Jiu-Jitsu Practice Design for Kids

Behind the Scenes at Union: Jiu-Jitsu Practice Design for Kids

Experience Jiu-Jitsu, a full-body workout that builds fitness and self-defense. Join Kids and Adult classes at Union Martial Arts, Union County, NC.

Jiu-Jitsu is like an incredible, never-ending story—like a book that you love to read, and somehow, the story keeps growing every single day. The best part? This book isn’t written by one author but by the entire Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling community around the globe. You can be one of the contributing authors! Every day, new moves are taking shape, old techniques are revisited and refined, and new concepts are developed. The learning is limitless, and that’s what makes Jiu-Jitsu so captivating for kids (and adults, too!). The adventure never stops, and the possibilities are infinite.

But how do we help our young students grasp this endless art? How do we guide them in understanding something so expansive in a way that helps them become independent learners who take charge of their own Jiu-Jitsu journey?

The answer lies in consistent, well-designed practice sessions that make learning the physical and mental aspects of Jiu-Jitsu effective and fun.

Our approach to Kids Jiu-Jitsu is to create an environment that encourages exploration, focuses on key strategic concepts, and makes every training session something our students look forward to. We believe in blending discipline with creativity, important details with room for play, and structured learning with opportunities for curiosity.

It’s not just about drilling “moves”; Coaching kids is also about all the little things in between—the things that define each individual child’s experience on the mat. It’s about their mindset, their energy levels, their physical attributes like reach and strength, and even the emotions they bring with them, like excitement over a new rash guard shirt or feeling down after a rough day at school.

Kid's Jiu-Jitsu Class
Kid's Jiu-Jitsu Class at Union Martial Arts

Early Areas of Concentration in Our Kids Jiu-Jitsu Program

We want our students to understand that Jiu-Jitsu is as much a mental exercise as it is physical. There are underlying principles and concepts that need to be understood, and our role is to help each student take ownership of their learning journey. It’s about not just knowing how a “move” works but also understanding why it works. Below, we dive into some of the key areas we focus on in our Kids Jiu-Jitsu program. 

Books have been written about bullet points below! By no means is this an exhaustive list, but rather a starting point for further discussion and reference for our young students and their parents. 

1. Hand Fighting & Takedowns

  • First Contact and Inside Position: We encourage kids to be aggressive in their hand-fighting from every position. Always aiming to control the inside position.
  • Connections and Movement: we strive to outnumber an opponent’s connections and keep them moving Whether it’s grips, underhooks, head position, frames, posts, etc. 
  • Off-Balancing to Takedowns: Attacking to create off-balancing, while recognizing that the arms and legs of our opponent act as levers to their hips, head and shoulders.

2. Pins and Pin Escapes

Kids need to be comfortable escaping bad positions and feel they have multiple paths of escape. We constantly explore escape and pinning concepts from variations of the following:

  • Side Control 
  • Mount
  • Back Control

3. Sweeps and an Offensive Guard

Learning to reverse positions is crucial for kids, as these reversal scenarios show them just how effective Jiu-Jitsu can be, even against a larger opponent. We focus on sweeps from a variety of guarded scenarios.

  • Closed Guard – controlling distance and posture. 
  • Open Guard Variations: Sweeps from positions like butterfly guard or X-guard help students develop dynamic, offensive guards.
  • Half Guard: Understanding how to create movement and opportunities to sweep from this versatile position.

4. Guard Passing & Half Guard

Passing guard is an art, and it’s one of the key skills that our kids work daily. 

  • Breaking and Passing Closed Guard: Understanding base, posture and approaches to breaking an opponent’s closed guard.
  • Passing Open Guard: Using concepts such as refusing to let their feet touch you, movement and hip control to neutralize guards like butterfly, seated guard, etc. 
  • Passing Half Guard: Using pressure and immobilization of the bottom player to advance position. 

5. Submissions

Our program teaches the fundamental submission techniques that every young grappler needs. Each submission offers endless variations, positions, and situations for application. As kids train longer, they’ll learn to recognize and execute submissions from diverse scenarios. It all begins with establishing control, isolating a target, and then applying compression, hyper-extension, or twisting force.

    • Rear Naked Choke
    • Guillotine 
    • Arm Bar
    • Arm Triangle
    • Triangle Choke
    • Kimura
    • Americana
    • Front Headlock: Including techniques like the Anaconda and D’Arce chokes. 
    • Straight Ankle lock: Heel hooks and other leg locks are introduced in adult classes.

Our Practice Philosophy: Fun and Discipline

Jiu-Jitsu isn’t just a sport; it’s a practice that helps kids build resilience, confidence, and respect for themselves and others. Our practices are designed with the goal of making Jiu-Jitsu enjoyable while fostering discipline. Whether we’re hand fighting, learning to escape a bad position, or working on guard passes, we make sure our classes are a blend of structure, creativity, and fun.

Thank you for reading!

Coach Nolan

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