When Living Art BJJ opened its doors in June of 2019, I had very little directly relevant experience for the job I signed myself up for. I was less worried about my ability to teach adults (though many lessons and adjustments have been made to that process too), but I was definitely jumping into the unknown when it came to working with children. My expectations of myself were (and still are) very high but what looks like “success” is a lot different than what I thought it should look like. Here are some lessons that the last 5 years of being a kids teacher have taught me:
Movement is the Goal - Jiu Jitsu is the Medium
“It doesn’t matter how good you are at Jiu Jitsu.
What’s important is how good Jiu Jitsu is for YOU”
The above sentiment is paraphrased and I can’t remember where I heard it first. But if Living Art BJJ had an ethos, it would be this or something very similar. When I started out, I thought I would be creating an army of little John Wicks. Little people that were crazy good at Jiu Jitsu and sponges for high level technique. I had pretty wild ideas of what I could expect of children. And it took me longer than I’d like to admit to realize what my purpose really was as a kids teacher. Sure it would be great if I got kids to learn beautiful guard play, tenacious passing chains, and excellent submission skills. But that’s not really going to be the majority of the work that needs doing. The biggest benefit I see derived from Jiu Jitsu training for most kids is development of basic coordination and body movement. Things that seem simple like:
- Learning your left and right
- Using arms and legs independently and collaboratively (some kids have trouble doing bear crawls)
- Balance (probably the single most important skill for physical safety for any human from childhood through adulthood and into old age)
- Developing proprioception (knowing where your body is in space without having to look)
I realized I’m not really a Jiu Jitsu teacher when it comes to the majority of children (especially my younger group). I’m here to teach kids how to move in general. To teach them how to use their bodies more effectively. Jiu Jitsu is simply the means to that end. If all we achieve is inching closer to mastery over our own bodies, then it was time well spent and very valuable progress in and of itself. This is especially important work in an era where kids have access to screens at younger and younger ages and opportunities to develop movement skills dwindle.
Patience and Persistence
All children are capable of improvement
It might seem pretty weird that I didn’t come into the game understanding this. And I already mentioned that I had some lofty ideas of what I could achieve with kids. But another valuable nugget of wisdom I picked up is that all children can and will improve. I’ve seen a wide gamut of ability levels. And while it can admittedly be frustrating for me as a teacher when a child is much further behind than the rest, I have never failed to see progress in ANY child who has attended Jiu Jitsu class consistently. The years have taught me that improvement is inevitable and I have a growing number of success stories the longer I’ve been a teacher. It just takes understanding that it won’t happen on anyone’s timeline other than nature’s. This is also in part a message to parents that might be reading this. We all want the best for our kids and we all want quick improvement and success. But all of that might look a little different or slower than you had in mind. That’s absolutely okay. The only hurdle that’s tough to overcome and the biggest obstacle to me as a teacher is infrequent and inconsistent attendance. Learning how to use your body is a big skill set. Jiu Jitsu is a big skill set too. It’s as complicated as learning an instrument. If you were learning the piano but only practiced once every couple of weeks, how long would it take for you to play a concert anyone wanted to listen to?
HAVE FUN!
I started Jiu Jitsu at around 21. I remember my first sparring sessions being pretty violent. White belts were pretty uncontrolled and inconsiderate. Higher belts were a lot more intentional with the ways they were rough and inconsiderate. Everyone was squeezing, pulling, pushing, scraping, and knocking me around in a bunch of different ways. I walked away with a lot of bruises and scrapes in my first few experiences training Jiu Jitsu. The culture of the room I started in was not ideal. What kept me coming back?…
It was SO MUCH FUN!
I never would have kept pushing through the uncomfortable parts of I didn’t think Jiu Jitsu was overall a heck of good time. Even if I was tired, sore, or sometimes injured, it never stopped being fun for me. The same is true for my kids program. While a kids class is a lot less violent than how I started, there is still plenty of adversity. Almost every class there is a competitive component where there are clear winners and losers. And that isn’t always easy for a little person to get used to. Keeping all of this light hearted and fun is a core part of my job as a teacher. Yes we are absolutely in the room to learn. Yes we want discipline and structure. Yes we want our kids to walk away with more skills than they walked in with. But I have failed as a teacher if the kids aren’t also having a good time while they are in class. It will take time to get good at anything. So the doing of the thing has to be fun. I leveled up as a kids teacher when I really started to understand this.
“I have two mottos. One is learn something new every day, and the second one is when you’re through changing, you’re through.” - Martha Stewart
The practices and processes have changed and continue to change here at Living Art BJJ. I have a lot more experience to draw from than when I started, but it’s only shed a light on how much more there is to improve. It’s my duty as a teacher to keep getting better and to keep revising the process as I learn to be better. No doubt my perspective and understanding will be different in another year as it has changed greatly over the last 5. I look forward to growing right alongside my little people and see how much we can all change for the better together. Thank you for the time with your little ones. It’s been a blast! If you are reading this and are interested in getting your kids involved in Jiu Jitsu, click the link below to schedule a free trial. We’d be thrilled to work with your kid(s)!