If you have children then you understand that as a parent you are constantly thinking about the safety of your child. Its engraved into your DNA to want to protect and keep your child safe, and rightfully so. They are, after all, our future and it only makes sense to protect that future. The unfortunate part is that the world we live in makes it difficult to keep our children safe.
While the world is not all bad, bad things do still remain in it. Often as a parent you stay close to your child for this reason. Not letting them go off on their own until they are a young teen perhaps. However, there is in most peoples case an exception to this rule. The exception is school. Now, school is supposed to be a safe place for kids with adults watching and keeping track of them, and for the most part it is, but the world is not perfect and neither are the folks running these schools. The truth is, in a lot of cases, some schools are already under staffed due to lack of funding and even in the ones that are not it is hard for the adults to keep track of all the kids. Bullying is in inevitability, kids are going to be teased, and at times they may be physically attacked.
There is nothing worse than the feeling you get in your stomach when your child comes home and says they’ve been getting bullied. You can tell the teachers, but like in the case recently in Liberty, Mo, that does not always help the situation. You may be able to talk to the parents of the kid, but chances are if their child is bullying like this then that probably stems from the parents and talking to them is going to be like talking to a brick wall. At a certain point you can start to feel helpless.
The unfortunate truth is that physical confrontation happens in life whether you want to believe it or not, and it especially exists with children who are not as socially developed or in control of their emotions as adults. So what do many parents do as a result? They enroll their kids in a martial arts academy to learn self defense. This is a great idea! However, the flaw in this is that most parents have no martial arts or combat sports training of any kind. As a result of this they can tricked into what I’ve heard referred to as “strip mall dojos.” They are exactly like they sound. Most of the time found in strip malls, saying Tae-Kwon-Do or Karate, claiming to be able to make your kid a black belt in a matter of only two years. While that would be wonderful if true, it is not. Most of these places are just money making machines designed to lure fearful parents in to take their money.
You see, while these are great arts as far as their beauty and finesse is concerned they are hardly applicable in a real life situations. In fact most of these places do not even have live sparring. While it varies all over, the basic structure is about the same as far as belt promotion goes. Usually to be promoted to the next belt all you have to do is learn a series of moves that you do against no one or maybe someone that is holding pads, you pay the organization some sort of testing fee, then you do your list of choreographed moves in front of a “black belt” and if you can do it then they give you your belt. None of that accounts for the kid thats going to be roughing your kids up for their lunch money.
Our academy’s children’s program is a fun and safe atmosphere where your child can learn self-defense as well as respect and gain confidence in themselves.
There didn’t used to be a martial art that could really prepare you for real life situations. That is, until Gracie Jiu Jitsu came along. What is Gracie Jiu Jitsu? It is a Brazilian martial art that was developed by the Gracie family of Rio De Jinero. Hence the name Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Its a grappling martial art that uses leverage, chokes, and locks to fight off an attacker. If you have ever seen the UFC or any form of MMA then you are familiar with arm bars, leg locks, and rear naked chokes. These are all moves that come from GJJ.
You see Grandmaster Helio Gracie was a little fella. He was trained in the art of Japanese Jiu Jitsu, but that was a standing art(like Tae Kwon Do and Karate) that did not favor the smaller fighter. So Helio decided to take his opponents down and use the ground for leverage. Now he could control his opponent with leverage instead of strength if he was on top, and if he was on bottom he could choke or arm lock due to a series of techniques he could perform out of a position he developed from his back called the guard.
When Jiu Jitsu first came around it quickly became known as the most “street ready” martial art. Its effectiveness in hand to hand combat was unrivaled and it continues to prove itself time and again in professional fights. Why is this? Because it was developed as a self defense art. Most other martial arts may have started that way, but over the years it went away from that and became this commercialized thing you find in strip malls today. Jiu Jitsu is young and very much still alive. Its realism stems from the fact that it teaches you to grapple and most physical altercations inevitably end up on the ground anyway. The problem is most people don’t understand leverage so they don’t know how to fight on the ground.
Because of all of these things GJJ is the best martial art for kids to be doing. Most kids who are getting bullied are, like grandmaster Helio, little fellas. At least they are smaller than the bully. Jiu Jitsu teaches them how to overcome that, and even take advantage of it. Its also very safe. While it is technically fighting, it is really just grappling. There are no strikes in GJJ. You learn how to defend against them but there is no actual striking in sparring, so no black eyes or busted lips! As if the safety of your child and piece of mind that you get isn’t enough, your kid will also get in great shape as a result. GJJ is one of the best workouts you can get. It will also give your kid confidence. When you’ve had someone mounted on you and you escape that dangerous position all of the sudden it becomes much easier to keep your composure when problems come up in life. It also humbles you, because you know that there is always someone out there that is just a little bit better than you, and that knowledge pushes you to continue to better yourself.
Finally, GJJ is more than just a sport. Its a community, its a family. Especially here at Gracie Humaita Kansas City. Our instructors love what they do and care about the kids in these classes. Their kids train here too, so they understand the desire to keep your kids safe and they take that responsibility seriously. Other schools can give you belts quickly, metals, and tell you how great you are because you have a belt now. Really, though, all that does is give a false sense of security to both you and your child. In GJJ belts are not attained easily. We do not exists solely to make money. We are an academy that exists to teach people how to defend themselves in real life situations. Were an academy that teaches your children how to keep THEMSELVES safe!
