My kids and I have been Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and Muay Thai for almost a decade now and it’s time to bring Liam into the fold.
He just turned 5 which is the age most gyms allow kids to start training. I took him with us to class last night and he fell in love with what he saw… So much so that he started pouting because he wasn’t able to be out there.
So, tomorrow, I’ll be taking him to his first unofficial class to see how he handles it, whether he can (and will) follow the coaches instructions, and the big one for me is going to be diabetes management.
I’ll have snacks and juice at the ready and we plan to suspend his basal an hour before class start time.
Looking forward to letting him start his journey in the “gentle art” of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - if he decides he wants to pursue it after trying it out for himself.
Will update after class with how he handles it and how his sugars fared.
Cody managed his sugars pretty easily when he was taking BJJ. He was on shots then and we hadn’t started the CGM, so no equipment to get ripped off. But of all of his sport endeavors, BJJ was the easiest to control for, plus you can pretty easily stop if you need sugar as opposed to the middle of a baseball inning. So I suspect Liam will do great with this one. If he can listen and follow directions…
Sounds awesome for @Liam I bet Samson would love something like this but he’s always trying to beat up his brother anyways so i’m not sure i should give him more tips on how to do it more effectively??
Actually BJJ is great in this regard since it can be used offensively, but honestly most of the kids learn how to get position and hold someone down as they are sparring. However, be forewarned if you or your husband aren’t taking lessons and you like to wrestle, be prepared that once the kids learn technique, it becomes much harder to win. I remember vividly when my older son who I had been able to dominate quite easily through application of strength, got position on me, threw a kickstand out and it required a huge amount of effort to win. That was the last day we fun wrestled.
BJJ doesn’t teach you so much about starting fights as much as it does about ending them. lol. So, we go there just to learn “self defense”…not to go out and be bullies. BJJ teaches you the many things you can do if someone chooses to make the mistake of trying to cause you bodily harm…put them to sleep, break their bones, etc., etc.,
I have only ever practiced BJJ for two reasons: First and foremost, bonding time with my sons. Secondly, to make them “bully proof”. I don’t believe in fleeing situations…bullies learn nothing that way. I’ve always told my children to walk away and continue walking away until you know the person wants to cause you harm, then I fully expect you to take care of business.
If they get pulled into the Principals office and we’re called…we’ll publically chastize him in front of the principal, then we’ll take him out to dinner afterwards. No person should be afraid of a bully and no system should protect bullies more than it protects those who choose to stand up against them.
Jiu Jitsu literally translates to “the gentle art” because there isn’t the ‘hard’ punches and kicks as you have in other styles such as Karate, etc., BJJ practitioners learn to go with the flow, relax, and use the persons body against them. Take openings they give you…it’s literally considered a form of martial arts “chess”. BJJ is a thinking persons art because you have to recognize an opening and capitalize on it.
I made a bet with my oldest son, Devlin, who is now 16 that I will pay him $100 the first time he “taps me out”…and I wish I hadn’t made that bet with him because as I get weaker, he’s getting stronger, and not too much longer he’ll be tapping me out.
His favorite is the RNC (Rear Naked Choke)…and…last class, he almost put me to sleep twice, but I refused to tap and managed to break free.
But BJJ is the ground game…BJJ is the style you take if you want to learn REAL WORLD application of how to defend yourself if ever taken to the ground and how to move from a bad, to a dominant position. We also take Muay Thai which teaches the stand up game…punches, kicks, blocks…and Muay Thai is MUCH harder - cardio wise. BJJ is a more ‘full body’ workout. I can do Muay Thai and be exhausted from all the cardio, but when I do BJJ, my entire body hurts (and I love it.) It works every muscle…even those you didn’t know you had.
@ClaudnDaye, my son had been going to karate classes when he was diagnosed. He was still in honeymoon at the time, but we saw absolutely no impact from the classes in the year that followed diagnosis. Today I imagine we would need to decrease basal some, but I would not expect a lot of impact, unless your practices are very different from ours.
Well, tonight didn’t pan out. One of my other sons Yearbook club meeting took longer than it was supposed too so Liam didn’t get to train. But he did go with us still and watched us…so we’re going to try it again tomorrow. I’ll post pics afterward.
Last night was Liam’s first exposure to BJJ and he LOVED it…so it looks like he’ll be doing that with us from now on. Here are some pics. He loved it so much he made me wait after class so that he could watch the kids in the next class (older kids class).
He followed instructions amazingly given this was his first exposure to this and we’re looking forward to getting him involved! (He used his older brothers Gi and belt for his first class.)
Some things I noticed with regards to Diabetes. He was 129 before class and I suspended basal an hour before. Because I was really worried about his sugars dropping I OVER-FED him…and the increase in BG didn’t occur until an hour after class, but when it came up, it came up fast. I learned to only give him 1/2 the carbs I actually gave him (I gave him 10 cheese crackers + 1/2 a juice box…so about 20 carbs.) Next time, I’ll just give him 5 or 10 crackers and keep the other stuff for during class if he starts dropping.
Man, that is one adorable smile Liam’s got. Don’t tell him though, because adorable isn’t a big boy word maybe and he could probably kick my butt. (I’ve had two concurrent colds in the last month and I feel like the recovery has been worse than months on crutches. So a small boy could probably knock me down and win. )
No, I call him my “beautiful baby”. He’s OK with non-masculine terms…that’s so 20th century anyway. Nowadays anyone can be or do anything they want to be.
Thanks for the compliment. I agree, he’s adorable.
Great looking kid, my youngest did “mauy tye?” Probably to spite me, i have a 3rd degree black belt in tae kwon doe, am still a member as a instructor in the tae kwon doe mu duck kwon association.
Imho, its not so much the style as it is the instructor/studio that matters. I was “lucky?” My instructor was hun su kim, he was born into the presidential guard in north korea and defected to the USA during the korean war. As you can imagine he was terriable strict. Each test for advancement was done individual and started with all the basic moves, each one back and forth across the hole studio, and all forms from the very begining to what ever belt you were atempting. The first degree black belt took all day and as a prerequisite you hade to be an instructor somewhere (we were required to teach at community centers free of charge) and had to attain a certien profeciency in anouther form he used as well as a weapon you chose. At the end you had to have a full contact match with to others of his choice with a more advanced belt. I falled my first test by breaking my wrist in a power/breaking test. My 3rd degree test was 3 days ( from 10am to 10pm) and hade to fight him in the end on 2nd and 3rd day. We were also required to participate in all local full contact matched from early on as well as matches he would set up with other studios.
Sorry about rambling, it brings back so many fond memories, havnt been able to train in about 10 years, have been doodling in tye chi the last couple of years when health allows. But i am 6’ 4" tall and still can kick the top of a door jam, i think😁
One of my other sons Yearbook club meeting took longer than it was supposed too so Liam didn’t get to train. But he did go with us still and watched us…so we’re going to try it again tomorrow. I’ll post pics afterward.
)