Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Teaches Real Discipline and Kids Need It!
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is great for teaching children discipline. Out of all martial arts – Karate, Taekwondo, Aikido and so on – I would say that BJJ has the most to offer. By discipline, I mean real discipline, not politeness like “yes sir, no sir”. Politeness is important and is something every child should learn and have, and BJJ teaches politeness as well. However, real discipline is the ability to stick something out in the long term to meet your goals and not quitting or giving up when something becomes difficult. This idea of real discipline was a concept that was drilled into me from my old teacher Sifu Pat Tray. In my opinion BJJ is unmatched in teaching kids this kind of real discipline.
BJJ develops and teaches discipline in several ways. BJJ does not give out belts quickly or easily. It takes a long time, a lot of willpower, and a lot of effort to earn a belt in BJJ. It usually takes around ten years or longer to earn a black belt in BJJ, which is one of the longest for any martial art. Compare the length of time to earn a black belt in BJJ with the average length of time it takes to earn a black belt in other arts such as Taekwondo (two years) and Karate (five years), and you can see how much discipline, focus, and drive it takes to earn a black belt in BJJ.
Kids must also spar each other at the end of every class. This competition builds further willpower, discipline, and mental toughness. BJJ competitions provide children with a safe, fun, and challenging way to build a child’s self-defense skills, self-esteem, self-reliance, and confidence. These are just a couple of ways that BJJ will enrich and improve a child’s life that if continued will follow them into adulthood.
With the internet, everything you want to know is just seconds away – video games provide kids with immediate retries and an experience that they can tailor specifically to meet their ability level. Today’s kids have grown up in this world of instant gratification and need this kind of real discipline and challenge that BJJ provides. As BJJ legend Jean Jacques Machado once said “if you ask me what belt I am today, I’ll tell you that I’m a white belt that never gave up”.