Written by What can kids get out of jiu-jitsu? What are the benefits?
Hi, I’m Professor Mike Martin from Strong Heart Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. I want to discuss the benefits for children who train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Avoid Distractions
The simple thing to talk about is how much time kids spend on screens these days. Even my children, who are 12 and 9 years old, are obsessed with YouTube. Nowadays, kids have tablets, phones, and TVs; they watch on PlayStations or Xboxes. They have tablets in their cars, on the way to and from places, and even at the dinner table.
BJJ is great at getting kids off screens and interacting with other people.
Learn Communication, Conversation, Resolve Conflict
Kids need to learn how to communicate with others in a group setting and develop interpersonal connections with other kids. This means learning how to resolve conflicts when talking with other kids, how to work together as a team, and how to have a real conversation with someone face-to-face.
While the future will involve a lot of communication through digital interfaces, face-to-face communication will not go away anytime soon. It’s important for children to feel comfortable talking and conversing with others.
It’s A Sport & So Much More
For children who are not interested in traditional sports such as basketball, football, baseball, hockey, and soccer, it’s important to find an activity they enjoy. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is an excellent option for kids who want something different and want to interact with other kids while learning how to deal with conflict. Learning how to resolve disputes is so important.
Strong Heart BJJ Kids Class
There’s physical conflict in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where we physically interact with each other and try to stop someone from doing something. But conflict also arises in situations like disagreeing on who goes first. I teach a technique on how to resolve this kind of conflict.
For example, suppose I’m teaching you a position in an arm bar, and we’re drilling. In that case, I tell you to allow your partner to practice defending. Still, suppose your partner needs to cooperate as you think they should. In that case, it’s important to speak to them and explain why it’s essential that they value your time and provide good feedback to work together and get better together. You will encounter coworkers who don’t cooperate this way, and your ability to communicate effectively with them will be necessary.
Team Sport & Individual Sport
Jiu-jitsu is a sport, but it’s also an individual sport. One person competes against another team, but you still have your team that you train with. Your ability to train together and improve each other has enormous benefits. When kids turn into adults, they will already be used to handling conflicts that may seem small, such as line drills where someone is not helping to drill, or someone needs to stand in line correctly.
For example, suppose we’re warm-up running, and someone wants to cut in front of someone else. In that case, it’s important to speak to them without causing a scene and effectively explain your feelings. Many kids today don’t get these kinds of face-to-face interactions because they are interacting online. Kids need to learn how to interact with others face-to-face as well.
It’s crazy what people will say in the comments on a YouTube comment board, but they wouldn’t say those things in person. You have “keyboard muscles” – you feel powerful behind a keyboard, but you still have to meet and interact with people in the real world. It’s inappropriate to go around hitting people or running away from a problem. If someone is being inappropriate or mean to you, you can stand up for yourself and explain your point of view.
Deal With Inner Conflict
Many times, we need to express our points of view more clearly. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu helps kids deal with inner conflicts. Later on, if they have bullying issues, it allows them to stand up to a bully and speak up. It’s important to assert yourself and express your thoughts and feelings effectively.
Self Defense
We have yet to get into self-defense. The second part is a child’s ability to defend themselves against someone trying to take advantage of them physically or mentally. This could be a bully affecting their friend or even someone they don’t know, like another kid in their class picking on a defenseless kid.
Your ability to defend yourself also gives you the confidence to not have to protect yourself. This is true for adults as well, but especially for males. A lot of insecurity can come from not knowing if you can defend yourself and trying to project dominance or intimidation without the fundamental skills to back it up.
Confident, Self Assured
When you have the skills to back it up, there is no need to project your voice or dominance over another person. You already have self-confidence, knowing you can defend yourself if necessary. This is an essential aspect of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and one of its many benefits to children.
I’ll give you a straightforward example.
I had a student at school once, and another kid pushed a kid he didn’t even know. My student said, “Hey, you can’t do that.” The other kid swung at him, but my student dropped his level and did a double-leg takedown, which you would learn in wrestling. He mounted the other kid, held him down, and said, “Hey man, calm down. There’s no reason to do this.”
The other kid tried to swing at him from the bottom, but my student spun and applied an arm bar. He said, “Look, man, I’m going to break your arm if you don’t give up.” The other kid said, “Okay, I give up.”
Then his friend came and tried to take my student down with a double-leg takedown. My student spun behind him and put him in a chokehold. In a chokehold, you can say, “Hey, I’m done here. I don’t have to apply pressure to hurt your arm.”
You don’t have to apply pressure to the neck when practicing striking martial arts. You can punch the person in the face until they decide they’re done. This can hurt your hand, and you can get hit yourself. You might end up bloodying the person’s nose, chipping their tooth, or causing bruises and other injuries.
Measured, ‘Mature’ Response
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teaches self-defense techniques that allow you to defend yourself without causing unnecessary harm.
In a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu altercation where I had to defend myself, I could walk away with nothing – no bruises, no injuries. And the person I had to defend myself against could also walk away with nothing. Their ego may be bruised, but they won’t be permanently injured.
There won’t be any lawsuits, like “your kid broke my kid’s orbital bones in my face.” You don’t have to worry about getting an assault charge for punching someone and breaking their nose.
For example, I had a student who took care of two kids who tried to assault him. They went to the principal’s office and tried to expel my student. His father came in and said, “Hey, can I see the video? Yeah, we have it all on video.” When he saw the video, he said, “Oh, that’s assault. He tried to punch my son in the face. My son was defending himself. This is a legal defense. You cannot suspend him. I’ll press charges against the school, and I’ll press charges against that kid.”
The principal said, “Oh, okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on here, hold on here.” As a result, the other two kids were suspended, and they had to apologize to my student.
Kids need to stay calm in difficult situations, and it’s also crucial for adults. When you’re not thinking clearly, you can make serious mistakes that could change your life. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teaches you to stay calm and think clearly, even in difficult situations.
Kids must learn to control their emotions and maintain rational thoughts, especially in difficult situations. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, every class should include sparring at the end if it’s a good school.
Sparring Grows Kids
Sparring is a mutually agreed upon practice where we shake hands and try to make each other submit. My goal is to make you tap, and your goal is to do the same to me. We apply all the techniques at full force, but we can tap without getting injured.
I’ve never had any students get injured in all the years I’ve taught martial arts. We’ve never had any broken noses or chipped teeth, even though I recommend mouthguards. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a great way to learn self-defense without getting seriously injured.
In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you can go as hard as you want. I’ve had multiple stories of kids defending themselves with no problem. They didn’t have to hurt the other kid, and no violence was destructive. Your ability to control another person’s movements is essential in jiu-jitsu, and you can use that control to wait for an adult to come and break up a situation.
This helps kids stay calm in intense situations where their bodies may want to fight, flight, or freeze. If they have to fight, they have the tools to defend themselves and others, which gives them confidence.
Confident Kids
Confidence is important for kids because so many of them are anxious nowadays. Exercise, such as jiu-jitsu, can provide a lot of chemicals in the brain that helps them stay calm and reduce anxiety. The runner’s high is well known, but jiu-jitsu can provide a similar feeling for kids and adults.
Your ability to regulate your life improves when you train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Stress Management
Modern anxiety often arises from worries not based on real threats, such as saber-toothed tigers or food shortages. In our modern society, we have access to food, clothing, shelter, and jobs, creating unnecessary worries about things that may never happen.
Jiu-jitsu can help you deal with anxiety and stress in daily life. Kids also experience stress and anxiety. They may hear their parents discussing problems or feel pressure from school. The pressure to get good grades and keep up with others can be intense in modern schools. Training in jiu-jitsu can be a helpful way for kids to manage their stress.
Author BIO:
Mike Martin, Owner of Strong Heart Academy, first began training under Joe Moreira. There he learned a great technical game with pressure. Years later Mike met and trained with Caio Terra. All of these experiences have influenced his training and his excellence at relaying information. Not every good BJJ practitioner is a good teacher.
Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed it, please LIKE, SHARE and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to World of Martial Arts Television for more great content!!
The post BJJ BENEFITS FOR KIDS first appeared on World of Martial Arts | WOMA.