What age should you start teaching your kids ju jitsu
I have recently been sidelined with injury and have been helping out with the kids class at my school. I do this to help myself stay motivated while being hurt. At the gym there are kids of all ages there. We have kids as young as 3 and as old as 13. Usually over 13 they start to train in the adult classes.
I have dealt with many little kids. what I notice is at age 3-4 the kids are kind of all over the place. the 3 year olds are kind of in their own world when they get there and the parents kind of are looking more for a babysitter. They get so much more out of it though . Alot of kids will come in totally undisciplined. They have never been told no. They have never had to work for anything. We teach that to them as coaches. I feel like 4-5 years old is the perfect age.
3 is just too young. The kids will not get anything out of it. It is amazing seeing a 4 to 5 year old pulling off a scissor sweep. Alot of times the 3 year olds will give up because they don't want to practice the move. That is no good because I feel like we would be teaching bad behavior and bad habits that will have to be untaught during the road.
My advice is 4-5. The trick though is to make sure these youngins are teamed up correctly. If you have jokers together they will joke. Have a joker sit with a more serious kid and they will get something out of it. I guess every kid is different, but 4 -5 is a good starting point for a life long quest. My little girl had a gi on at 2 weeks and can't wait to get her on the mats!!! OSSS people I hope you liked my post and feel free to vote comment and follow and let me know about it so i can return the favor
Our HQ in Japan has a 3-4 year old program but it's just more or less play time. They have colors or letters and they let the kids run towards the color or letter they shout. The kids start basic BJJ at 5.
Thanks for the comment. We usually play games with the kids but ju jitsu based games. We will do races with forward rolls and hip escapes and stuff like that. That seems to be the way to go with really young ones
I followed you
I want to send my kids to class as soon as I think they are ready for it. I am not sure what age is the best moment, but important is that they will have fun at class.
Thanks for the vote and comment. Having fun is all that matters
I have found that most parents think their kids are a little more advanced than other kids and buy them 5 year old toys when they are 3. Probably the same thing with BJJ.
Coming from the school of wanting kids to get in as early as possible, I quickly tempered my thoughts on that as I helped out with the kids classes. I personally think the magic age is 5. There are some 6 year olds that are not ready to listen and learn and participate while there is the odd 4 year old that is good to go.
I started my kids at 7 and 5 because the perfect school opened up in our town and I knew the instructors. My (uglier) purple belt brother started his kids up at 4 in our original gym and it worked out well.
So, all things not being equal, if I were to pick a number, it would be 5.
Good topic! OSS!
Thanks for the comment. 5 is a good age. I guess it depends on the kid