Like football or soccer, martial arts is a fun, healthy, and competitive sport, but there’s a crucial difference between martial arts and traditional sports. Martial arts provides an environment where students learn life skills as well as valuable self-defense skills. Like learning how to swim, eat a healthy diet, or drive a car, self-defense training is a basic survival skill.
Karate has a great reputation for teaching kids self-respect, confidence, and discipline. By practicing Karate, children can develop those skills. SBG Missoula’s Growing Gorillas Kids Martial Arts program takes that practice a step further by assigning life skills homework outside of students’ jiu jitsu classes. We strongly believe in character building both on and off the mats. Every month, our program focuses on skills such as initiative, kindness, leadership, and integrity. Students complete tasks at home, and for students who complete their life skills homework, we give out stripes just like we give out jiu jitsu stripes.
When it comes to self-defense training, Karate teaches striking and kicking techniques that, while impressive, can do serious damage. If an attacker gets in close range, strikes and kicks become less effective. BJJ puts students in positions where opponents invade their personal space and fights to control their body, and students learn a wide range of techniques to defend themselves. Training in uncomfortable positions teaches students how to manage that mental stress. Because BJJ students practice live sparring they discover their strengths and weaknesses in a safe and supportive environment.
Jiu jitsu techniques are especially useful for teaching self-defense for girls. Unfortunately for girls, the statistics of sexual assault are not in their favor, and self-defense is particularly crucial for them. They need to learn how to defend themselves from the ground and avoid getting choked. Karate is effective for them to maintain range. But if an attacker closes that distance, they need to know how to defend, survive, and escape from the ground. For self-defense training for girls, BJJ offers life-saving techniques. It teaches them to be aware of their physical space and set boundaries. It gives them real-life experience with having someone attack that space and develop the skills to defend it.
Enroll your child in our Growing Gorillas Kids Martial Arts program, and they will develop the skills to thrive in life! Fill out the form, and one of our consultants will contact you and get your child on the path to success!
