[kabs]

Hi
I have a 5yr old boy who is passive and somewhat shy and very small for his age--he talked about karate etc a lot so we enrolled him in a class. He has been in it for about a month now. His first stripe came easily as he has nice form already but he is having a hard time learning his second stripe which basically consists of him doing the moves by himself in order. He can't quite seem to grasp it and he is getting very discouraged. On the other hand both his father and I have tried to help him practice but he just wants to run through it once or twice then he loses interest. We now have to decide to sign a contract or forget it. Is he too immature at this point? Do we make him practice even though he doesn't want to or do we let this go and try picking it up when he is older or let him decide when he is older what sport to do. My husband and I both played sports but we didn't really start them until 6th grade--nowdays it seems that is too late--the only good thing is we did practice hard. So I am looking for some guidance as to how to we make the best decision if we should continue at this point or let him get a little older?

[Fr_Chuck]

First check out other schools, a lot don't require any contract what so ever, our 5 year old started last year and has went though several belts already.

But there is no contract at many of the schools.
Also check to be sure there are others his age in that class, ours has a class just for 5 and 6 year old, then a next class for 7 to 9 I think.
And be sure the class is fun for the child, not only teaching style, but with breaks, other activities to help them learn all about it.

And so he does it 2 or 3 times and gets bored, stop and practice again latter 2 or 3 times, if you expect a 5 year old to practice for long periods, you are mistaken.