Kids Martial Arts and Competition
Competition for kids in martial arts
Competition can be a touchy subject sometimes when talking about kids. Whether it’s something like little league or kids martial arts many parents have a different view on the role of competition and when their kids should engage in it. It’s unfortunate that there have been situations in many youth sports that have given “competition” a bad connotation to it.
Live drills while coach Amanda looks on in kids martial arts class.
I find it’s very important for kids to learn about competition in kids martial arts classes. They have to learn how to be a good winner. They also have to learn how to deal with losing. There are many reasons but I think the main one is for a child to learn how much work goes into preparing and going to a tournament. It’s goal oriented in the short term-there’s a tournament, you need to prepare and the tournament will happen at a specified date and time. Some kids will love the whole experience and yet others may not like the experience, whether or not they win.
There are many ways to compete and make competition a part of the curriculum in a kids martial arts class. Tournaments and encouraging them is one facet of competition. Another facet is having a curriculum in a kids martial arts class that encourages having an actively resisting partner in kids martial arts class. At SBG this concept is called Aliveness and it’s about having a resisting partner often during the process of learning. It’s another form of competition and it’s a self correcting mechanism for the child to learn what works and doesn’t work in a kids martial arts class. It enables the child to learn from when s/he wins, understanding what worked; but also from when they lose, understanding what didn’t work. The child can then refine their timing, energy, and motion to get better and keep learning in a positive kids martial arts environment.
Resiliency in kids martial arts
Here’s a great video about SBG to help give context to the concept of Aliveness:
In both situations-whether it’s a tournament or training in a kids martial arts class with Aliveness-the common thread I see is building resiliency. To compete in tournaments can be very scary and facing an unknown competitor, someone you are not familiar with, can be daunting. There is a lot of work that goes into kids martial arts classes, travelling and preparing It gets exhausting. When you are consistently training with partners in a kids martial arts class who are resisting and you are consistently learning and re-learning it’s a longer journey. It can be a journey that gets frustrating and hits plateaus or setbacks. All these are true when training over a long period of time and preparing for a tournament. Resiliency is the ability to keep moving, to keep learning. It’s the idea that obstacles are opportunities to learn and grow.
Kids martial arts and beyond
In speaking with founder of SBG Matt Thornton about the topic of kids martial arts and competition, he added: “All children will eventually have to learn how to compete in one form or another as adults. They will compete in school, compete for jobs, compete for promotions, life is in a sense one long competition. By teaching them how to compete, and think about competition in a healthy way when they are young, I think we give them a huge advantage.”
I had a talk with my daughter and she was having a rough day in her kids martial arts class. She wanted to have matches with kids that are less experienced than she is so that it would be easier for her. I said to her that she must be getting better because her coach wouldn’t be matching her with kids who are a challenge if there wasn’t something to learn. She’s still new to her kids martial arts class, only a handful of months, but she’s doing well and learning. In time I will see how she takes my advice. She may not yet be ready for tournament play but she’s on the right path for it…
Live matches in kids martial arts class.
Kids martial arts and patience
Kids martial arts and patience…for everyone.
Coaches watch as they ask some students to demonstrate for the class
I’ve noticed that I always talk about the benefits of kids martial arts classes and one those benefits is patience. The kids in the class learn patience in the process of learning. In a kids martial arts class patience and focus comes from listening and learning. Another aspect that I neglect to talk about is how patient coaches need also be with the kids.
Coaches having fun with the kids in martial arts class.
The kids martial arts coach
Coaches at the end of another great class.
Coach Amanda is getting ready for Mundials!
Mundials: the World Jiu Jitsu Championships
Our coach Amanda is prepping and getting ready for Mundials and we’re very excited for her! She is a great coach, competitor, and a wonderful person. She has quite the “curriculum vitae” and we’re proud of our kids martial arts class coach:
1. She’s currently undefeated in the North West, with the exception of placing 3rd as a blue belt in the Men’s division, and 2nd place as a purple belt in the Men’s light weight division.
2. She’s won a Super fight as a Blue belt against a Purple Belt. (2011)
3. She’s won another Super fight as a purple belt against a brown belt.(2013)
4. She’s 2-0 in MMA, however her current focus is Jiu Jitsu.
5. She brought home 3 Gold Medals at Grapplers Quest in July 2011:
Won Advanced No Gi, Won Advanced Gi Blue Belt Light Weight, and Advanced Absolute Blue Belt.
6. This last month she competed at the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championships and Placed 2nd in Purple Belt Adult Female Light Weight Division.
Mundials is less than two months away and we’d love to see if there is anyone out there to help sponsor our coach. If you’re interested please let us know so we can help support her.
In her own words:
“I am a full time Coach and Competitor, I love Jiu Jitsu and plan on doing this as long as I’m able to. I won’t promise you anything that I cannot fulfill. So, as much as I’d like to tell say that “I’ll bring home the gold”, I can say that I will always represent my team, my coaches, my students, and put one million percent into what I do.
If your interested in supporting me, I will wear your patches, consume your products, get more shredded than the next person and be awesome.”
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Kids Martial Arts and Self-Respect
Kids martial arts and self respect.
In my daughters kids martial arts class she gets homework. It’s normally a monthly assignment that has a short story and then some questions to answer. It needs to be turned in before the end of the month and throughout the month it is reinforced in the kids martial arts class. Some of the topics include Teamwork, Courage, and Friendship.
This month in kids martial arts class
This month it’s Self Respect.
In researching to find kids martial arts classes for my daughter it was important to me that the coaches are able to convey certain basic principles of respect for the art and also respect for the the kids in the class. The children need to be able to resepct each other and be able to respect themselves. Some kids are afraid-afraid to fail or look silly and seem to tread lightly to not make a mistake. Other kids are headstrong and may question everything or argue what may be an alternative. And still other children are incredibly intrepid and run to drill headlong. A coach has to deal with each type of child in a kids martial arts class. Reinforcing self respect in class is important because a lot of children will look and compare themselves.
Kids Programs and belt ranks at SBGi kids martial arts class
What is self-respect in kids martial arts?
The main idea of self respect is loving yourself for who you are, accepting yourself. Even adults have the comparison bug, we’ve all heard of keeping up with the Jones’s, it’s not isolated to children. The great thing about the kids martial arts classes is that it teaches self respect in an environment that it’s ok to fail and learn. Now, to clarify, it’s not an environment where “failure” is what’s expected;however, we can all learn from the obstacles in front of us that we can’t YET overcome. The coaches talk to the kids, show the kids, encourage the kids, and work with each kid when they are in class to foster an environment where a child can try and learn. The ideas are reinforced in class when the kids are getting ready, during class in their drills and matches, and after class with the homework.
In the end it’s a positive sentiment that my daughter brings home and share with her friends…that’s healthy self-respect.
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Kids Martial Arts and Teamwork
Kids martial arts and the team concept
Kids Martial Arts class: coach Amanda having kids demonstrate in class
Not many people think of any kids martial arts as a team sport. It’s looks as though it’s an individual or solitary endeavor. It’s one vs. one. You against me. It’s not often that many people recognize what is happening in the class when kids are being matched with other kids: I’ve noticed in our kids martial arts class that the coach chooses matches and switches people up specifically for what challenges that child. Each child in that kids martial arts class is being placed in the position of coaching their partner or learning from their partner. The more experienced kids have an opportunity to learn to be patient and help their fellow teammates. The less experienced kids have an opportunity to be mentored by other, more experienced, peers. Having a kids martial arts class with different skill levels helps but you don’t want the lesser skilled kids to get discouraged by being constantly over matched; conversely you don’t want your higher skilled kids getting bored by not being challenged. Good coaches in a kids martial arts class, or any othe class or sport, will foster this type of camaraderie. A good coach will be able to teach the kids martial arts class and also empower the kids themselves to learn from each other-which is exactly the same as any team sport.
Teamwork in kids martial arts
Kids martial arts class. A kids class Ironman.
I’ve coached for many years and was able to work with some very impressive coaches. I’ve been fortunate to work with and be around coaches that understand it’s the kids that walk through the door. The coaches can show them the door, teach them what they need to do but they cannot do it for them. One coach that I worked with won coach of the year-when he spoke about it he said something to the effect that he only won because people didn’t think the kids could play as well as they did. He believed in the kids and showed them how they could win and play well…they’re the ones who actually went out and executed. It wasn’t only the execution, it was also that each teammate was there for each other. They lifted each other up and helped each other out when things didn’t go well and they all shared the triumphs as well.
Kids martial arts and the SBGi Ironman
At SBGi they have a belt promotion tradition that is impressively special: The Jiu Jitsu “Ironman”:
The sentiment behind the ‘Ironman’ is that everyone in the gym has contributed and played a part in that persons growth on the mat. In the words of founder Matt Thornton “It is the entire Jiu Jitsu community, the entire meritocracy, that you will find on an SBG Jiu Jitsu mat, that helped mold that individual athletes game.” This sentiment is true for the kids martial arts class all the way up to the adult competition team.
It seems only fitting that the tradition is performed in the kids martial arts class as well as the adult classes. The children learn to respect their coaches but also respect and trust each other-trust that they will learn, trust that they will be supported on bad days, and trust that they will have teammates to share their achievements because they were all a part of it.