I told DD1, "Watch and learn" then snuck up behind DW, tackled her and began tickling her.

Ah, the pains a father will endure for his children...

-Blast

Very nice....

Let's see... At the pint size, scream, bite, kick, run like hell variety.

As far as Japanese martial arts goes, I would avoid anything that ends with "do" which means "the way of" and rather choose the "jutsu" variation which means "the art of".

The difference is that jutsu martial arts are more genuine and closer to their true martial (war) origins while the "do" versions are more adapted to competition thus they left out lethal techniques in favor of sports.

A good example would be Kendo versus Kenjutsu. In Kendo they use light bamboos to fight, while in Kenjutsu they practice more with a real sword and you get used to the weight of the real sword.

Same thing for Judo versus Jujutsu. For serious self defense purposes I would go with Jujutsu where you learn really dangerous tricks while in Judo they removed these tricks so that competition and olympiads are safer.

The one exeption would be Aikido because there's always a simulating aggressor so it's closer to self-defense because they use real life situations.

I would avoid Korean Taikwondo, it's really based around combat competition nowadays where the goal is to gaining points instead of pragmatically neutralize your aggressor and they really favor kicks instead of punches because it originates from a nordic environment with vast valleys and plenty of room for acrobatic kicks and they also had to deal with horse riders. Southern styles like chinese kungfu favors punches and low kicks because they would fight in more cluttered environments like on boats and quays, and would be more suitable for urban self-defense.

But 3 years old is young. I would go for generic self-defense classes aimed at young children.

What's scary is she's less than two months away from turning five now. Damn, who sped up the Universe!

-Blast

Blast,

I think they kicked in warp drive. My oldest is now 11 (almost 12) but it seems like just yesterday they were born! I won't have even figured out how to be a Dad and they will be on their own. Maybe you figure out what to do when you have grandkids?

Depends on the instructor. While many North American-trained instructors are pushing the sport rather than the martial art, there are still true practitioners out there, usually older Korean men who are first-generation immigrants.

The Grandmaster from whom I learned was a South Korean army instructor first, and he never forgot it. While the kids' classes still focused on the fun, the advanced adult classes were a whole different animal. Bruises and the occasional bloody nose and loosened tooth were teaching tools, and "light contact" could mean anything short of broken ribs.

I got knocked around (when others' control slipped), knocked people around (when mine was lacking) and learned that getting hit hard really doesn't hurt until later.

TKD does lack a close-combat function, but most Grandmasters know hapkido (borrowed aikido that is much less pretty and focuses on crippling rather than submission) and a lot of them have a bit of judo as well. I'd love to find a good judo instructor, but it's hard in a rural area.

Depends on your view - although the skillset in judo is restricted, it is honed through plenty of mat time, and reasonably safely.

Consequently, most judoka can pull off their techniques under pressure against someone who is resisting.

(I am aware that this is a big issue of contention in the martial arts - read Matt Thorntons view on 'Aliveness' on the SBGi website for one side of the discussion.)

I'd interject here about comparison of the various disciplines, but then it will start to sound like those old B&W Hong Kong movies:

"Your fu is no good, my master's 'kicking crane' fu will destroy your worthless 'tiger paw' fu."

It's like this....you will use what you know, use it with the greatest intensity (force) to get the situation resolved, regardless of style, technique, ancientness, sportiness, combat-effectiveness, or whatever. These various skills are no different than the EDC/PSK you carry. You have to make do with whatever you have.

Final note: We were talking about a 3-yr old, now 5-yr old. They need to learn to make alot of noise when approached by a stranger and run like mad when they do.