anyone train their kids in self-defense?

Just curious.....how old are they?

I taught mine to RUN!!  Seriously...teach them what trouble looks like, and how to get away from it.  It's just more practical since they aren't going to beat up any adults anyway but can outrun almost all of them..  I understand your concern for your kids safety......but the best way to keep them safe is not to teach them to fight at that age. In case you're wondering, I'm NO pacifist, just a realist.  If someone tried to hurt one of your kids and couldn't catch them I would have no problem if you hunted them down and beat the living hell out of them.

I'm a little late to the party, but I wan to echo what LB said for them to run.  The number one self defense tool for a kid is their feet, number two is their voice (screaming), and number 3 is their cell phone.

I do think it's important for kids to learn self defense for those situations where running is not an option or they're in the grasp.  As LB mentioned, once an adult has them in their grasp it's virtually impossible for them to do anything, but they should still have the confidence to try.

I had a good friend back in my Navy days who taught real world self defense and his first rule was that you had to change your mindset when it comes to conflict.  In the US, we're all taught to fight fair.  No pulling hair, no kicking down there, etc, but in a real world life or death situation the last thing you want to do is fight fair.  I tell my kids if some dude grabs them without hesitation their left thumb should be in the back of his eye socket and the right hand should be twisting his nuts into a pretzel.

When searching for a self defense class, their are those stupid classes where you stand in front of somebody and they punch at you and you block it and then do a 2 punch combo with a kick.  pff, yeah right like that's ever going to happen in the real world.

The class needs to be real world based with MMA type grappling or jiu jitsu type stuff.  There's a local class I've sent all my kids to that teaches these types of skills which are great for anyone at any age to know.  However, the class spends the majority of their time teaching them situational awareness to prevent them from getting into an altercation in the first place.  99.9% of self defense is not being in a place where you need to defend yourself.

LB will laugh at me, but each of my kids have pepper spray on their keychains as well.  It's pretty much the only self defense tool they can legally carry and I know it's not very likely to help much, but it's just another tool they can use if it comes to that.

Naw...pepper spray is an awesome weapon....I haven't seen many people fight through it.  I'm not giving my kids anything they can potentially use on me.

Haha!  Remember the days when you didn't dare come home and tell your dad you got beat up because you knew damn well he'd make you go back for more?  LOL

It was more fun to be a kid back then.

I earned a black belt and studied various forms and even taught a little myself.  I was SURE I would teach my kids everything I could when/if I have them.  I think my views have changed a bit on that some.

I probably can't help but to play around and show them some Jiu Jitsu but I'm thinking striking is out...

I sort of been putting it in the same camp as concealed carry for adults.  Here you have a perfectly good tool to defend yourself (gun for adults or fighting skills for kids) and you are NOT supposed to use them unless it's your last option?  Of course the advocates would say that a responsible gun owner or child with fighting skills would be able to, under pressure, determine that there are NO other options before pulling out the best and most practical tool out of their bag of tricks.

I guess I don't see that many people with that kind of discipline and restraint.  Probably only the professionally trained such as military and/or law enforcement.  Your every day kid/adult with those tools would probably use them WAY too fast during an incident.

Who is a 12yr old going to use a rear naked choke on besides friends/peers?  A full grown adult during an abduction or attempted assault?  No way.  Giving someone those kinds of skills with no REAL application for them could be asking for trouble because they WILL use them on such as the neighbor kid during a school yard scuffle.

If you have a nail to drive, and a hammer in your back pocket, even if you were told NOT to use the hammer, how many people are going to look for any other way to drive that nail?  Get a stick?  Use a rock?  Freeze a water in a can and use that?  You got a freaking HAMMER!  I find it very hard to believe that most people, under the pressure of conflict, can refrain from using the most practical tool in there possession.  If ALL they know is run/scream find an adult, that's what they would default to, which is also the most practical, IMO. 

Not gonna lie, it would be comical seeing someone trying to chase down "Jr."

Would they make it two blocks before passing out?

Marathon Man?

Is it safe?

My kid has been suspended from school twice (both in Middle School).  Both times the administrators said he didn't start it and was defending himself....once, admittedly, he "defended" himself a bit too far. 

I took him fishing both times. 

Of course, you are right eabeam, that's where we are with fighting in school as far as schools are concerned.  But I'm never going to care if my kids defend themselves, and I'm never going to worry that they will be expelled from school for defending themselves.  I deal with school fighting on the law enforcement end.....the courts, in ANY proceeding, civil or criminal, still uphold the right to defend oneself......school's won't ever get around that, no matter what rules they think they will adhere to or apply.

Yep......we haven't fallen that far off the table here in the Midwest.  If you punch someone here and get your arse whipped because of it we're still looking the other way...except in the schools. But even there, it's a precarious line to walk because the general public wants their kids to defend themselves....and like I said, the courts back that up.

I agree but there's also a difference in usage.  Martial arts for sport versus fighting for your life.  The sporting aspect can be great for keeping kids engaged in a healthy activity and out of trouble.

For their age, it's a perfect time to start training if they show an interest.  Like many other sports, (*cough* swimming) it's better if you pick it up when you're young.  In martial arts, a kid who is still growing will gain flexibility that can be very difficult to achieve for an adult who never trained.

I'm not a psychologist, but taking things to this extreme just doesn't seem healthy to me.  Kids are still kids and bullies are going to be bullies, so it seems like they're just taking it to different places such as cyber bullying and who knows what else.  If somebody gets pushed and pushed and pushed and the "system" gives them no possible way to release the anger rage in a fight or whatever, then it seems like we're indirectly encouraging them to let it build up until it's really bad.  Sometimes the best thing to fix a bully problem is to have somebody put that bully on his behind.

I'm not saying no fights allowed is the cause of kids shooting up a school but it seems to me that not allowing kids a less harmful method to get the steam out can't be a good thing.

Similar to LB I always told my kids to stand up for themselves and their friends.  They will never get punished for doing the right thing by us and I'll fight all the way to the supreme court to defend them if they get in any legal trouble for it.

And I agree with that.  Jr. took Tae Kwon Do for 4 years when he was a little guy.  It was back when our lives revolved around the YMCA and they actually had a really good instructor there.  I doubt he could use much of it today, but he knows how to throw a punch.  I think he got a green belt, or maybe orange....he had fun with it.  Like you said, it was all a part of us keeping our kids active, they got to choose what they did.