Kids martial arts and patience

Posted by admin on Apr 22, 2013 in Kids martial arts classes | 0 comments

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!

Posted by admin on Apr 9, 2013 in Kids martial arts classes | 0 comments

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.”

Kids Martial Arts and Self-Respect

Posted by admin on Apr 7, 2013 in Kids martial arts classes | 0 comments

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.

Kids Martial Arts and Teamwork

Posted by admin on Mar 27, 2013 in Kids martial arts classes | 0 comments

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”:

“For more than a decade now the ‘Ironman’ has been an SBG tradition whenever one of our athletes received a new Jiu Jitsu promotion.

Anywhere from 30 to 70 students will line up around the man. One person enters the center,and over the course of 45 minutes to two hours, depending on the Jiu Jitsu belt level, the athlete in the middle wrestles everyone on the mat, one after the other.”

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.

Here is a small portion of a kids class Ironman:

Kids martial art and Focus

Posted by admin on Mar 22, 2013 in Kids martial arts classes | 0 comments

Kids martial arts and focus

It’s incredible sometimes to see the capacity children have to learn. They are sponges. They see and absorb things around them in their environment. They can repeat back to us things we have said and model behaviors we ourselves have demonstrated. The hardest part for all of this is figuring out how to get them to pay attention, to stay focused. Kids are easily distracted and easily re-directed. They don’t always seem to follow things and their attention span is akin to a stream of consciousness narrative in a James Joyce novel.

Working with kids in sports and seeing my child in her kids martial arts class I know how difficult it is to keep a group of kids on task. The skill comes in recognizing when you have to let the kids release their “wiggles” and when they can listen to you with intent. The other art to teaching is keeping the information concise. When you’re coaching something like a kids martial arts class-an art that involves thinking, recognizing, and reacting accordingly it’s difficult to get all the things they need to know in a small package.

I also believe that focusing is learning in 2 different ways-it’s paying attention to what is being taught but also, when practicing, being aware of what is happening in the moment. I think many of think of it as being a singular goal and working towards that goal but another part is being aware and being flexible to work around obstacles while keeping the goal (your focus) in sight. This is difficult enough as an adult that understands the concept and reasoning, how do you you express it to a child who is experiencing it for the first time…?

Kids martial arts classes are FUN.

Some tug-of-war games in the kids martial arts class

Kids are fascinated with things that are fun. Parents know that if you want a child to clean up their room you can make a game out of it, make a race when walking home from school and all of the sudden the legs aren’t tired anymore. I’m sure some of the parents understand. The more the kids see something as playing the more they will invest in it.

My daughter loves the Jiu-Jitsu “virus” game that is played in her kids martial arts class and it’s great because she runs around avoiding “contamination” from the coaches who start chasing the kids while crab-walking. She also loves the lessons she learns in her kids martial arts class-she’s always asking for permission to climb my back and then explain that she’s putting her “hooks” in and what a “seat belt” hold is.

The coaches in her kids martial arts class are great at working with them, giving them the space they need, and coaching them through the matches. One can see that the kids are paying attention, focusing on what the coaches are saying. The coaches are great about asking the kids questions about what they just learned to keep them focused. In a kids martial arts class it’s important to keep the kids engaged and on their toes-both figuratively and literally.

The real fun for me as a parent is watching how my child is learning and listening to the coaches in her kids martial arts class. Sometimes she doesn’t pay attention-kids won’t be riveted every moment. When she does focus, when I see the other kids feed off of each other’s learning, rooting for each other, helping each other, and coaching each other I can’t help but feel that sense of wonder, that sense of being in the here and now…it’s a lot of fun.

 Kids Martial Arts Class Jiu Jitsu “Virus” Game:

SBGi’s Kids Martial Arts Coach’s profile: Amanda Loewen

Posted by admin on Mar 12, 2013 in Kids martial arts classes | 0 comments

Get to know the Head Coach of the SBGi’s Kids Martial Arts program: Coach Amanda!

What did you do before you started BJJ/SBGi for fun or as an activity (sport, hobby)? Do you still do it?
Before I started doing jiu jitsu I rode my bike; and I still ride my bike.

How long have you been training?
I’ve been training for 3 ½ years. I started in August 20th of 2009.

What other disciplines do you study, if any?
Besides doing jiu jitsu I on occasion will practice boxing/MMA. (I don’t do enough of it)

How has studying this discipline helped you?
Practicing all around has helped me win two MMA fights (2-0)

What about SBGi is different than other places you may have trained?
I haven’t trained anywhere else, but I do know that SBG’s coaches and the way that we train is undeniably the best. I wouldn’t want it other way.

What’s your day job?
Coaching is my day job, training is my night job.

Name something you’ve never done that you want to do?
Three things: 1) Win Pan Ams 2013. 2) Win Mundials 2013. 3) Obtain the 135lb bantamweight belt for the FCFF: Full Contact Fighting Federation 2013.

What are some practical/daily applications to learning martial arts that you’ve learned besides self defense? Have you ever had to use it for self defense?
Doing jiu jitsu has helped me problem solve outside of the gym. I think about it when I wake up, while I’m doing the dishes, when I go to bed. Luckily, I have not had the opportunity to use martial arts to defend myself. I would feel really sorry for the person if they ever decide to attack me.

How has learning and training at SBGi affected you in your daily life?
It’s a constant positive force.

Coach Amanda rockin’ a Mickey T-shirt back in the day…

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
I don’t really like ice cream.

What’s your favorite food and why?
I’m a sucker for pizza, the vegan kind, because its radical.

What kind of experience do you have working with kids besides kids class at SBG (could be babysitting, volunteering, mentoring, nieces, nephews)?
I helped take care of/raise my two brothers and sister. I had an absent father and my mom needed the help. Being the oldest it taught me to be responsible even when I didn’t want to be. I babysat a ton before I got ‘real jobs’. I was a nanny for a couple years when I first moved to Portland as well.

What’s your favorite part of teaching/working with kids?
They are completely honest (well at least most of the time) They tend to say whatever is on their mind, I admire that, most adults want to sugar coat everything. When they apply themselves to what myself and the other coaches are teaching, its inspiring and amazing as to what they can accomplish.

Did you study any martial arts as a kid?
Nope.

What qualities do you admire most in children?
Sincerity. Comedy.

What is your favorite martial arts movie?
I don’t really have a favorite martial arts movie. I really like Charles Bronson Death Wish 3.

What is your guilty indulgence pop song that you’d be embarrassed to admit you like?
As a kid I listened to a lot of Taking back Sunday. Its bad pop punk but I still dig it.