BJJ Games to play with your kids

Hey guys and coaches,

I was wondering if you had any suggestions on BJJ related games that you can play with your kids aged 3-4?

I already play a tackle game (where I am on my knees and they run at me; I only fall over if they drive their head and hit the double underhooks) as well as the Crazy Horse game from the Gracie Games curriculum but I was wondering what some sort of games you do with your own kids?

At this age, I don't want them approaching anything close to any submission related moves. It's all just position and control under the guise of horse play.

Make them work on their shrimping. Just go on top of them don't crush them lol and let them figure out a way to not be stuck under you anymore.
I do that with my dog and he became a master at shrimping! I know kids are not dogs but the concept is there :)
The concept of pushing yourself away from someone instead of pushing them away from you is super important.

I've recently began coaching a kids class and have 20 of em age 3-8. I won't lie to you, I was lost! I walked in and 4 were choking each other, a handfull were playing dodgeball, 3 were literally climbing the wall. Anyways parents have found out that jj is cheaper than a babysitter lmfao. So, I bombed by trying to teach techniques and they hated me. By the next class I decided to learn how to get kids to fall in love with jiu jitsu. I watched bulleyproof and was amazed. I realized I've been doing this with my son since age 3. The games... Spiderkid, shark bite, steamroller, giant and crazy horse has made them all leave smiling now. Since they've already learned the techniques by playing games, I made the 10th planet moves into games as well. It's amazing to see them pop into "Gumby" or mission control with ny.

Btw, if I'm lucky enough to roll with Eddie at the Charlotte seminar, it's all "Carebear" until I go "Kid in the helmet". Hells yeah!

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Originally Posted by John Alighieri

I do that with my dog and he became a master at shrimping!

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YES! i play BJJ with MY CAT haha sometimes i chase him around my house running room to room hiding and popping out and then he runs and i run back after him (my fat is gettin fat so doing this helps him lose weight he sleeps alot) then sometimes i get him on his back and make him "defend my guard pass"sometimes id spin him to north/south and say hes playing INVERTED GUARD haha :D just being silly and havin fun with him.

girls find HIM sexier than ME sometimes so i use him as girlbait :D

Haha.. that's great.

What game variations have you created with your kids and how did you introduce the concepts of the game rules to them?

I usually have my son who is 10 or my wife show the "game" along with myself. I do the drill from all angles just like a technique. It's usually together with a funny story. Say... So u guys are walking down the street to get some pizza. When a meteor hits your psp and the evil dude shoots out of the screen. He's so big he knocks you down. You look up and hit X guard sweep! Because X marks the spot. Just like treasure. For kids it's all about the story. For us it's a technique. Don't explain hand position or theory. Don't worry about them locking it. If it's wrong place their foot where you want it and say perfect lol. You will be surprised how fast children learn jiu jitsu.

What are all the games in the Gracie Bullyproof set?

1. Spider kid ( maintain mount)
2. Bulldozer (maintain top with rolling opponent)
3. Shark bite ( upa escape)
4. Crazy horse ( take and maintain back control)
5. Giant ( double leg takedown)
6. Crocodile ( side mount)
7. Base battle ( maintain standing base)
8. Snake bite ( upa while opponent chokes)
9. Guard monster ( closed guard and posture control)
10. Crazy legs ( pass guard to mount.

I'll post my 10th planet games when I get some more time.

can't wait to get my kid doing jiu jitz...specially with all these amazing instructors...very inventive. Now if I can get my wife to accept that my lil dude will not start choking kids out and breaking arms and being a general nuiusance, I'll be alright.

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Originally Posted by James Davis

can't wait to get my kid doing jiu jitz...specially with all these amazing instructors...very inventive. Now if I can get my wife to accept that my lil dude will not start choking kids out and breaking arms and being a general nuiusance, I'll be alright.

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Haha kids n jitz, it's good stuff man. I don't use chokes or submissions at all with the kids. The 3 levels of all the games have gotten their control tight. You will know when they're ready to advance.

Thanks to AJ for starting this thread & thanks to Tony for turning me onto the Gracie Bullyproof games. By the way Tony I'm looking forward to any post you have on 10PJJ kids games & am about 90% sure that I'm going to get the time off from work so that I can go to Eddie's Charlotte seminar next month too - I look forward to meeting you.

As for myself, I have a boy turning 4 in July & beautiful identical twin girls turning 3 (also in July). I roughhouse will all of them. I don't do striking routines with them even though they see me & like to imitate. Tommy's favorite game is when we play 'takedown!'. Always funny to knock Daddy over you know? Tommy is also getting better at wrapping me up tight in any position. He'll put my leg in a full guard - squeezing with his knees & with an arm triangle to hold on while I do single leg lifts - it's a bit of a workout for me & he laughs his ass off while learning to squeeze with his whole body in order to stay on.

I play one game where he is on his back & I tickle his stomach with 'the claw'. The only way to get the claw off is to slap on a good leg triangle around my forearm. Then he wins & celebrates by yelling 'TRIANGLE!'. Good times!

We also just roll around a lot - they know the names of a few positions & will sometimes hit them if I say 'Now side control!' or something like that (if they are in the mood). I hold them in a position that is just tough enough that they need to really struggle to get out & sometime they'll ask 'how do I get out?' if they struggle the wrong way, like pushing against a strong point - I say, untangle the hand 1st & then let blast out' - Then I let them wiggle & worm their way out. Good times are had by all, they build good habits, adds a little core strength & most importantly tires everyone out some so that we all sleep better at night (particularly on rainy/snowy days where we stay inside). Now that we do this sort of thing more often since they are getting older - managing at home alone with 3 toddlers has become less work & more fun for me. I get stir crazy when I don't get to work out enough & this at least can get me sweaty while having a blast with my kids - high energy = fun at this age.

Now, if only I can get my hotbox status worked out sometime this year I'll have a space where we can go play anytime 24/7 with real mats & maybe with some other rug rats (kids of guys I work out with)...

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Originally Posted by Michael Sioda

I play one game where he is on his back & I tickle his stomach with 'the claw'. The only way to get the claw off is to slap on a good leg triangle around my forearm. Then he wins & celebrates by yelling 'TRIANGLE!'. Good times!

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I do something similar where I go to tickle them and I only back off when they can get their feet on my hips. I then try to circle and throw their legs to pass their open guard. They are naturally learning to rotate and stay squared with me.

The fun part is when I show they're mom. I call out a game, and then without any further prompting they execute a grappling move. Not that I would, but I could probably just point at somebody, yell "Super Hug" and watch them shoot on them with a double leg.

My immediate goal is just position and movement. I've already seen my 3 year olds fight/argue with each other(kids mess with each other all the time.. that's another disciplinary process altogether) and the "victim" will usually retaliate by hugging with underhooks until they both fall over and the one on top smothers the other one to stop. Probably the safest way for kids to "fight" since when they were 2 they used to bite each other. I still don't tolerate this behavior but it's interesting to see how these weird drills are permeating through their overall movement on the ground.

Agreed. Enjoyable thread.

With the very young kids like 3-4, I actually do 98% of the work. It's mostly just getting them used to position. I rarely even talk unless it's " You can't hold me down or you're killing me with that pressure". There's alot of laughing and joking but trust me they're learning. It's a whole progression thing. I used someone's "claw" game in class this week. Good stuff! Thanks guys.

Awesome thread, I'm not even close to having kids of my own but I still found this to be extremely interesting. When I do one day have kids I plan on breeding some super athletes like I'm sure you guys are. These "games" sound very legit. Props!

Ttt!

Play freeze tag. To unfreeze somebody, make them shrimp under the persons legs.

There's also another element of playing jiujitsu with your kids. That is, games you play that personally improve your own skills.

For example, we play this game called soccer ball. I ball up into a turtle position and then my kids run up and kick me, at which point I have to roll in the direction they kicked me be it shoulder, granby, or back roll. This drill helps to retain fluid mobility and control (since you roll slow and controlled because you don't want to crush your kids).

My kids also like getting butterfly swept. They run at me and then I hook inside their leg, roll sideways, and gently lift them through the air. This game has drastically improved my butterfly sweeps.

Great ideas guys. I've been jotting down notes and then reference different games of of my notes while we play.

Kids class tonight. I'll try and write down some of the 10th planet games. Honestly, Eddie made it easy with his own technique names. It's more about the story created behind it. When the little ones are in position for RG, I simply call out Gumby! From Gumby they can go forward to Ny and Chill dog. It's not revolutionary by any means, it's more imagination lol.

My daughter is 6. She knows all of the Gracie Games and she knows the Butterfly Sweeps and North South choke that I learned from Marcelo Garcia and she knows the entire Mission Control to New York to Chill Dog to Gogoplata from the 10 Planet System. We have a lot of fun with it. I just wish she had someone other than me to practice with sometimes.

The Gracie Bullyproof program is a great DVD set if you have kids. It has the usual excellence in the teaching department. It is well detailed and there is even a disc that teaches you how to teach your own kids. They talk about how to correct your kids mistakes and things like that. The DVD set would have been better as a 2 DVD set featuring the game only however. The other techniques are basically a reshash of Gracie Combatives. Still, the set is worth buying for the games segment.

My girls (9,5) love to stretch with me. They naturally have rubber legs so it makes them feel good to be able to "beat" Dad.

http://http://www.10thplanetjj.com/a...tachmentid=820 Here's a half class of some fine 10p warriors! Uh oh just noticed Ric was from Marcelo's! Guess I should stop the lies about being his long lost brother huh rofl jk.

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Originally Posted by Tony "The Goods" Garcia

http://http://www.10thplanetjj.com/a...tachmentid=820 Here's a half class of some fine 10p warriors! Uh oh just noticed Ric was from Marcelo's! Guess I should stop the lies about being his long lost brother huh rofl jk.

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I know for a fact that Marcelo's brother was an only child ;)

Rofl Ric! If I could even recall how many times I've been asked during a drill or tourney. I just started mumbeling yes somewhere decades ago. Haha good stuff.

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2070996_n.jpg

Great thread. One really good exercise is sock wrestling! I have a long blue sock and a long red sock. Each student wears one. High five each other to start and its on like Donkey kong. The aim is to get each others sock off. No holding on your own sock with your hands, but you can sit on it, stomp it, kneel on it etc to stop it from coming off. Kids love it. Also, the kids love ball steelers. One has a ball of any size really doesn't matter. they have to defend it by holding it in the turtled position and the object is to take it from them. They learn about squeeze and being able to balance on the knees and post on the head and shoulders to stay active without falling over easily to avoid dropping the ball etc... They love it. I have even used it as a warm up for the guys and they were were just as bad as the kids. They loved it too:) Why don't we develop a games list right here?

1. Spider kid ( maintain mount)
2. Bulldozer (maintain top with rolling opponent)
3. Shark bite ( upa escape)
4. Crazy horse ( take and maintain back control)
5. Giant ( double leg takedown)
6. Crocodile ( side mount)
7. Base battle ( maintain standing base)
8. Snake bite ( upa while opponent chokes)
9. Guard monster ( closed guard and posture control)
10. Crazy legs ( pass guard to mount.
11.Sock wrestling
12.Ball steelers
13. Unfreeze (or shrimp tiggy)
14. Gumby ( rubberguard NY Chill dawg ect)
15. Helicopter hussle ( Snap down from head to head, then sprawl and spin 360 degrees like a helicopter then switch or count how many spins without falling off) some of my kids are so good at it they remind me of Andre Galvao)

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Originally Posted by FRANK BARCA

Great thread. One really good exercise is sock wrestling! I have a long blue sock and a long red sock. Each student wears one. High five each other to start and its on like Donkey kong. The aim is to get each others sock off. No holding on your own sock with your hands, but you can sit on it, stomp it, kneel on it etc to stop it from coming off. Kids love it. Also, the kids love ball steelers. One has a ball of any size really doesn't matter. they have to defend it by holding it in the turtled position and the object is to take it from them. They learn about squeeze and being able to balance on the knees and post on the head and shoulders to stay active without falling over easily to avoid dropping the ball etc... They love it. I have even used it as a warm up for the guys and they were were just as bad as the kids. They loved it too:) Why don't we develop a games list right here?

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I agree 100%! I will definately be adding the ball steelers lmao and sock wrestling too my class. Terrific games keep em coming!

Hey Eddie, could you maybe consider making this thread STICKY for the instructors to find easy please! Just a suggestion:)

1. Spider kid ( maintain mount)
2. Bulldozer (maintain top with rolling opponent)
3. Shark bite ( upa escape)
4. Crazy horse ( take and maintain back control)
5. Giant ( double leg takedown)
6. Crocodile ( side mount)
7. Base battle ( maintain standing base)
8. Snake bite ( upa while opponent chokes)
9. Guard monster ( closed guard and posture control)
10. Crazy legs ( pass guard to mount.
11.Sock wrestling
12.Ball steelers
13. Unfreeze (or shrimp tiggy)
14. Gumby ( rubberguard NY Chill dawg ect)
15. Helicopter hussle ( Snap down from head to head, then sprawl and spin 360 degrees like a helicopter then switch or count how many spins without falling off) some of my kids are so good at it they remind me of Andre Galvao)

Here is a list of solo drills
16. bear crawl - on hands and balls of the feet. ass in the air, crawl to the other side of the mat - for balance
17. Scorpion - same as above but on one leg - balance but more difficult. Have them change legs at halfway mark
18. crab crawl - hands and heels face up ass off the ground crawl backwards or fwds left then right - up to you
19. samurai - from knees get them to single leg using no arms and walk down the mat like a samurai on your knees with the single leg technique one knee at a time
20. Gorilla's - deep squat fists on the ground, rock your weight onto your fists or hands lifting and swinging your hips forward just like a frog jump but more of a pendulum movement.

Mr. Barca, could you help me on #15? The helicopter has me a little confused. Is it 360 with kid's chest on coaches back? Also, there's monkey bars. I'm on hands and knees while kids attack from the side. They grab gi and roll over my back to gain position.

Tony,
imagine one kid gets snapped down into the turtle position from head to head ( you know when you start you high five and knuckle pound each other before you start right)? now the kid is in the turtle position, the other kid, is in the sprawl position with his chest on the other kids back right? and now uses his hands and feet to push himself into the 360 spin all the way round both directions before he can put the hooks in, over under, posiish.

Monkey bars ?? nice drill. I use a gymnastic drill that judo olympic teams use and the kids love it. Break falling is huge in my academy for safety as you can appreciate so check it out.

i am still trying to get the judo olympic drill for ya TG

Cool. That's what I was thinking the helicopter was but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the explanation and look forward to that judo drill too. Man, I'm so grateful for all the games and contributions.

Ur welcome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNJk_...layer_embedded
Tony, here are some great examples to follow on the animal style drills

Yeah yeah yeah! Those are the shit sir. Perfect timing too, looks like everyone will be trying these out for all classes today :-)

Just wanted to say thanks for all the suggestions.
i found this thread via google search and have returned to it many times since, as a new subscription member of course!! Hoping this thread gets updated with more great ideas for kids' games & drills. I'll be sure to contribute as well! Again, many thanks!!
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You may wanna search the web for a torrent called 101 bjj games and drills. I downloaded two volumes off of demonoid a while back. There's a bunch on stuff in there! Some of the drills I would skip but take what u can use and leave what you won't.