Jiu-jitsu for 13 to 15 year olds

"Why is my 13 year old training with grown adults?"

Because the kids' class has stopped challenging them. Left there, they coast.

In the adult room they train with people who are bigger, stronger and more experienced, and that's where they actually grow — technically and in every other way.

"Is it going to be too much for them?"

It's hard, and we won't pretend otherwise:

• They go from being one of the best kids in the room to being the newest person in it.
• They'll lose rounds while trying their absolute hardest, against people they can't out-muscle.
• It lands at the exact age when most kids push back hardest against parents and authority generally.

Expect more arguments about going to class during these three years than at any other point in their training. That's normal. It is not a sign it's going badly.

"Then why put them through it?"

Because a kid who sticks it out through 13, 14 and 15 comes out with self-control, resilience and real skill that they could not have built in an easier room. We've watched it happen over and over. This is the stretch that changes people.

"What does it give them outside the gym?"

This is the part most parents don't see coming, and it might be the most valuable thing we do.

• They learn to talk to adults. Years of ordinary conversation with grown men and women who aren't their parents or their teachers. That skill shows up in every job interview they'll ever sit in.
• They pick up mentors. The room is full of adults who take an interest in them, and that's not something a teenager gets many places.
• They get hired. Our adult room includes business owners, and several of our kids have been given jobs by people they train with. We've been asked more than once whether we have a young person worth hiring — because they already know the character of the kid they're rolling with every week.

That's the honest goal for this age group: a young person adults want around, trust with work, and are glad to recommend.

"How do you keep them safe in an adult class?"

• We choose who they train with. A 14 year old isn't getting handed to the biggest guy in the room.
• Belts follow the adult track, and nobody gets a blue belt before 16, however good they are.
• Tell us when they're fighting you about coming in. We've had that conversation a hundred times and we can usually help.

"Can they start at 14 with no experience?"

Yes, and it happens often. The adult room is more welcoming to a brand new teenager than most people expect.