In the Dojo office I often get parents asking “What is the appropriate age my child can start martial arts?” and my answer is always “It depends!”. Sure, I do understand that parents want a simple answer so they can finish the conversation and go on with their day but the answer is unfortunately not as simple as they might think.

The answer depends on three variables:

1-Type of the martial art itself

Taekwondo, Judo, Aikido, Hapkido, etc. take children at an early age. Some dojos accept children at the age of 4, but I have heard of some martial arts programs accepting kids at the age of 3, but those programs are not meant for hard training and fine technique, the classes are tailored for the children to discover their bodies and learn coordination.

On the other hand Krav Maga schools don’t accept children until the age of 15, some of them until the age of 18. This is due to the fact that Krav Maga is a military self-defense discipline developed by the Israeli army.