August 8, 2008 at 9:07 am
timothyawiseman (8/8/2008)
Several people have mentioned martial arts, which is something I am interested in doing probably with my son when I have the time and money to do it. The question is, what is a good age to start introducing children to it
Depends on the art. Personally for aikido I recommend 15 or older, because it can be hard on the joints and cause problems if the children are too young. There are people that teach children's classes, but they are very, very different from the adult classes.
and how do you find good instructors?
Ask around. Word of mouth is about the best, then visit the club and watch a couple of sessions. If you don't feel comfortable, look elsewhere. I hate to say it, but there are a lot of really bad instructors around.
Gail Shaw
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August 8, 2008 at 9:12 am
timothyawiseman (8/8/2008)
Until this week, I did absolutely nothing. Then I got talked into preparing for a Marathon, so I started jogging each morning.Several people have mentioned martial arts, which is something I am interested in doing probably with my son when I have the time and money to do it. The question is, what is a good age to start introducing children to it and how do you find good instructors?
It really depends on the kid. A very, very, few can start at 4 or 5. Most aren't mature enough until at least 6 or 7. I let my own kid start at age 6, but I think that turned out to be a bit too young. We held him back at several belts so that he could mature a bit.
Finding a good school is tough. You have to decide what you want first. I wanted street oriented fighting skills for myself. For my kids I wanted discipline and a tough but not insane program. It took a while to find a good school. I went through two in my area and looked at five or six others before I settled in my current school. If you're in or near major metropolitan areas, you have a lot more to choose from, so you can find a perfect fit. Out in the burbs, there are tons of black belt factories, McKarate schools, baby sitting services that involve a ranking system, and stuff like that. A good school will provide you with just about any information you want and will let you take sample classes, with the general population, for free.
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August 8, 2008 at 9:19 am
timothyawiseman (8/8/2008)
Several people have mentioned martial arts, which is something I am interested in doing probably with my son when I have the time and money to do it. The question is, what is a good age to start introducing children to it and how do you find good instructors?
My son started at 4... attention spans are short then, so they need to gear the class towards 4 year olds.
Shop around, visit schools and see if you can attend a class or two to get an idea if its for you.
August 8, 2008 at 9:20 am
My daughter bikes to work until the snow starts in Pennsylvania. I'm in New Orleans and probably could bike to work - it's only 7 miles - if it weren't for the big bridge over the Mississippi River with the "no pedestrians / no bicycles" sign in between.
They have a Wellness Center here with shower facilities and I do "Lunch Crunch" (a 30 minute intense workout class) two days a week and a one hour mat Pilates class three days a week. And walk the dogs most evenings when it's not raining, which it does most afternoons in New Orleans in the summer.
I did high impact aerobic, free weights, step aerobics, all that stuff in my thirties and forties. But at 53, my knees can't take the impact any more. Pilates has roots in physical therapy, dance and yoga so it works really well for me. Lots of slow, controlled movements where I can't fall down and get hurt. Again. And the emphasis on core strength improves your posture so much it results in the appearance of having lost five pounds, whether you've actually lost weight or not!!
August 8, 2008 at 9:24 am
I mountain bike as well, but also with a family of small kids, so daylight hours are hard to come by, so I night ride. Mountain biking at night will definitely get the adrenalin going. I ride with about 10-12 other guys, mostly in the same situation. I also live close enough to work that I ride 5 days a week to the office (during the summer anyway) . I live in the Pacific Northwest so mountains are a plenty, but when the rainy season comes, I will have to find something else.
August 8, 2008 at 9:38 am
Martial arts is for Life not for Christmas.
If anyone like to introduce their kids for Martial arts better prepared to take up challnges and go through some tough phases too, which we all
enjoy as programmers and DBAs.
But, if you start and stop in few weeks/months time, the kid will think this is not something for him/her for rest of their life. Therefore, dont spoil it, if you are not prepared.
August 8, 2008 at 9:40 am
I don't do nearly enough. I love basketball and was playing 2 nights a week until I went traveling for a month in June and I haven't played since. I try to get out to the pool with my kids as often as possible after work, but living in in Central Florida the rain has been coming between 3 and 7 so by the time we could get out it's bed time. I'd like to get out and play tennis with my wife a couple times a week as well.
The hard thing for me is that we are active in our church as well so we have church on Sunday's, Worship Team (Band) on Monday's (both my wife and I), and Bible Study's and kids stuff on Wednesdays. Also my kids aren't old enough for us to leave them home (we live in an apartment) alone for the adults to go out without having a baby sitter which isn't cheap.
My son (7) is going to play flag football and I plan on helping out there so hopefully that'll get me going again. I know I need to lose like 30 lbs and need to get to it!
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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August 8, 2008 at 9:46 am
I have been officiating soccer since March 2003. I have started going to the gym on a regular basis finally back in June. I was getting myself ready for some soccer tournaments during July.
I will say that I have found that I am in better shape than I personally thought. I did the fitness test for AYSO's Advanced Referee and (at 48, almost 49) did quite well. Did the 50 meter dash in 7.5 sec, the 200 meter sprint in 26.91 sec, and ran almost 5.5 laps in 12 minutes. Did the first mile of that in 7:50. Probably could have made 6 laps in 12 minutes, but the heat from the track just made it difficult.
I also walk 2 miles a day at lunch to get my lunch at work.
I would love to get back into the martial arts as well. Was heavy into 25 years ago, and it actually saved me one day. No, I didn't get into a fight. well, actually I sort a did, got run down in a cross walk by an individual who decided to follow a truch through a RED LIGHT. I froze, but my body reacted. Awesome training for both mind and body the martial arts. Walked away with pulled shourlder and calf muscles. Not bad for getting hit at 45 MPH (okay the driver did put on her brakes, but didn't leave any skid marks).
😎
August 8, 2008 at 10:15 am
I used to be more active in my younger years and now that I am approaching the big 40 with two young kids (4 and 2 years old) I find myself struggling to keep an active lifestyle. Now that my little one is easier to handle and I have a little bit of free time to myself, i've started slowly getting back into moving around. A co-worker and I take a walk every morning for 15 minutes and then if my lunch hour is not too crazy, i go to the gym. I've always wanted to do a triathalon and another co-worker of mine is really into that so I have been inspired and I'm training to do my first sprint triathalon (translation=mini triathalon!) sometime this year. I've always been a runner and used to run 3 miles on my treadmill 3-4 times a week and run the trails whenever I could get outside. I really enjoy running outside on the trails much more than on my treadmill! My husband and I used to go hiking alot and we are looking forward to start that up again now that the boys are older.
I agree that getting some kind of exercise is a great way to get the circulation going and clear the mind. Just walking 15 minutes a day gets the blood pumping and sometimes helps me come back to my desk and say "oh....so that's why those darn backups have been failing!"... :w00t:
Happy Friday!
Isabelle
Thanks!
Bea Isabelle
August 8, 2008 at 10:18 am
I bike to work everyday and even though my commute is only 1.5 miles one way, I still feel the benefit of biking if I don't do any other exercise (I'm sure riding uphill on the way home helps).
I also take fitness classes 3-4 days a week, which are in the middle of the day. I take a yoga class 1-2 times a week and cardio kickboxing class 2-3 times a week. I've found that I like working out just before lunch better than in the morning or evening. That way I get a few hours of work in, take a break to work out and then eat lunch, and then work the rest of the day. I'm lucky enough to have a flexible schedule that allows me to take some time during the middle of the day and I realize that's not an option for everyone, but would encourage people to try it if they can. Even just taking a short walk before lunch helps - everyone knows how we can get sleepy after eating and I avoid that by working out just before lunch.
I'm also active on weekends and enjoy hiking, mountain biking, skiing and backpacking.
August 8, 2008 at 11:39 am
Great topic!
The importance of maintaining good health really hit home after the birth of our daughter.
Myself, I bike 2 or 3 times a week. I usually don't go farther than 6 or 7 miles, but it is hilly where I live and I ride very hard. Other than that, I do some weights, exercise ball stuff and core training things. I also golf, without a cart. An average 18 hole course is 2 or 3 miles of walking, and with my errant shot patterns I walk more than that 😉
August 8, 2008 at 11:48 am
My wife started playing World of Warcraft with me. She likes to write, so she started a pre-penance: she has to write at least 100 words before she can play, she normally exceeds it handily. Me, my pre-penance is studying for my certs or doing the elliptical trainer. School resumes in a few weeks, so that'll be bicycling three days a week. If that works out, perhaps I'll start riding to work when the weather is good.
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August 8, 2008 at 11:50 am
Glad to see someone like me, also play badminton twice a week!
If there is some conflict in the schedule, I will swim or running to compensate to myself.
After all those activities become part of daily life, it is much easier to migrate to activity in DBA. I could not image how could I keep up my job without activity in sports.
thanks for your article, Steve, that is why I like this web site!
David
August 8, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I play adult coed soccer in the spring and fall (northern Cali). Over 18 league so sprinting around against a bunch of young ones kicks your butt pretty quick. Always a shortage of women to play so I usually get in 2 games. Nothing like 180 minutes of running to give you an endorphin high for the week. Plus like others have mentioned it is a great way to get out any aggression or frustration. In addition to that, I try to run a couple times a week. During season I coach my son's soccer team. I also play futsal (which is kind of an indoor soccer - really fast, 5 players, 20 min halves on a basketball court). It is great. My assistant plays soccer too so we had a team that my work sponsored and gained a couple more players (either spouses, children or employees) from the group.
I have two boys 11 and 7 and they keep me pretty busy. I coached my youngest' basketball team last season too. We play lots of hide and seek tag and go to the river and the lake during the summer. It rains a lot here so I have some dumbbells too in the event I need some firming up or feel my rear flattening out after sitting at a desk all day 😛
During the winter my boys and I snowboard too.
Great posts. It's always fun to see what others do.
August 9, 2008 at 8:58 pm
That sounds like good advice, Steve. I know he's too young now, but I'll keep looking out as he gets a little bit older. Thanks.
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Timothy A Wiseman
SQL Blog: http://timothyawiseman.wordpress.com/
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