In the US? Neither, FFS. It’s all McDojos as far as the eye can see…

Lots of great answers here. I was a martial arts instructor for 5 years. Small school is good advice. For kids I think parental involvement is important. Make time to attend class and tournaments if they can.

As for the martial art itself I don’t think it matters much at 6 years of age. They are there for a bit of fun. The important philosophies that come with most martial arts come with time and practice but thats not what keeps most students that age intrested. If you have a bit of time check out a couple clubs and see how the kids are doing. Fun is key at that age. You can always switch clubs when/if she gets serious. Inspire the interest in how the body moves and the beauty of the art she chooses.

All that being said i think Judo or Jujutsu/Jujitsu are great for womens self defense. Newaza (ground techniques) in particular.

The principal in Judo is to use your attackers energy and weight against them. The girls I have taught showed a deeper understanding of the techniques than the boys. Relying on technique rather than force. Kano Jigoro Sensei said that women do judo correctly. Not force meets force but yielding to force in a manor in which to control the energy that has been given.

In Judo chokes (shime waza), and joint locking (kansetsu waza) arent taught till 13. I think these are important for women to know. I think in BJJ (jujitsu) they teach them sooner but lack the fundamentals of takedowns or throwing (nage waza) that Judo is famous for.

Both Taekwondo and Judo are Olympic sports so there is a path there if she so chooses.

Some karate clubs teach some of the basic and most effective judo throw’s as they share the same roots.

Taekwondo is beautiful and flashy. Great areal techniques that for the most part aren’t favoured in the Japanese arts where a firm grounding derives good center.

There is no Atemi waza (striking techniques) in judo outside of kata.

The right Judo club will instill the idea of building a better self through discipline and confidence. There is so much wisdom that Kano Jigoro Sensei handed down in his principals. Respect, honor, kindness and community are just the basics. Really an amazing man.

Judo is taught in the Japanese language. Not the entire class but all the important names are Japanese which might lend itself to a second language.

Here is a short video of one of my hero’s, Ryoko Tani considered to be one of the best to have ever touched tatami. Multiple time Olympic champion and multiple worlds champion. @ 1:52 she randori’s with Koga, one of the best male Judoka of my generation. Effortlessly taking him off his feet with what looks like a seoinage variant. Beautiful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENyec0SD870

Sorry for plugging Judo here but it’s what I know and a deep passion of mine.

Whatever she chooses is great and a start to a deeper understanding of how her body moves, how to capitalize on her strength’s and weaknesses. A journey that i have found very rewarding. I hope she does too.

Take her to both (or maybe even more) classes and see what she likes best. I trained TaeKwon-Do when I was a kid, it was great exercise and my teacher was very military like so it taught me some discipline, plus he really leaned into teaching the 5 Tenets of TaeKwon-Do. As a teenager I also trained some Karate with a random guy who ran a sushi place and had very Mr. Miyagi vibes, he was also big into zen philosophy. I’ve trained lots of other stuff as well, but at the end of the day it’s all to do with what you want out of it, if it’s just to have fun whatever she prefers will be best, if it’s to teach her self defense possibly Krav Maga or MMA will be the best options, Krav Maga is very focused on self-defense with lots of stuff that would be illegal in most other martial arts, and MMA is the most well rounded rules bound martial arts there is, it essentially borrows from all of the others to train you into being good at all.

I did both TKD and Ishin Ryu Karate as a kid: I think either or both would be fine really.

More important is the teacher and how the kid gets along with them/the class.

I would also stress that neither are ideal for practical self defense, so if that ever becomes the goal, look at something like Muay Thai, boxing, or Jiu Jitsu.

At that age it is all about the trainer(s). Personality, positive attitude, empathy etc.

The kind of sport is not important at all. You can change easily after a half year or a year if it was seriously the wrong one (but even then I predict that it is more because of the trainer than the sport itself)

At six years old it’s about the gym, coaches, and culture rather than the specific martial art. Find one you like and your kid is enthusiastic to keep attending. As someone who worked at a gym for a while and kinda know the various business strategies, make sure you factor in costs of testing, tournaments, equipment, etc. and not just monthly membership. Some have big monthly rates. Some are low but charge for every little thing.

If a kid really gets into martial arts and wants it to be their Main Hobby, it’s good for them to try various arts anyway.

I had a very good experience with Tae Kwon Do as a youth, taught me skills I still use daily. Make sure you find a gym that focuses on teaching, not just moving kids through the belts.

My 6yo staryed Tai Kwon Do and still does 2y later. The nice thing about it is that there are different disciplines. Style or fighting. So they find something they like. He also said that he needs it now. Although after a year he wanted to quit. He stuck with it and now he misses it if he misses training. Don’t know karate. For what it’s worth.

It depends a lot by the style and the trainer. I was training Go-Ju style Karate for 9 years and had a positive experience, while I had a negative one with a different style years before. All martial arts has a lot of different styles that can be very different between them. In my opinion the important thing is to find a school that doesn’t have too much people and where she can be actively followed by the trainer. Then, it also depends if you are looking for a sport/competitive experience or something more traditional. In my case we were training it as a martial art and went rarely to competitions.

Is there a way to try out both and see which one the child prefers? Maybe the clubs have some open door events in the autumn?

I did karate and judo around that age. It was mostly about games and having fun. Not really about the techniques etc. Definitely not about self defense or things adults relate these kind of sports to.