Today’s kid class started with Balance Drills. Balance drills are a great way to help the kids enrolled in our Crossroads BJJ Kids Martial Arts program to see the immediate benefit of increasing their focus. One of the methods to increasing how well you balance is to find one spot on the floor and keep your focus on that spot. By providing an an immediate benefit to increasing the length of time the children in our BJJ Program for Kids can focus on one thing they can have a real life example of how practice and increased focus can help them reach their individual goals for whatever they choose to pursue in life.
They next part of class we worked on closing the distance and bringing a bully to the ground where a smaller child control the bully and keep him or herself safe until somebody can come to help. Today the takedown we worked was an inside sweep and getting a good base on top of the bully. Once the children were on the ground after the takedown we continue working on balance and how to adjust and keep there base. Adjusting to challenges moment to moment is something that is required to be a good Jiu-Jitsu practitioner but is also another skill that translates into real work problem solving.
The Class ended with everybody working guard passing drills. The children worked with each other to pass the guard of their partner to move into the side control position. The side Control Position allows the kids to use their body weight more effectively giving them the ability to control or restrain a bully who is much larger than him or her. The Kids shown the BJJ technique and then that technique was broken down into 6 Steps which the kids were then asked to repeat back to the instructor what the 7 steps were. After that they broke off into groups and practiced the steps with each other. This Drill provided two valuable real work skills for the Students of the Crossroads Kids Martial Arts Program. The first skill was keeping on task while working in a group, and our kids did great. The kids were able to keep focused on the task in front of them and help each other through the technique. The second skill was testing their memory, going from being asked to repeat the steps of the technique in a larger group with an instructors help, to working with another child without the instructor walking them through step by step with each repetition.
And as always we end class on with a game. Today we played Chicken matches. a balance and strength game. Ending on a positive note helps the kids stay motivated for the next class and always excited to come to Jiu-Jitsu class.