KIDS JIU-JITSU PROGRAM

A Message to the Parents at Nexus Jiu Jitsu



Jiu-Jitsu, at times, is a very difficult activity. At first it is very intimidating, the art looks strange and a little scary to newcomers. So, first and foremost, it is perfectly understandable if your child is a little afraid to step out onto the mats in the beginning. Training jiu jitsu is a character-building practice. Jiu-Jitsu also builds very solid mental fortitude. Having said that, in the process of shaping character and building a strong mental fortitude there is pain and fear. Pain in all forms: physical, mental and emotional. The fear comes from changing. We need to be able to allow our young ones to experience these feelings to grow. Your child will cry. Your child will become frustrated. Your child will have fear at first and periodically through their jiu jitsu journey when they are made to be uncomfortable and forced to grow.

The reason we are writing this is to give you all a forewarning of these experiences. They will occur but they will benefit every child. You must allow your child to be uncomfortable. You must allow your child to show courage in the face of the pain and fear. You must allow your child to lose. Losing is a real part of life. To try to hide our youngsters from the pain of losing is doing them a great disservice in the grand scheme of life. In Jiu-Jitsu, particularly our gym, I don’t even refer to losing as losing. I refer to it as learning. You either win or you learn is a common motto of mine. So what the children are learning in the gym is that it is ok to do their very best and come up short. It is perfectly ok because they will learn.
They will learn how to do something a little different next time.

We have found that if kids aren’t shown that it is ok to give their all and lose because they have learned that winning is the only thing that matters, they tend not to give one hundred percent of their effort to a task. They will not learn how to adapt and change. They need to learn how to see things from different angles and look at things from outside the box. Losing also promotes the creation of goals. The kids may lose in a certain scenario or to another kid. After their learning curve they may then set a goal to overcome the situation next time. Champions are formed by loss/learning. A true champion is someone that overcomes previous failure with courage and mental fortitude.

There is a happy medium between allowing your kids to lose/learn and pushing them too hard. What we have learned from all my years of teaching kids is that pushing them too hard into discomfort will only drive them away. They will build resentment and begin to hate the art. So, making it fun is the best way I have seen to promote desire for growth in children. That is one of the goals here at Nexus. The primary goal is to teach the art in its truest form. However, right alongside that we will always do our best to make practice fun and enjoyable to our youngsters. Lastly, while practice is in session, please allow your kids to be coached. They need to be able to take direction and constructive criticism. So, please, while they are training try to refrain from yelling things out to them or coaching them from the sidelines.



Thank you very much for your time and for trusting us with the coaching of your kids. If there are any questions or concerns I can always be reached by email, phone or in person at the gym.