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What will a 4 yr old get out of it? They'll have fun and be active but will they learn anything worth the cost?

I saw some kids doing karate in masks, outside of a dojo, under a tarp in the parking lot. It made me mad. California.

In my opinion it's never too early to start martial training.

The whole evolutionary purpose behind tickling is to teach your children to protect their vulnerable areas.

I actually taught martial arts to kids close to this age group (I think it was 5 or 6 and up). Don't do it.

It's a waste of your time and their time AND if you get some shitty behaved kids in there, your kid could get seriously hurt. I had no say on which kids were allowed in class, and spent most of my time trying to pair myself with the shitty behaved kids to avoid them hurting the good kids. (I'm sure you can't possibly guess the race of the bad kids).

Most of the kid stuff was just to wear them out - run here and hit a pad, run there and do jumping jacks, run here etc. But they were taught a few BJJ things like arm bars, which is where the bad kids were waiting to do their damage.

Also, BJJ is extremely limited, and I would encourage you to find a school that teaches both stand up AND ground defense. BJJ is all about getting someone on the ground. On the ground is a very.bad.place.to.be. Especially if you are a girl. It doesn't matter how much training you have, if a guy even the same size as your daughter is on top of her, she's pretty much toast. I would personally strongly encourage checking out the Philippino martial arts (Kali, Silat, Panatukan) as those are about anything as a weapon, strong standing and ground game, and considers the single defender against multi-attacker.

I'd say if you have a very mature 10 year old, and a really good school, she could start at 10 and find value, but it may be better to delay till more like 12-13 and have her work with the adult and teen classes. Regardless, sit in and observe classes before signing her up. Any legit school will welcome a parent who wants to observe, and not wanting you to watch is the first sign of a pedo-playground. (Sadly, they are definitely out there)

The MA schools that offered kids programmes that I've known were all essentially baby sitting or after school care. They'd do MA training but frankly it was mostly viewed as another revenue stream by the school. Some of them were quite elaborate too, offering pick up/drop off and meals.

Every kid is different, of course, but to the vast majority of kids under 10 putting them in a MA school is not going to have any long term influence. Besides at that age setting an example, as you're already doing at home, is going to do more to instill proper attitudes than any school ever will.

Source the wife has owned several day cares over the years and for a while had a MA programme available for parents who wanted it.

Others have already given you good reason to wait on jiujitsu. But I would like to suggest gymnastics if you're wanting to put her in something to socialize her.

The best part about gymnastics is it's regarded as white people things and really isn't glorified on TV, so odds are you can find a really good place that isn't held back by the lowest common denominator.

I really enjoyed it for both of my oldest ones when they were at that age. My husband was often deployed and it gave me an hour and a half to myself twice a week.

I don't recommend dance, though. I think it's a total waste of time(and money). It was incorporated into the gymnastics where we were and I liked the teacher enough to put up with it.

Sounds like a pedo hunting prey

I think you are better starting with a basic movement program, like some of the early sports groups offer. Your child needs to develop basic motor skills at four. She has plenty of time, what’s important now is to get her into something she enjoys that’s fun. That’s the most important, make it fun. You need to build a positive association with exercise.

Most disciplines I’ve seen start at six. I would caution against serious fighting before that age, she doesn’t need it. Also, the best form of defence for a girl is being able to run away. Get her running.. real life isn’t a zog movie.