however.
Hi Guys,
I have to say I agree with a “Karate Lesson” not being suitable for a Birthday party.
In my mind it raises a few moral issues, as have been mentioned here already. Although it can be very entertaining to watch and participate (with certain dojo’s 🙂 ) Karate is indeed serious and needs to be viewed as such, not only by parents but by the student.
If the younger student doesn’t view what he or she is doing and learning with respect but more of a novelty or a game, many of the important lessons learned including self discipline will be lost.
I feel it also ties into sometimes very subtle attitude adjustments made subconsciously by the child depending on the environment. I.e. at home = home attitude, playing, being comfortable enough to test the limits etc. in the class room = doing class work, the play ground = for playing and the Dojo = Karate practice. Mixing these places and ideas can be confusing to the younger student and can confuse the “suitable attitude” for each place and situation. Offcourse there is an age where they can judge the situation better but not until sometimes late teens.
I feel helping establish this early in the child’s development is curtail, the sooner they understand what is the right way to behave where and when, the better behaved, more receptive they are in every situation (including social – i.e. having fun at birthday parties).
I do not offer my opinion without experience. I have run a couple of birthday parties with Karate featuring and both times I came away feeling the same way. although the intention was good and with the majority of the participants being actual existing students who loved the karate lessons, it’s the kids who didn’t know what is the expected attitude of a young martial artist that tend to cause most of the chaos and kids being so impressionable with peer pressure the seriousness of karate is lost. Also as you said Matt, you can’t discipline a birthday party which is meant to be fun.
As fun as karate can be, I don’t believe suitable for kids parties. I’d do something else once a year; they can go to Karate every Saturday (or whichever day your dojo trains)
Nice article Matt.
Cheers, Zoltan
Hi Zoltan, great to have someone who has actually taught at a birthday party jump in here. You bring up some great points. How do we as instructors teach the value of respect for others and the necessity of using karate for self defence at a birthday party? We emphasize these things over and over in our classes, over a period of months or years. How are you going to do it over two hours?
Yes, peer pressure plays a big role at that age, and unfortunately some of the leaders of peer groups are not good role models. Luckily in our classes we are able to weed them out. Very good points made here Zoltan. Thanks for commenting.
I really enjoyed this article because it validated my thoughts on a similar problem I’ve seen popping up in dojos lately. Nowadays it seems like lots of kids enter karate not to learn how to defend themselves but to have fun. Of course that fault lies in parents expectations and it creates issues of conflicting interest when we try to truly teach the principles of karate.
At the school where I instruct there have been some major overhauls in how black belts and class leaders can address children. We can’t demand push-ups if they don’t bow or say “yes sir,” nor can we raise our voices at particularly rowdy students. It’s all part of plans of improve self confidence. I feel like sacrificing respect and motivation for fun (and $$$) demeans the true value of martial arts.
I’ve been to several birthday parties, and like you, I dislike them. The core problem is that the students or parents interested in karate after a party have only seen the fun side, and not the hard work, respect, and self control that goes into shaping strong martial artists. Therefore they enter a dojo with the mindset of a child entering recess, not as a serious karateka.
Another example of this is a “Parents Night Out,” our school recently had, where kids could be dropped off for a night of “fun and games.” The problem was that this activity wasn’t exclusive to registered students. Anyone could come. We had close to 60 kids that had never taken martial arts wearing t-shirts and jeans, doing cartwheels across the floor while learning very few techniques and not observing proper respect. Now at least half of those kids are signed up, and are still as rowdy as they were on day one. It’s certainly good for business, but when the expectation is “fun,” it hurts the art.
Good article, and sorry for ranting.
-Chad
Hi Chad, you make some excellent points here. It is a very difficult trick to make kids karate fun, but also instill the values of hard work, respect, and self-discipline. It is not easy, but I believe strongly it is possible. It does take time, and it’s not going to happen in an afternoon. “Recess”, as you say is a good analogy. It is mass chaos. I don’t feel as if your comment was a rant–I appreciate it.