Youth Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Should my child do both?
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Submission grappling are two of the fastest growing sports in the United States. These are two grappling sports that allow submission holds – movements that force one’s opponent to ‘tap out’ or give up. Unlike wrestling which is a single-season sport, the competitions for BJJ and Grappling are year round. Because of this, many serious wrestling parents consider placing their child into another grappling sport during the off-season but they have concerns…
The primary concern faced by parents is safety. It sounds dangerous to have a child do techniques that require tapping out to signal defeat. Takedowns, like those found in wrestling, are the primary cause of injuries in these types of competitions. Also, any legitimate school and competition has the appropriate insurance and safety procedures to limit sports injuries.
Another issue facing parents is how much overlap there would be between the two sports. Wrestling parents generally like the hard-nosed approach of wrestling and are skeptical of martial arts programs. However, a good MMA program or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school will quickly put those fears to rest as they classes will be very realistic and include drills such as holding top position (or pin position in wrestling), takedowns, throws (albeit maybe with judo terminology) and live grappling.
Here in the Baltimore area, we have many good Kids Martial Arts programs that do just that – combine the best of martial arts with wrestling. Winter time is for wrestling and the other three seasons are for Grappling and MMA training.
My recommendation would be for each parent to go and take a look at the BJJ schools to see if their child will like it. Practicing another grappling style, whether its Judo or BJJ or even Sambo, can only help a child’s wrestling abilities.
Adam Delbrugge
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Tagged with: bjj • Brazilian Jiu Jitsu • folkstyle • freestyle • grappling • Jiu Jitsu • mixed martial arts • MMA • mma training • scholastic • ufc training • wrestling
Filed under: Martial Arts
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