Wrestling Questions and concerns about kid wrestling program

[Koya]

Hey everyone, I'd like to have the input of our fellow wrestlers here.

My son is 5 years old, will be 6 next year (I'm good at math) and he currently does kung-fu.

I've tried to instill in him and his sisters the love of martial arts as I do and it clicked, they love it.

Every school holidays there is this freestyle/greco wrestling club (I'm in Europe) who organize a 4 days seminar for kids. So since October he's been going there to train wrestling every holidays.

He loves it and wants to do wrestling next year (freestyle). The club has a family-like vibe, the trainers are cool and the culture seems competitive (they have a U21 world champ) but with a healthy atmosphere.

So only positives. Except for one concern. I did a very little bit of freestyle myself a few years ago and neck bridges are a big thing during warm-ups and conditioning drills.

Thing is they also teach that to the kids and my son is doing tabletop bridge but also hand supported neck bridge and headstands.

Seems like the goal of the program is to bring the kids to do real neck bridges.

I'm wondering if it's a safe practice at their age ? Is it something that's common in all wrestling programs wether in Eurasia/Asia or the US ? And isn't it dangerous for their neck vertebrae and growth plates, or risk of stunting their growth ?

My son will train wrestling thrice a week starting from September next year so it's been a concern of mine. I thought about talking to the coaches about that but I'm not sure if I'm worrying for nothing ?

Thanks for the insights and sorry if I sound uneducated on the matter.

Edit: the video of the MD former wrestler who raised my concerns -->

 

[ChickenBrother]

Wrestler/Judoka/BJJer here. I've had the same concern about neck bridges but have concluded (as with any exercise) they can be part of a balanced breakfast if done in moderation and without going overboard. If your son's club is reputable and they're properly building kids' ability to do them, I think he should be fine. Kids don't weigh much so that is much less pressure on their neck than for a 75+ kg adult.

My son started BJJ at 5, Judo at 6 and has been wrestling competitively since 7 and he's going on 10. He's gotten some bumps and bruises along the way but nothing out of line for kids sports. Wrestling is fantastic for producing an all-around athlete.

Side note: while neck bridges are good for building neck strength and reinforcing good posture and ROM, IME they have limited application for getting off your back. For bridging off your back, I've found BJJ style "upa" bridging over your shoulder to be more practical and in fact BJJ style framing and shrimping has gotten me off my back significantly more than bridging on my head. Granted I don't have a 21" neck like @period and I might feel differently if I did.

 

[Koya]

Wrestler/Judoka/BJJer here. I've had the same concern about neck bridges but have concluded (as with any exercise) they can be part of a balanced breakfast if done in moderation and without going overboard. If your son's club is reputable and they're properly building kids' ability to do them, I think he should be fine. Kids don't weigh much so that is much less pressure on their neck than for a 75+ kg adult.

My son started BJJ at 5, Judo at 6 and has been wrestling competitively since 7 and he's going on 10. He's gotten some bumps and bruises along the way but nothing out of line for kids sports. Wrestling is fantastic for producing an all-around athlete.

Side note: while neck bridges are good for building neck strength and reinforcing good posture and ROM, IME they have limited application for getting off your back. For bridging off your back, I've found BJJ style "upa" bridging over your shoulder to be more practical and in fact BJJ style framing and shrimping has gotten me off my back significantly more than bridging on my head. Granted I don't have a 21" neck like @period and I might feel differently if I did.

Thanks for your answer I appreciate.

Is your son doing full neck bridges now ? I suppose it didn't stunt his growth or anything or you would have mentioned it.

I know in Slavic and Eurasian countries they train neck bridges since their childhood and grow up to be behemoth for some of them.

But I also know some old wrestlers complain of neck arthritis and attribute that to neck bridges in their opinion.

Having a strong neck is always good in combat sports tho.

I might be over worrying. Here's the video that raisedy concerns tho, he's an MD and a former wrestler, he advocates strongly for neck strengthening but offers to avoid neck bridges because of the risk of injuries and focus on neck curls/extension:

 

[period]

Wrestler/Judoka/BJJer here. I've had the same concern about neck bridges but have concluded (as with any exercise) they can be part of a balanced breakfast if done in moderation and without going overboard. If your son's club is reputable and they're properly building kids' ability to do them, I think he should be fine. Kids don't weigh much so that is much less pressure on their neck than for a 75+ kg adult.

Opinions vary here. In central Europe, kids are usually taught bridging very early on, while in Russia, it's usually later (typically at 10-12, when they start specialized training). As a side note, Valentin Kalika (national coach of the US female team, where he coached Amit Elor and Helen Maroulis, among others; formerly, he also was the coach or Aaron Pico) mentions in his book that at the age of 7, most kids have necks that are too week due to growth pattern (head grows before the rest of the body), which has significant implications. According to him, there is no way to compensate for this, and the consequence should be that kids are taught shots only AFTER this phase of developement - otherwise, they will learn shooting incorrectly, with their heads down, a mistake which can take years to correct and then spontaneously resurface later on (according to Kalika, it happened with Pico in the most important match of his career, even though they had worked for years on correcting his shot).

My son started BJJ at 5, Judo at 6 and has been wrestling competitively since 7 and he's going on 10. He's gotten some bumps and bruises along the way but nothing out of line for kids sports. Wrestling is fantastic for producing an all-around athlete.

That has also been my experience.

Side note: while neck bridges are good for building neck strength and reinforcing good posture and ROM, IME they have limited application for getting off your back. For bridging off your back, I've found BJJ style "upa" bridging over your shoulder to be more practical and in fact BJJ style framing and shrimping has gotten me off my back significantly more than bridging on my head. Granted I don't have a 21" neck like @period and I might feel differently if I did.

Under BJJ rules, yes. Under freestyle and greco rules, where any moment of both shoulder blades touching the mat can mean a fall, a "proper" bridge is the only option. Plus, the bridge has technical implications for a wide variety of moves, from proper gut wrenches and leg laces all the way to the German suplex.
PS: Having a 21" neck is great, I fully recommend that

 

[period]

I might be over worrying. Here's the video that raisedy concerns tho, he's an MD and a former wrestler, he advocates strongly for neck strengthening but offers to avoid neck bridges because of the risk of injuries and focus on neck curls/extension:

There has been an ongoing debate about that for years.
One of my coaches said you schould avoid full circles of the head (i.e. feet running in circles around the head in a bridge, head stationary).
Another coach of mine (who has a university degree in coaching wrestling from Russia) maintains that that is an essential exercise for every wrestler, BUT it should only be done every second day in training because otherwise, it will wear out the disks. However, in his opinion, 180 spins are a good number for a training session - that's more than most wrestlers will do in a year.
Finally, my own experience has been that my neck gives me trouble when I DON'T bridge regularly.

So, in the end... it probably depends. It depends on the athlete's constitution, history of injuries, muscular developement, and the amount of reps that are done.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Thanks for your answer I appreciate.

Is your son doing full neck bridges now ? I suppose it didn't stunt his growth or anything or you would have mentioned it.

I know in Slavic and Eurasian countries they train neck bridges since their childhood and grow up to be behemoth for some of them.

But I also know some old wrestlers complain of neck arthritis and attribute that to neck bridges in their opinion.

Having a strong neck is always good in combat sports tho.

I might be over worrying. Here's the video that raisedy concerns tho, he's an MD and a former wrestler, he advocates strongly for neck strengthening but offers to avoid neck bridges because of the risk of injuries and focus on neck curls/extension:

My son has been doing front and back neck bridges with hands posted on mat. He can post on his head with no hands but the gym hasn't had them spin through without hands yet. At this age I think it's mostly a flexibility stretch (like my daughter doing back bends in her gymnastics practice). And as with other resistance exercises, I'm being careful to NOT have my kid lift super heavy loads that might cause injury. I've introduced him to weight training but only let him lift what he can do with good form for 20 reps. He won't put on real muscle mass until after puberty anyway so at his age I just want him to learn good form and training habits.

I'm skeptical of "experts" who advocate one-size fits all training. Everyone is different and for every wrestler who contracted super AIDS and turned gay from doing neck bridges, there's a world champ somewhere who swears by them. Listening to your body is probably the best approach and avoid exercises that cause pain.

Opinions vary here. In central Europe, kids are usually taught bridging very early on, while in Russia, it's usually later (typically at 10-12, when they start specialized training). As a side note, Valentin Kalika (national coach of the US female team, where he coached Amit Elor and Helen Maroulis, among others; formerly, he also was the coach or Aaron Pico) mentions in his book that at the age of 7, most kids have necks that are too week due to growth pattern (head grows before the rest of the body), which has significant implications. According to him, there is no way to compensate for this, and the consequence should be that kids are taught shots only AFTER this phase of developement - otherwise, they will learn shooting incorrectly, with their heads down, a mistake which can take years to correct and then spontaneously resurface later on (according to Kalika, it happened with Pico in the most important match of his career, even though they had worked for years on correcting his shot).

Interesting anecdote and I agree many young kids have pencil necks that can't sustain the weight of their noggins. But even still, my son's club has kids as young as 4 or 5 learning proper double legs and high C's with their heads upright. Of course their wrestling generally looks like shit until around age 7 or 8 anyway. Most of the kids around here don't train seriously more than once or twice/week until around that age anyway but I've seen too many exceptions and outliers to generalize like that. YMMV.

Under BJJ rules, yes. Under freestyle and greco rules, where any moment of both shoulder blades touching the mat can mean a fall, a "proper" bridge is the only option. Plus, the bridge has technical implications for a wide variety of moves, from proper gut wrenches and leg laces all the way to the German suplex.
PS: Having a 21" neck is great, I fully recommend that

Very good point and with touch falls and 2 point momentary back exposure, I can see neck bridging being more important. I came up with mostly 'Murican folkstyle/Judo/BJJ style ground game where you could get away with momentary back exposure as long as you GTFO and deny sustained top control.