To follow up on my last blog entry, I created two new polls dealing with submission skills for children. I hope you will take time to vote, and encourage your Judo friends and students to do likewise. I am convinced that the results will show that it’s time to rethink our policy vis à vis submissions for children. An attitude adjustment may help us stay more relevant in the grappling world.
It’s no surprise that each Judo and jiujitsu club may have differing views on the subject regardless of the governing body’s stance. Some clubs allow children to perform submissions on adults, while others allow children to perform submissions on their peers. It is equally true that there are international tournaments for kids in jiujitsu that allow children much younger than 13 and 17 to perform submissions. I recently viewed some Pan-American Jiujitsu tournament on YouTube featuring players under-ten doing armbars.
There’s a very interesting comment that I have heard from several Judo/jiujitsu cross-trainers that may shed light on why we in Judo have such a hard time coming to grips with kids doing submissions. It appears that Judoplayers don’t like tapping out as much as jiujitsu participants do. How much of the Japanese code of not tapping out filters down to our clubs? And does this “no tap” culture cloud our judgment when it comes to kids learning submissions?
I think it’s safe to say that we can come up with training guidelines to ensure the safety of our young players while grounding them in the essential elements of submissions. A basic “catch-release-no cranking” rule would be a good start. Get a nice Bjj-style hadaka jime, and release before the effectiveness is felt, and the child freaks out or cries. Catch your partner in a juji gatame, and release the arm once it’s past ninety degrees. Of course, the training emphasis, especially at the beginning should be on getting into the right position, rather than submitting your partner and potentially doing him bodily harm.
Please vote in the two polls if you haven’t already done so. You get two votes per each poll, which allows you to submit one vote on chokes and one on armbars. Lastly, I’d like to encourage those of you who have been teaching submissions to your kids to share your experiences with the rest of us.
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You really have to be careful anytime you are choking anyone. Kids get hurt when they are choked and then they don’t want to come back to train.
So you have to determine an age to choke or armbar. I let them start about 7 years old. I have shown most kids the chokes but we only work grappling under my supervision. When it gets a little tight around the neck, I will break it up. Armbars are a necessity, but you have to understand when to stop. Most kids have no idea when to tone it down. Just have to be very careful. To compete with the chokes is another totally different response.
I have four children, all judoka’s 4,5,9,10 year old in wich all of them are taught chokes and armbars. The 4 and 5 year old’s practice chokes and armbars together as well as the 9 and 10 do, the worst thing that has happened is that my 4 yr. old had a nose bleed and a sour throat and the gi got a little blood on it and, my 5 year old gets a bloody nose all of a sudden the day after in practice at the dojo from doing chokes at home a day before, so for my little ones i teach them once or twice a week in my home for about 45 min. to 1 hour the older ones have had no injurys other than sore throats on chokes…no injurys on armbars. My 9 and 10 year old started at 7 and 8 and been doing it ever since, so in my opinion i would generally recommend parents with the same rhetoric for concerns as my wife had, to start teaching it slowly and carefully at the ages between 6 and 7 thats just my opinion based on my own personal experienced here at home.
The way I see it my kids will have the upper hand on the kid that starts there chokes and armbars until they are 13… the sport just does’nt feel complete not to mention that ijf,usja,usaj,etc. have taken out all of other great techniques… sabotage if you ask me, and yes I teach those too!