Aloha Blast,

Good thinking on your part. I don't know if I would decide on something based on age. I feel that more depends on your child, the teacher, and your involvement.

I was watching these young kids in China on the Discovery channel and some of those kids who look like they are 4-5 years old can probably kick my butt. Well ok, not really. But if they keep it up, maybe in a year they could.

How involved do you plan on being? My theory is to find a school or teacher that will allow the adults and the children to have classes at the same time, even if they are segregated. That way you do it together versus you go to one class and your child goes to another. You would be surprised how much more and better they learn if they see you doing it too. Especially if they see you doing it wrong and making corrections.

Some people can teach kids and some can't. So you gotta do your homework.

When my daughter was two, a strange guy on the elevator tried to touch her (on her head). After that, my wife asked me to start teaching my daughter some martial arts, like blocking and hitting. I thought about it long and hard and started to make up games to play with my daughter that taught her avoidance, maintaining spacing without looking or turning away, how to get attention, etc. And we played them. Then we talked about strangers, to say NO, to get away, to always let mommy and daddy know what is going on, etc. A great book, by the way, is "The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers."

I think a good set of martial arts for kids, especially girls is a combination of Aikido and Wing Chun. Aikido to teach how to fall and how to use someone else's energy. Wing Chun also teaches how to use someone else's energy and also correct body mechanics, teaches how to get inside (where most people are uncomfortable and girls will more likely find themselves in a defense situation), and how to hit fast, hard and in combinations. By the way, Wing Chun was invented by a nun.

For a girl especially, I think these things are good to learn. That is what I am having my girls learn. And I have to and want to do it with them. I am fortunate to have found a good instructor for not only me, but for my girls. I am doing private lessons three times a week and my older daughter will be starting private lessons together with my twice a week.

Good luck!! Gotta get that martial arts training in before the boys start to come around for real.