We were swarmed by mini-Hulkies today with a steady stream starting around 5pm and then continuing till about 10pm. I estimate that we have about 20 members who are under the age of 17 and tonight it felt like they all came out and stayed extra long. Around 10pm there were a handful of them and so we decided to treat them to an impromptu pizza party.
The young members are awesome but I've become kind of like the main coach to them so it can be very exhausting because with them being so young brings extra responsibility, an extra attention to detail needed as well as extra energy required. They're more likely to get into trouble and/or hurt themselves and it's never cool when someone gets hurt. We don't want anyone, young or old, to get injured. Thankfully most of our injuries are experienced in the ring, during sparring, and usually consist of bruised eyes, bloody noses and the occasional bruised ego.
Fridays are Free Train days but this somewhat gets ignored when mini-Hulkies show up for training. We really don't let our mini-Hulkies just do whatever; we're always sure to plan them something so that they're not just wandering around the club. I don't know what the parents of our mini-Hulkies think we're doing with their son or daughter but I can only assume they think we're giving them our full attention and that's really what we try to do. I was hesitant at the start of our business as to whether or not I'd put an age restriction on our membership, not only because there is a lot of potential safety hazards and a whack of potential accidents waiting to happen, but also because it didn't sit well with me, the notion that I was going to have to teach young children about exercising and dieting. We never did put an age restriction on our membership but I never did expect to be signing up a 6 year old for a membership.
I don't think it's particularly healthy for a child that young to be exercising hard and worrying about what they eat. I think it really makes a negative impact not only on their growth development but also their psychological development and relationships they have with their body, food, and self esteem. Moreover, a 6 year old does not make their food, their parent and other adults, like the school cafeteria, does. It's more so about educating the parents and adults in their life who do make their food choices for them. Consequently, I don't talk to my mini-Hulkies about dieting -- I don't even use that word, "dieting". Dieting has such negative vibes to it and comes attached with the idea that it's a temporary fix, a short term thing flooded with restrictions. I've always been a fan of clean eating -- maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle that is exactly that, a lifestyle and not a temporary band aid. So instead of talking to my mini-Hulkies directly about their food choices, we try to introduce them to healthy alternatives and gear their attention to food that is healthy and fun. Every so often I'll prepare post-training snacks for our mini-Hulkies but lately our protein shakes have really been a fun post-training treat they've been requesting. I usually pose a challenge to them or make a competition out of an activity and the winner gets to pick what goes in the shake. I use to say the winner got the shake but I never could bring myself to give just one of them a shake and then have the others watch on as the one drank it. It seemed rather cruel so now the winner gets to pick what the snack is or what goes in the shake.
I always try to make games and silly competitions for our mini-Hulkies to do, as a means of keeping training fun. I thought if they saw it as something fun then they wouldn't realise they were actually working out. However, what I found was that some of them do really want to workout like the "big kids", like our other Hulkies. Perhaps it gives them a sense of pride that they can do something that the older members can do, perhaps it makes them feel grown up, or perhaps it just makes them feel a part of the club and no different than the others, I don't know. What I do know though is that many of our mini-Hulkies love doing regular exercise but that they're also quick to resort back to their age and swing on the ropes in between sets.
Free Train Fridays are by far the most physical draining day for me not only because I manage the club by myself but because of the mini-Hulkies and my own training. Mini-Hulkies have come to regard our Free Train Fridays as Fun Train Fridays on account that, because there are usually less members training on Fridays, I tend to make more elaborate games and activities for them to participate in. It's really hard to organise an obstacle course when the club is packed with Hulkies training. But on a Friday, when the attendance is lower, I pretty much the whole club space to play with and use. Whether it's an all-out mini Olympics with them throwing medicine balls like it were shot put, three-legged races or weighed soccer, Fridays are always the highlight of the week for many of them as it is for me.
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