I don't recall paying anything for gradings, the only thing we paid was a little bit of money to go towards renting the space.

I'd start my kid with jui jitsu but most importantly gymnastics .

jui jitsu is great because you can choke anyone the **** out at anytime and is great for self defense and self confidence. gymnastics is the best because they are pretty much the most elite athletes out there

Judo has the highest injury rate of any martial art.

For women, BJJ with some muay thai or boxing is best. At the end of the day though, nothing beats a good edged weapons art like the many kali styles out there like Pekiti Tirsia, Sayoc Kali, Atienza Kali etc.

To be honest you dont need any martial art. Just buy yourself a copy of Bas Rutten street fighting

Teaching a young child edged weapons martial arts for self defence/self confidence seems a little strange.

Judo has a high injury rate because you actually spar at full speed, this is necessary if you want your training to be effective. There's no point in spending 7 years kicking the air and learning Kata's if you want to actually be able to defend yourself.

BJJ is great but I feel the judo takedowns would be more useful than the more technical groundwork in BJJ when talking about a childs self defence. Judo training starts from standing and most BJJ starts from the knees or guard/mount position (especially in the early years) so is less useful for self defence.

Boxing and strength conditioning. Being strong will give him confidence and having the ability to react with fast controlled punches will give him the best chances of not getting hurt in a fight.

Lifting (relatively) heavy weights is a highly undervalued form of training.

kid should always carry a basket ball with him. A chest pass to the face will end things real quick

WWE Smackdown school

just watching MMA makes you into a great fighter, I imagine I would rank in top 15 flyweights if I decided to fight in UFC since I've watched so many UFC Fight Nights and PayPerView events.

Why would you want me to tell you about martial arts? I know nothing about it.

I've always wanted to take MMA classes to get in shape, and self defense. I have been watching videos online about technique and ways to train. I have a few things for boxing that I had a while ago when I would work out (Heavy bag, Speed bag). Its kind of hard to train MMA by myself without using a sparring partner, but do you guys have any advice that I can use while working out?

Nephew's mom should consider training in Bukakke.

Bas ruttens audio workouts are popular, many pro fighters have used them as the basis of their cardio training.

http://www.amazon.com/Bas-Rutten-MMA.../dp/B0013Z4R78

If their are no specific MMA classes locally look for BJJ, Judo, Wrestling or Muay thai

kempo/kenpo will get the kid

Yes it did. I used a judo throw on a guy who grabbed me from behind trying to mug me when I was in my early 20's. It happened pretty quick and i had flipped him over and locked into a suppression hold and told him i was going to rip his arm off if he moved. Someone had called the Police and they got there in about a minute.

I had another guy take a swing at me about 10 yrs ago in a bar. I knew it was coming. I blocked the punch and stepped into an open palm shove and pretty much put him through the wall.

Training kicks in and it seems like it's in slow motion. I am sure you have heard Police officers and soldiers on TV talking about how firefights are in slow motion.
You become more enlightened the deeper you go and can sense trouble when it's going to happen. I just find in this day and age you have to keep alert with all of the **** going on.
Once you get a routine going you usually spar at full speed.
You always have to try and keep 3 moves ahead of your assailant.