Every child should learn how to ride a bike, swim, and fight! My focus as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Professor and Muay Thai Coach is training and teaching your child how to fight and, more importantly, when and why to fight.
Homeschool parents are always looking for extracurricular activities that enhance the lives of their children. With the plethora of options available, making a decision can be tough. Why not get them into something that will benefit them in all aspects of life.
Raising a child in today’s world is tough, especially with the environment that has been created in society. Here are 5 ways that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and martial arts ingrains the ideals they will need to achieve greatness.
Students WIN or they LEARN: Learning to compete and win or learning to improve when you fall short is critical for children. In schools, the competitive nature has been intentionally removed from athletics and many other activities. Mediocrity is rewarded and children receive trophies just for showing up, regardless of performance. This teaches children that just showing up will get them ahead. This belief does not reflect the reality of life and will inevitably develop weak thinking, weak habits, and weak results.
Our children will grow up one day and life will be there to knock them down. If they are in the habit of receiving participation trophies, they are learning that they do not need to perform at a high level to gain recognition and get rewarded.
At Ground Control, there are no participation trophies and students do not receive belt advancement unless their actions warrant them. Nor will they receive recognition and awards in martial arts competitions, especially in real Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, without performing and succeeding in open competition.
The students win or they will learn very fast that they didn’t work hard enough, didn’t train hard enough, or didn’t focus enough attention on their professor to gain the skills necessary to succeed. THEY WIN OR THEY LEARN! Just like in real life, they learn getting the win requires consistent time, effort, and dedication.
In real life competition is everything. Nothing is handed to students just for showing up and participating, they must work to progress. A great Jiu-Jitsu professor will teach them how to win or how to get back up when they lose, work harder, and win the next time.
Focus and self-discipline:
Jiu-Jitsu and martial arts will start your homeschooled child down a path to success. Learning how to focus on the class being taught and have the discipline to come and continue to practice is critical to success in life. Rome was not built in a day, and neither are champions.
Socialization:
Your homeschool student will need opportunities to socialize, meet new people, and develop friendships. At a Ground Control academy they will be surrounded by their homeschool peers at an organization with a strong culture and traditional American values. The diversity of the student base will give them the opportunity to meet people from all cultures and backgrounds at a place where performance and learning are all that matters.
Honor and Respect:
Honor and respect are hard to find in today’s world. Martial arts, by its very nature, commands respect. Students must learn to respect both their fellow classmates and the instructor, and they must learn to compete and fight with honor in both victory and defeat.
Confidence and Self Defense:
Si vis pacem, para bellum – If you want peace, prepare for war. Having the tools and knowledge to defend themselves will elevate your child’s self-confidence. This is true, not just when being confronted by a bully on the playground, but in all aspects of life. Succeeding and advancing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will give them the small daily wins needed to build the confidence to persevere in the difficult situations that will arise now and throughout life.
Having the tools to defend themselves doesn’t necessarily mean that they will ever need to use them. With the confidence that your homeschool student will develop from martial arts they will walk differently, look different, and have a different aura about them.
They will be learning the techniques that have been proven to be the most effective means of defending themselves. This brings with it a real sense of security, not just for the homeschool student learning Jiu-Jitsu, but also the parents. Imagine knowing that your child has not only the tools needed to defend themself in any situation, but also the honor, self-control, and respect to know when to use them.
Feeling confident in your ability to protect yourself changes the way you move through the world. At Ground Control Palm Beach, women’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is designed to give you real self-defense skills in a supportive, professional, and welcoming environment.
Coach’s Guide to Smarter Training Every fighter learns punches, kicks, takedowns, and submissions. But the athletes who stand out are the ones who think clearly
Training at Ground Control Palm Beach means walking into a space where hard work, positivity, and teamwork come first. A clean environment is essential to