01The short answer
02The second sport, before adolescence
The American Academy of Pediatrics writes, in its 2016 clinical report on sports specialization, that participating in multiple sports, at least until puberty, decreases the chances of injuries, stress and burnout in young athletes. Sport for Life, the Canadian long-term development body, puts it another way: early specialization makes no sense if the aim is healthy, lifelong participation rather than the podium. Basketball is a sport of ball, running and jumping, played five a side under a high hoop; karate is a sport of low stances, with no ball, trained in a group and presented alone.
The first teaches reading four teammates and five opponents; the second teaches holding a stance, striking and blocking on both sides, and watching a single partner in front. Two sports that do not resemble each other, and that is the point.
03A complete programme, in the same hour
What the hour contains does not depend on the score. In the WKO Shinkyokushinkai first-year textbook, an examination covers kihon, ido geiko, kata, conditioning (knuckle push-ups, jumping squats), flexibility and kumite. Six subjects presented and graded together, in an hour where everyone does everything — kihon in lines, moving basics, the form, the push-ups and the squats, flexibility — under the instructor’s eye. That is the sense in which karate is complete.
The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities gives each described activity a MET value — a multiple of the energy spent at rest. A basketball game is listed at 8.0 and shooting baskets at 5.0; karate at a moderate pace is at 10.3, and a beginner’s slower practice at 5.3. These values describe an activity as it was observed, not your class or your game: a beginners’ class is closer to karate’s 5.3 at a slower pace than to 10.3. The figure places an hour at the dojo run at a good pace above a game; What training in Kyokushin is like describes what fills that hour.
04What the dojo adds for a basketball player
Time on the floor. A game is played five a side, and each player’s minutes depend on the coach, the score and the size of the roster: that is the rule of the game, not a reproach. At the dojo the bench question does not arise — the kids’ programme says it in one line: everyone progresses at their own pace, on their own abilities.
Height. Under a hoop at 3.05 m, height counts; our groups are formed by age and by level. A child small for their age and a tall one work the same stances, in the same line, and present the same examination.
Progress. The team’s standing is collective; the ten kyu to the black belt are the child’s own — Kyokushin karate belts describes them — and the child alone passes them.
05The gym season
If your basketball season is the school-gym season, winter is busy and summer is free: that is the simple moment to try. If the child plays year-round, look at the week rather than the season — one karate class a week is a start, and the trial class is there to see the reaction, not to decide on the spot. The dojo is open five days a week, indoors, all year.
06Basketball keeps its coach
Shooting, dribbling, passing and reading a defence are learned at the gym, and this page does not promise a better rebound. What karate brings, it brings for its own sake: a technical catalogue, a partner in front, and a form to present. The questions parents ask before a first class are answered on Kyokushin for kids.
07On Nuns’ Island, in practice
The dojo is at 550 chemin du Golf, suite 010, on Nuns’ Island (Verdun), and also serves LaSalle, Pointe-Saint-Charles and the Sud-Ouest. Children train from age 4 to 13, adults from 14, five days a week: the schedule gives the groups and times, the pricing page the monthly rates.
The first class is a free trial, and there is nothing to buy beforehand: comfortable clothes and a bottle of water are enough — what to bring to your first class has the list.
Come and try a class
A free trial class on Nuns’ Island, for children from age 4 and adults from 14.
Book a free trial class