Before you enrol your child in any combat sport, ask better questions.

Combat sports can build confidence, coordination, discipline and belonging.

They can also cause real harm when run by people who don’t understand children, development, or risk.

That outcome depends entirely on who is in charge.


Here’s the due diligence every parent is responsible for doing.

1. What are the coach’s actual credentials?
Not who they trained under.
Not how long they’ve “been around gyms.”

Ask:

What formal training do you have in coaching children?

What education do you have in child development or adolescent psychology?

How do you stay up to date with safeguarding and best practice?

Elite athletes are not automatically safe youth coaches.
Performance experience ≠ developmental competence.

2. Do all adults hold a valid Working With Children Check?
This is not optional.
This is not “we’re like family.”

If they hesitate, deflect, or act offended by the question, that’s your answer.

3. What is your safety framework, not just your rules?
Ask specifically:

How do you manage head contact?

How do you prevent cumulative impact and overtraining?

What happens if a child becomes dysregulated, overwhelmed, or distressed mid-session?

Evidence is clear: repeated head trauma in developing brains carries risk.
Any gym that minimises this or jokes about it is not informed, it’s negligent.

4. How do you modify for different kids?
Because kids are not small adults.

Ask:

How do you adapt sessions for anxious kids?

Neurodivergent kids?

Kids with sensory sensitivities?

Kids who are impulsive or emotionally reactive?

If the answer is “they’ll toughen up” or “they just need discipline,” walk out.

That’s not coaching. That’s suppression.

5. How do you teach regulation, not just compliance?
There is a difference between:

A child who is calm

A child who is shut down

Ask:

How do you help kids recognise when their body is escalating?

What tools do you teach for calming, pausing, or resetting?

How do you model emotional control as an adult?

Children learn regulation through relationship and repetition, not fear.

6. What are your values and how are they enforced?
Not what’s written on the wall.
What actually happens on the floor.

Ask:

How do you address bullying, teasing, or dominance behaviour?

What happens when a child crosses a boundary?

How do you protect quieter or less confident kids?

Values only matter if they’re practiced when it’s inconvenient.

7. How do you communicate with parents?
Ask:

Will I be informed if my child is struggling emotionally?

Do you welcome questions or feedback?

How transparent are you about incidents or concerns?

Defensiveness is not professionalism.


This isn’t about being “overprotective.” It’s about being informed.

Parents outsource far too much authority to sport without checking whether the environment is actually designed for children.

Your child’s body, brain, and sense of safety are still developing.
The adults you hand them to matter.