Martial Arts for Young Children
Montessori principles allow you to teach non-Montessori work to children and adults. From sandpaper letters to BJJ. Suggestions for selecting a martial art.
“O Jiu-Jitsu brasileiro usa a linguagem do movimento — sem necessidade de palavras.”
(Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu uses the language of movement — no words needed.)
Duarte, a Brazilian Top Team Founder
When I started learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu over 20 years ago (long before it was popular for women), my best coach was Luis Roberto Duarte, one of the founders of the renowned Brazilian Top Team, who visited our school for a week.
One of the Brazilian students asked Duarte how he could coach me during fights, given that I neither knew Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (I was relying on prior martial arts to compete) nor spoke Portuguese.
Coach Duarte laughed as he said, “O Jiu-Jitsu brasileiro usa a linguagem do movimento — sem necessidade de palavras.”
He simply demonstrated the movement, and I copied him. Even when I was sparring someone else, he would execute the desired action — or just the part that he wanted me to change or implement — from the sidelines, and I would follow his lead.
In Montessori, consider the first sandpaper letter presentation: trace the letter while saying the sound, then remain silent as your child does the same.
How different this is from conventional teaching, where a teacher stands and lectures about phonics, phonemes, and sounding out letters.
When asked to troubleshoot a particular public school one day, I became groggy as I sat with the children during a tedious lecture. Tired from my flight, I nodded off briefly. Whispering to the child next to me, I asked, “What did I miss?” She replied, “Nothin. You didn’t miss nothin."
The same bored girl came to life when I presented a group of children with the sandpaper letters and movable alphabet. In two days, she and the other children in my group were reading short vowel words! I felt so sorry to leave them in that school.
A group of private school teachers asked me what I do when a student “doesn’t get the phonics combinations” after repeated lessons.
This never happens. It doesn’t happen because Montessori presentations are logical and concise.
When a teacher asks this question, I know that they have made a mess of their lessons. All of my students learn to read. Some of the children even come from households where their siblings are already failing in an inner city public school, usually the reason the parent has made the stretch to bring the child to me.
Pay attention during the presentation to the student. If they will forget the sound of a letter, only present a single letter now. If they are not interested in the letters, present another type of exercise that will capture their attention. Wait for the right time.
Back to martial arts:
Coach Duarte provided a perfect model: Demonstrate without talking.
Unfortunately, a lot of MMA and BJJ coaches have fallen into the new trend of chatting excessively during class. I think it is partially a bad YouTube habit, as many coaches make videos to share online. For adults, it is annoying — some adults will drop out of class without telling you that they feel you are wasting their time — but with small children, it is a disaster.
Remember that martial arts are a physical skill: We do not perfect them by sitting and listening because our bodies and brains need movement to coordinate the understanding and internalization of the work.
Stand or sit next to the child.
Select a movement suitable for the child such as a front roll.
Demonstrate the roll slowly.
Go back to the child.
Adjust the child’s position.
Demonstrate the movement again.
Repeat the roll across the floor with the child.
Only make key adjustments to the child’s position.
Stop before the child’s interest wanes.
Avoid:
Refrain from standing in front of the class.
Work with one or two children at a time.
Stand on the right side of the child as it is usually the dominant side, unless you know they are left-handed.
Demonstrate without talking.
Select movements based on the children themselves.
For older infants and toddlers, work with one child to demonstrate basic solo techniques such as animal forms, rolls, and upa-type movements. Once the child is comfortable, say the name of what you are doing.
I always show these types of movements in the infant class because they are absolutely perfect aids to walking.
In the case of a stand-up technique such as a front kick, break the movement down into the component parts: Make a good stance, bring up the front leg, slowly extend it out, bring it back, and put it down properly. Then demonstrate a bit faster. Before you demonstrate, know how much to execute. Perhaps you only demonstrate the stance and holding your foot against your standing leg. It depends.
In martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do, the opening and closing of class have ceremonial significance. In this case, stand in the front, execute the movements and the words in Korean. And do not add any other discussion. Save any talk for after class. This helps separate the lesson from community announcements and such.
For Tae Kwon Do and other foreign language opening and closing traditions, make a small video of yourself saying the words in that language with subtitles in the foreign language and your home language.
Parents: If you are choosing a martial art, I highly recommend Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for you and your child. You can add Muay Thai, too. Tae Kwon Do has become a mess due to the modern changes to the art that result in misaligned posture.
It is enjoyable to find a nice martial arts school, but many parents lack proximity, time, or money. In this case, I have to recommend my current coach, Renzo Gracie, as he has provided excellent online work, https://renzogracie.online/
For work at home, try an undyed hemp shorts + t-shirt combination as hemp naturally discourages bacteria and fungi. If you cannot find a hemp child’s gi, they are easy to make.
Wishing you a good workout!