Martial arts for 4 and 5 year olds

"Are you teaching my four year old to fight?"

No, and we're not trying to. We're not building fighters at this age, and we're not building little competitors either. Teaching a four year old to arm-lock and choke other four year olds isn't a goal of ours — it isn't even on the list.

What we're building is a coachable child. That's the whole aim of this class.

"So what does my child actually get out of it?"

• Focus, and a longer attention span. At four, that's a trainable skill like any other.
• Following instructions. Hearing something once and doing it.
• Respect for authority, and where the boundaries are.
• Learning to play with other kids — taking turns, sharing space, keeping hands to themselves.
• Emotional control. Picking themselves up, calming themselves down, and going again.

"Why does being coachable matter so much?"

Because a child who can be coached can be taught — by us, by their teacher, by anybody who comes after us. A child who can't is going to struggle in every classroom they sit in, no matter how bright they are.

Self-control comes first, focus grows out of it, and attention span grows out of that. Get those three early and everything they try later gets easier. That's worth more at this age than any technique we could show them.

"My kid melts down. Is he going to be a problem in there?"

No. Melting down is the normal starting point, and handling it is part of the class rather than an interruption to it. We're teaching them to pull themselves together and get back to it — that's the skill, and they can't practice it without getting upset first.

"He's shy. He might just stand there and watch."

Plenty do, for the first class or two. We've never had one who didn't eventually join in. All we ask is that you bring him back the second time even if the first one didn't go the way you hoped.

"Does he still learn real jiu-jitsu?"

Yes — real technique, taught in pieces a four year old can hold onto, and they earn belts and stripes for it. The character work rides along inside the jiu-jitsu. We just don't pretend the technique is the important part at this age.

"What does he need for the first class?"

Shorts and a t-shirt. We'll sort out a uniform if you decide to keep going.