WHY IS IMPERIAL COMBAT ARTS ADULTS ONLY?
Imperial Combat Arts has always been an adult only school; the main reason for this is that we teach Combat Training. Our Teachers see it as inappropriate to teach minors how to use Weapons (Knives, Clubs, Firearms, etc) or to train them in martial arts designed for use in battle. Even our own children start off with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing, and Muay Thai as their first arts, but may be able to enter combat training early, depending on their maturity.
Small children, under the age of 13 or so, are not physically able to fight trained adults, with very few exceptions. Some teenagers physically may be as strong as most men, but still the critical thinking parts of their brains are not fully developed, and they’re more likely to make serious mistakes of judgement. This is the main reason for most laws that restrict minors such as drinking, driving alone, age of consent, or having unsupervised access to firearms. This is also why there are usually lesser charges for minors who commit crimes. There is a lot of science on when the brain fully develops, which is around 25 years old, however people do mature at somewhat different rates.
There is a lot of responsibility that comes with combat training and the use of weapons; one has to exercise good judgement in their employ of this kind of training in real scenarios. It is not illegal to teach minors weapon or combat training, and martial arts Instructors in the U.S. may not be legally liable for students’ misuse of martial arts. However at Imperial Combat Arts we hold ourselves morally responsible for the students we teach, the impact their choices may have on the lives of others, and their own lives.
We do encourage anyone under the age of 18 that is interested in training at Imperial Combat Arts to be active, get in shape, and train sports based or traditional martial arts in the meantime. It will help a lot with their progression later. While we do have Instructors who teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Boxing throughout the week at Imperial Combat Arts, those classes are still restricted to adults, at least for the time being. There may come a time where these classes become accessible to teenagers 13+ at some locations.
Small children, under the age of 13 or so, are not physically able to fight trained adults, with very few exceptions. Some teenagers physically may be as strong as most men, but still the critical thinking parts of their brains are not fully developed, and they’re more likely to make serious mistakes of judgement. This is the main reason for most laws that restrict minors such as drinking, driving alone, age of consent, or having unsupervised access to firearms. This is also why there are usually lesser charges for minors who commit crimes. There is a lot of science on when the brain fully develops, which is around 25 years old, however people do mature at somewhat different rates.
There is a lot of responsibility that comes with combat training and the use of weapons; one has to exercise good judgement in their employ of this kind of training in real scenarios. It is not illegal to teach minors weapon or combat training, and martial arts Instructors in the U.S. may not be legally liable for students’ misuse of martial arts. However at Imperial Combat Arts we hold ourselves morally responsible for the students we teach, the impact their choices may have on the lives of others, and their own lives.
We do encourage anyone under the age of 18 that is interested in training at Imperial Combat Arts to be active, get in shape, and train sports based or traditional martial arts in the meantime. It will help a lot with their progression later. While we do have Instructors who teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Boxing throughout the week at Imperial Combat Arts, those classes are still restricted to adults, at least for the time being. There may come a time where these classes become accessible to teenagers 13+ at some locations.