There are plenty of reasons why partents enroll their children into a martial arts program and here are the top seven:
#7 Self-Defense
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) will give your child a REAL means of self-defense. Bullying will always be an issue and Jiu Jitsu will give your child more confidence; which is the NUMBER ONE “Bully Deterrent”. Bullies can sense a confident or timid child and they always pick on the timid child. In addition to gaining confidence, your child will learn moves that will help them defend and escape physical confrontations if their attempt to avoid the altercation at all costs fails.
#6 Goal Setting and Completion
There are many life lessons learned on the mats during class that spill over into their everyday life. Setting and Completing Goals are two prime examples as BJJ gives you numerous opportunities to test and measure your progress. Whether is training and gaining ground on skilled teammates, earning stipes and new belts or entering a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament, the student will be able to see their progress, though at times it may feel as if that are not making any. Through the learning process in Jiu Jitsu, you learn to reach a little farther and work a little bit harder each day. The goal every day is to improve by 1%.
#5 Fitness and the “Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle”
BJJ provides a fun and demanding cardiovascular workout for your child and they will LOVE doing it. Through BJJ they will lose weight, gain core strength, and have more energy and stamina for demanding activities. In addition, they will be easier to put to bed after giving it their “all” in class. The term “Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle” has been coined in BJJ to describe the way many practitioners learn to live. Because Jiu Jitsu can be demanding physically, living a healthy life becomes a necessity. Eating healthy foods, sleeping correctly, and stretching daily for body maintenance is vital. This will help you to get more out of yourself, your training and help you use what you’ve learned on and off the mat. Just Google “Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle” and you will see what I’m talking about!!
#4 Socialization
Your child will work with teammates that may be a few years younger/older than them, but that too is another life lesson that prepares them for the real world. In addition to working with teammates, your child will make new friends and they train techniques, do live rolling, play games or attend our team functions. It’s also a great way for kids to learn to communicate with as they coach their teammates through the various techniques. Your child will grow and make new friends while training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and keep these friendships for a lifetime.
#3 Confidence
As I mentioned earlier, your child will gain confidence when training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu because your child will be able to use everything that they have learned every day the they train. When we put together the lesson plan together for the week, we are going to go over those 3 -4 concepts all week long to help put that in our muscle memory. During class your child will: 1) Learn how a technique works and how to do it 2) you learn how to execute the technique against an opponent that is not cooperating.
Our Youth Program has teammates live rolling in a safe environment at the end of every class. This is part of the learning process. You will not see a child in BJJ screaming and breaking boards but instead they will be engaged in a real-life combat situation trying to grapple their way into a dominate position or escaping an uncomfortable and compromising position. When a child breaks a board or performs a flashy move with no real resistance, it just gives them a false sense of confidence that does not carry over into the real world and can actually be dangerous when they realize that their “karate” they learned actually does not work. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gives the child a REAL confidence and a REAL way to defend themselves without having to punch or kick another child.
#2 Discipline and Focus
Look around, we live in a world full of stimulation. Children are highly affected by this and as a result A.D.D. is rampant. It’s said that discipline and focus are like muscles that need to be trained. Learning Jiu Jitsu is fun, but the techniques are very detailed and complicated to learn and execute. Children enjoy doing this and are forced to pay attention to instructors to be able to be successful. Jiu Jitsu will strengthen and improve your child’s discipline and focus. This will translate into better school work, better relationships, and an overall quality of life.
#1 Coordination and Body Awareness
Learning Jiu Jitsu requires a child to execute techniques that contain many small details. Learning to perform these techniques develops the child’s fine motor skills and teaches them a good understanding of base and balance. This develops in the child’s strong neuromuscular connections and increases coordination and balance. These skills then spill over to other sports and activities in their lives and aids in making them more successful not just in Jiu Jitsu but in everyday life.
Schedule a FREE INTRO Class for your child now.