Parents, listen up, this one is for you! It's that time of year again, when seasonal sports for youth are getting started up. As a Jiu-Jitsu instructor, it is not uncommon for me to hear parents say something to the effect of..."We have (insert random activity baseball, soccer, football, etc) coming up, so we're going to take a break from Jiu-Jitsu..." Kids, are naturally impulsive and sometimes, once something becomes routine, they become "bored" and are ready to move onto the next thing. The culture of most youth sports & activities encourages this mentality. There are so many different sports & activities for kids these days, and most of them are “seasonal”. You do one activity for a few months, and then move on to the next. However, as with MOST things in life, consistency is the key to long-term success.
Getting your child involved in training Jiu-jitsu is absolutely one of the best things that you can do for their overall well-being & long term development. However, if you are going to put your child in a martial art, such as Jiu-Jitsu, it is important that you understand that it is NOT just another random sport, hobby, or activity. Jiu-Jitsu is an art, a skill, and a lifestyle! So you need to make sure to set your, and your child's expectations accordingly. Hopefully, you spent the time, prior to enrolling them, to really research and understand what Jiu-Jitsu is and what their training will entail. There is nothing wrong with participating in other sports. It is good to be well-rounded, and to experience many things. And to be sure, there are benefits in participating in all of these types of activities. We have many of our youth students who also participate in other sports and activities as well. The key, just like on the mat, is finding BALANCE. This is why I recommend for most kids to train only 2-3 days/week. It helps to keep them from getting burned out, and allows time to participate in other activities if they so choose. However, I do not believe in doing these other activities at the exclusion of Jiu-jitsu training! Usually, there is a way to do both. Even getting in to train only once/week, during the sports season, is so much better than not at all. It keeps them engaged with the group & in the habit of training.
Taking your child out of training, in order to attend these other activities is doing them a huge disservice. Extended absences from the mat break the momentum of training, and the longer a student is off the mat, the harder it is realistically, for them to come back with any consistency. Children are conditioned, due to the culture of most of these types of seasonal sports to always move on to the next thing when the season is over, or when they get a little bored. Jiu-J\jitsu doesn't work that way. We don't have an off season. To really gain the true benefits of training in a martial art like Jiu-jitsu requires long-term commitment, which, by the way, is also one of it's great benefits! It teaches persistence, consistency, and perseverance, among its many other lessons. While other sports are fun & do offer some benefits as well, unless you truly believe that your kids is going to grow up to be a professional athlete, no other sports or activities offer the type of long term, lifetime benefit that training in the art of Jiu-Jitsu does, in my opinion.
Jiu-Jitsu is focused around the development of essential life skills. The ability to physically defend yourself, and the self-confidence that goes along with it, is something that I believe is an absolute must in this day and age. Everyone needs to have the ability to protect themselves, and developing the skill set to effectively do this under the stress of a real-life encounter is no easy task. It is not something that you will develop over a few days, weeks, or even months. It takes YEARS of consistent training to really be effective, and even then, all of these are perishable skills which will diminish significantly if not trained repetitively enough to develop the appropriate automatic reflexive responses. The key to this skill development is consistency over the long term. It is simply not possible to gain this benefit from short term, or inconsistent training. However, for those who put in the time and effort, these skills will always be with you. While it may not seem that a 6 or 7 year old child can develop real, lasting physical self-defense skills, my experience through the years is that those children who start training at a young age and continue into adulthood are absolutely phenomenal technicians, and are generally FAR above their peers who only started training as an adult.
In addition to the lifelong physical benefits, there are so many other added fringe benefits to consistent training. Obviously, there is a physical fitness component to training. But, more than that, students are developing confidence; learning how to overcome and deal with adversity; learning to stay calm & composed and to solve problems under pressure; increasing physical & mental toughness & perseverance; developing important positive character traits & cultivating healthy lifestyle habits; managing stress; and learning to set and work towards goals. Jiu-jitsu contributes to the overall optimization of a students physical, mental, and emotional well being. Jiu-Jitsu is training for life!
It is important to understand the perspective that, as much as we want students to have fun and enjoy their time on the mat, the primary purpose of training is education, not entertainment. It is common sometimes, once the "newness" starts to wear off, for students to put up some resistance when it is time to go to class. However, my experience is that, in the vast majority of cases, once the student gets through the door and gets on the mat, they have a great time & leave with a smile on their face. Sometimes kids don't want to go to school either. But as parents, we understand the importance of school for their long term development. As much as going to school is important for their intellectual development, Jiu-Jitsu training also gives students the physical, mental, and emotional capacity to thrive in today's world as they grow into adulthood. For me, they are both EQUALLY important. Remember, as a parent, your kids don't have the option to quit training Jiu-Jitsu anymore than they have the option to quit going to school. Only the parents can quit! If you have made the decision to get them involved in a martial art such as Jiu-Jitsu because you believe it is beneficial to them, it is incumbent upon you to make the commitment to make sure that they get to class on a regular basis, and support their training over the long term. Do other activities as your schedule allows, but make their Jiu-jitsu training a PRIORITY. You are investing in your child's future and with consistent long-term training, they will reap the benefits, and one day will thank you for not allowing them to quit training!
