Gracie Kids

[peregrine]

Jeff- what kind of warm ups are you using? length of sessions?

[Aikilady]

I'm doing Bullyproof with my 4 yr old.  I'm finding the discussion here helpful because my BJJ experience is rudimentary, so it's good for me to read about what more experienced BJJ people think, especially those who have a more "street" approach to their training.  Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with the program. 

Jeff, my son really enjoyed watching your kids in class.  Unfortunately, we don't have a kids BJJ class here, but I'm planning to sign him up for judo, which should complement what he's learning.

[Jeff Rockwell]

Jeff- what kind of warm ups are you using? length of sessions?

Our sessions are about an hour long.  A few kids are early, some are late, so I let them play tag or whatever in the garage until we're all there, usually about 5 min after official start time.  Then we line up, announcements, bow in, and begin.  I usually start with some jumping jacks, squats, sprawls, maybe another calisthenic like pushups, mountain climbers, leg raises, mat drags, etc.  The warmup varies from there; sometimes I have them do breakfalls and standing up in base. sometimes they do line jumps, shrimps, bear crawls, etc., sometimes we just get right into the technique/s of the day.  So that's about from 3:35-3:45.

The technique portion usually lasts for about 15 minutes.  By 4-:4:05pm I try to move them into a drill or game related to the technique they just learned.  That lasts until about 4:15.  Then the "assistant of the day" gets to pick the first general game we play.  Most of them are all variants that trick them into wrestling or rolling without the pressure of an actual full out match.  But pretty soon they will be ready for that as well, it's so great to see them develop.

[peregrine]

Jeff thanks for the feedback.
I think my son is more into it now than before...maybe positive reinforcement thru success at judo and bjj practice.

He seems to like the game we call sumo -
you have a ring and the goal is to push each other out...the winner is the one who pushes/pulls the other out...

I've also been working grips and footwork. He varies between the zombie leg drag, squaring and up crossing the feet. Though, he is showing marked improvement. He practices grips and moves linear and lateral wih a partner. 'dancing'
Also working the judo entry. I used tape on the floor to mark the sequence. I also wrote an "L" on his left sleeve to help prompt him the side. Another useful game is to have him run around or do some calisthenics till I call out a move. At that point he needs to do it, aor grab a partner and do it to them. Adjustments aor consequences are dished out then repeated. It's fun for things like stance, grips, various controls, finsihes(not done yet). At times I also let him choose what he wants to do. Sometimes it's grappling related and others not. I also let him coach me as well which he gets a kick out of.

Lots to work on.
But, he generally enjoys it and that's important to me.

[Jeff Rockwell]

The sumo game is awesome!  I used to make a small square "ring" out of masking tape on my dollamur mats, but have switched to black electrical tape.  Lasts much longer, looks much neater.

I have three versions of the sumo game I play: Ball Sumo, Jacket Sumo, and No Gi sumo.  Ball sumo is two kids holding a Swiss/Physio ball in between them and using the ball to push/pull or twist their partner out of the ring or down to one knee.  Once they are comfortable with that, I get rid of the ball and do Jacket Sumo, introducing collar and elbow gi grips.  Once they've done that a bit, then they take off the gi tops (t shirts required) and get a neutral collar and elbow wrestling tie up for No Gi Sumo.  I've found this is a really safe and fun progression to introduce them to stand up wrestling and the idea of grappling overall.  You can do ball sumo for most kids on Day 1.

[peregrine]

Andre Galvaos - Drill to Win has some great drills and movement patterns that could be scaled for children. I've been looking at them and trying to slowly work on them.

For bjj I like Saulo Ribeiros approach in JJ Uni of progressions. Working the bottom fundamentals of surviving and escaping. Working this early and developing it as a core skill.
For top pressure I could see the usefulness of youth wreslting programs.

There are also several wrestling drill books I've seen at the library that could easily be incorporated. My approach is a few core skills from each position that has a binary approach.

Budovideos had an amazing deal this week...of kids Fuji bjj gis for 29$, unfortunately I looked too late and they were sold out. 

The hardest thing is to keep it fun and to take the training slow at this early stage.

[peregrine]

Hu-Bud is another one I am planning to implement in the next few months. I recall Tuhon Dans mention of teaching it to NFL lineman. I think it's a great bridge drill for the clinch, greco and ground positions by teaching the person to monitor the hands.
Hu-bud with some potential modifications to make it fun.

[peregrine]

Burton it'd be awesome if you did a video of it... as a warm up and sensitivty drill, also part of knowing the JKD roots.

[peregrine]

I'm liking this one for kids.
Simple, effective. Ties in to the 'master step' or combat get up and shrimp.
Pull guard or sweep.