Can Two Year Olds Do Karate?

Two-year-olds will often express interest in karate or other martial arts, especially if they have a family member who practices or their favorite television programs feature kicks and punches. Most 2-year-olds, however, are not mature enough to begin formal martial arts study. They lack the developmental abilities, the patience and the social skills to begin to learn a complex skill like karate.

Toilet Training

Most karate classes for young children require that the child be toilet trained. A good guideline is that the child should have gone three to six months without a daytime "accident" before beginning karate training. Most 2-year-olds haven't yet reached that benchmark.

Physical Coordination

Karate training requires a student to be able to balance on one leg for kicking. Many 3-year-olds have developed the ability to kick balls and hop, but most 2-year-olds still struggle. The coordination required to pivot on the heel of the foot, pivot while standing on one leg, step and punch at the same time, and block and punch at the same time is a challenge for older children and even adults. A 2-year-old, no matter how mature, will not be able to perform these basic skills.

Attention Span

Most karate classes for preschool children are shorter than those for school-age children. They feature shorter activities and place fewer stresses on a child's attention span. Nonetheless, they still require students to focus on a single task for three to five minutes. They also begin to introduce the children to independent practice. Two-year-olds typically don't have the attention span for these kinds of demands.

Social Skills

Many 2-year-olds can follow simple directions but don't have the language abilities to learn skills that are described to them. In fact, it's not uncommon for 2-year-olds to refuse to follow directions even when they understand them. Sometimes known as the "terrible twos," the time between 24 and 36 months is often a time of temper tantrums. Three-year-olds can begin to learn to cooperate with others and obey instructions from adults. Two-year-olds simply want what they want, a trait that can destroy all order in a preschool karate class.

Empathy

Children do not typically begin to learn empathy until age 3. Two-year-olds might be able to mimic television characters' kicks and punches but typically aren't able to imagine the pain using those kicks and punches causes in other people. Part of karate is knowing when not to punch, when to pull a technique and how hard to hit. A 2-year-old doesn't have the emotional development to ask whether his behavior is hurting a training partner.