Freestyle wrestling as an athletic activity for young children.
Freestyle wrestling is close to classic, or Greco-Roman wrestling, but includes moves with or against legs. It is an Olympic sport, and also a good sport for kids to keep them physically active, coordinated and safe. It is also good for one's self esteem. It is really hard to bully a child who knows he can topple the bully. He will never do it, because wrestling belong to training sessions, but he will know he can. And believe me, a bully knows, too.
My husband was a competitive freestyle wrestler. He teaches our children and their friends freestyle wrestling since our daughter was five and our older son three, for two years now. Our daughter's new partner for last two months is a ten-years-old boy. He is three years older and much stronger than her, but he cannot win over her yet: her training gives her that much of advantage. And my five-year-old son can actually topple me using the move that gives advantage to a shorter person. This firsthand experience tells me that young children can be very good in freestyle wresting. I didn't see anything comparable in children who would do any other form of martial arts in this age.
Freestyle wrestling is a full-contact sport, on one hand. That means that there is no guessing who is a better wrestler. Teaching small children control, as in karate, can be confusing for them. Before my husband decided to teach children himself, I looked around for some martial arts program for kids, and I saw several open classes in karate and taequando. I was under an impression that children are taught to dance with no music, not to defend themselves. Or attack, for that matter. That is because karate's moves are potentially very dangerous, and as such cannot be properly taught safely. Freestyle wrestling is as safe as sport goes: there are no punches, kicks, or joint manipulation. Freestyle wrestling engage whole body, and the training includes practicing falls and trauma prevention. Besides, wrestling is a martial art closest to what primates or untrained men do instinctively when they fight.