Proper Age?

[LordarshynBJJ]

Okay so there isn't much to say here, quick, simple question.

What age do you think a child should be before attempting to teach them some basic grappling?

 

[joshv5.0]

i would like to know as well i have a 4yr old i want to get into bjj, but i really think it depends on their maturity and attention span more than age

 

[anaconda]

from the kids classes at our gym, id say its pretty useless before 7 or 8. it could be good to get them into that environment, but dont expect them to learn too much. then again, ive seen some cool kids matches with 5 year olds.

dont rush them into it though.

 

[Soid]

I'd wait till 12 years old. Let them have their fun being kids. Atleast by 12 they'll have an idea of if they like it or not.

 

[anaconda]

oh an make sure you really check out the kids program. from what ive seen a lot of judo programs have better kids classes simply because theyve been doing it for longer and know how to appeal to kids. but a lot of bjj schools have great kids classes as well, just make sure you check it out for a while

 

[anaconda]

I'd wait till 12 years old. Let them have their fun being kids. Atleast by 12 they'll have an idea of if they like it or not.

thats the thing though...a kids class shouldnt be focused on doing bjj. it should focus around different games where they learn the fundamentals of grappling without realizing that theyre learning. thats how ours is, and they all love it. they always play different games at the end etc, sometimes dodgeball or whatever...the drills are fun and made to appear like games. then, when they get old enough they start to realize they learned something.

 

[kidrobot]

I always felt if you train too young you get burnt out earlier unless of course you truly love the sport.

 

[YeahBee]

5 years old or about, they can atleast learn the basics and develop some agility and balance, don't have to learn intricate tech and 100 entries into an armbar.

Almost jsut basic gymnastics and grappling mixed into games, like Bulldog

 

[cadubon]

My son is 3 about to be 4 and he takes BJJ. They have taught him mount and how to bridge off an oppoent, the basics. He actually has a pretty good understanding of it and he is pretty hard to knock off. Hes come around a lot in the last two months. They also save about 10 minutes at the end of class for all the little kids to play around. 4 is just fine to start a child doing BJJ but if its something that they do not like I wouldnt really force it on them.

 

[Balto]

thats the thing though...a kids class shouldnt be focused on doing bjj. it should focus around different games where they learn the fundamentals of grappling without realizing that theyre learning. thats how ours is, and they all love it. they always play different games at the end etc, sometimes dodgeball or whatever...the drills are fun and made to appear like games. then, when they get old enough they start to realize they learned something.

This is exactly right.

It's not about teaching kids martial arts. It's about teaching kids to LOVE martial arts. Basically you just want them to have a good time and think martial arts are cool so they will keep it up as they get older.

If you start someone off young in the martial arts and they keep doing it the rest of their life, they are pretty much guaranteed to become amazing by the time they are grown up.

 

[Chris H]

I know a lot of grapplers who started wrestling between the ages of 4-6. I think 4 or 5 is a good age to begin learning basic posistioning and such.

 

[brianX]

I wish I could find something like the ideal emerging above. Both of my girls like to grapple--the younger one is tough as nails--and I think grappling is great training for other sports because it teaches balance, control, power movements and fine movements combined, etc. But I don't really want my kids to know chokes or armbars--if the younger one ever got mad, she'd kill someone in her kindergarten class. Especially with dangerous techniques, I think the age should be higher: 10 or so.

 

[DeadlyHobo]

I used to teach judo to kids.

5-6 is too young in my experience. Above that, it depends on attention span and interest. The focus at that age is fun, so we set up the trainings with like 60% play, 20% technique and 20% physical stuff like somersaults and stretching.

 

[dar185]

I think 5 years old is a good age to start. It needs to be fun though. Classes shouldn't be more than 2 a week. They should also be short with a lot of games tied in with positioning. If my kids don't like it than they can stop doing it. As they get older than submissions will come.

I think the biggest problem children face is their parents living through them in sports. If a kid commits for a season, than they need to finish the season. If they don't like it than they can quit after their commitment. Don't want them being flakes.

I want my kids to enjoy sports not despise them.

 

[the_w1se]

my old wrestlign coaches kid would be at every practice he was liek 4 or 5, and he wanted to be like the rest of us so he got on his tiny ass wrestling shoes, he actually had the concept down of takedown and pin, hes gonna be akiller one day

 

[mego]

i wouldnt pay big bucks just to have my kid play dodgeball in a BJJ setting, id probably wait until around 12-13 before i ask if they want instruction