We all know that bullying is a real problem that affects a lot of children.
Reports says that 1 in 5 kids admitted to have been bullied in school. These numbers are most likely to be lower than the actual bully cases that take place in schools, as many kids are not willing to admit to it. (source)
Most of us had either experienced it ourselves or seen it happen to people around us growing up. Keeping our children safe is always on our minds when our it's time for our children to go to school. Teaching our children to learn some self defense skills surely doesn't need to be impressed on.
Why BJJ Is a Great Option for Self Defense for Kids
Reason 1: Fighting Fire with Water
If striking martial arts are like fighting fire with fire, like the idiom "an eye for an eye makes the world go blind". Nothing good will come from causing injuries in the same manner of the original offence. Meanwhile, grappling martial arts like BJJ are like fighting fire with water.
Unlike striking martial arts (Boxing, Taekwondo, Muay Thai etc.), BJJ allows a child to defend themselves and neutralize the opponent without harming them. BJJ is known as the gentle art for this very reason. (READ: Why is BJJ the gentle art)
BJJ would allow a child to defend themselves and de-escalate the fight so that no one will get hurt unlike a striking martial art which would involve hurting the would be bully with strikes.
Reason 2: Most Fights Go to the Ground
While this is true for most adult fights as most practitioners of striking martial arts find, this is can especially be easily seen of kids fights. Most kids fights end up grappling and rolling on the ground where striking is of little to no benefit in the situation
Understanding grappling such as BJJ allows a kid to defend themselves in a fight if it goes to the ground and further to control any bully without harming them.
Reason 3: BJJ Is Specially Designed for a Smaller Individual to Go Against a Bigger Opponent
Most striking martial arts and even most grappling martial arts are not designed to take on bigger opponents. This is evident in BJJ as it frequently has open weight classes where anyone of any weight can enter. It is not uncommon for the smaller athlete to win!
Most other grappling sports and striking sports don't have these open weight classes. As BJJ is designed to use not just one's arms, but also one's legs which are much stronger against an opponent who is much bigger.
A BJJ quote that best sums this is up is "The Ground Is the Equalizer". BJJ will allow smaller kids to defend themselves against bigger kids which is usually the case with bullies.
A Real Life Example
One of our members' friend has a 10 year old son who was at school, when a bigger boy tried to bully his friend.
The son stepped in front and asked them to please stop, but the bigger bully kid tried to punch the son. He managed to duck under the punch, grab the bully and get around to his back. He asked the bully to calm down and when he wouldn’t, that's when he applied a choke.
The teachers came right then to stop the fight and no one was hurt, except of course for the bully's pride.
This is a great example of BJJ being effective in self defense and also in neutralizing a bigger opponent without hurting them.
It's time for us to be proactive and take adequate measures for our kids. Mommy and daddy can't be there to protect them when they're not around...
Have your kids learn self-defence at our Kid's BJJ classes. FREE trial available.
Contact us for more info.
Not only do they learn how to protect themselves, they have fun doing so! Take a look: