Advice for my son - Wrestling vs. Jitz

Hey guys,

Was wondering if i could get some friendly advice from yalls. When my son was 6 and 7 he used to do jitz with me an Gabby. He did a crap load of tourneys with us and he loved it and always did really well. I thought he always had a talent for grappling and the sport. The one thing he struggled in was takedowns. When he was 8 he wanted to wrestle and so i pulled him from jitz and we put him in wrestling.

Long story short he was horrible...he loved to play guard and just constantly would turn to his back and get pinned. It was a huge adjustment for him but he never gave up and now loves wrestling more than ever. So far this year (2 years later) he is 9-1 and has only given up one point all year (and its because he locked his own hands.) He is dominating in wrestling and having a great time doing it with his friends.

Yesterday he asked me if he could go back to jitz when wrestling was over. Im torn on this. He is 11 now and hasn't done it for 3 years. I remember how hard it was for him to make the transition from jitz to wrestling and now he finally has the wrestling figured out and I dont want to see him go through that transition again. Further more he wants to start competing jitz again. if he does where do i put him? Beginner, intermediate, advanced? He only did jitz for 2 years and was in advanced when he left.

Advice???

This was him competing at 6 and 7...I forgot how young he was then :( jesus they grow up fast.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7JSpYRvA1U

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Originally Posted by VJ Bella

Hey guys,

Was wondering if i could get some friendly advice from yalls. When my son was 6 and 7 he used to do jitz with me an Gabby. He did a crap load of tourneys with us and he loved it and always did really well. I thought he always had a talent for grappling and the sport. The one thing he struggled in was takedowns. When he was 8 he wanted to wrestle and so i pulled him from jitz and we put him in wrestling.

Long story short he was horrible...he loved to play guard and just constantly would turn to his back and get pinned. It was a huge adjustment for him but he never gave up and now loves wrestling more than ever. So far this year (2 years later) he is 9-1 and has only given up one point all year (and its because he locked his own hands.) He is dominating in wrestling and having a great time doing it with his friends.

Yesterday he asked me if he could go back to jitz when wrestling was over. Im torn on this. He is 11 now and hasn't done it for 3 years. I remember how hard it was for him to make the transition from jitz to wrestling and now he finally has the wrestling figured out and I dont want to see him go through that transition again. Further more he wants to start competing jitz again. if he does where do i put him? Beginner, intermediate, advanced? He only did jitz for 2 years and was in advanced when he left.

Advice???

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At 10th Planet Riverside we have both wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu classes for the kids.
As a matter fact I'm taking my kids today to the J.J. class at 4:00 P.M. and the
wrestling class at 5:00. They are 10 and 6 years old. We have one kid that is a killer
at wrestling and J.J. and he's only 6 years old. Don't think anymore about it.
Also get wrestling and J.J. instructionals for him. I have a ton. I gave some wrestling
instructionals to a friend who has his kids in wrestling. He gave those wrestling
instructionals to his friends. Then his kid got beat with some wrestling techniques
my friend had never seen. He asked them where the kids had learned the techniques
and they said it was from the wrestling instructinals he had given them. LOL! So you
gotta watch them.

I"m no expert, but I'd assume that it should be OK to let him do BJJ during the wrestling off season. That way he can learn to use his wrestling for BJJ and keep learning as he grows older.

I think he would transition better from wrestling to jitz. He'll prob play more of a top game, not so much of a guard game, since he's been wrastlin for 3 years.

Let him switch back and forth if he wants to. My suggestion would be to let him go up until high school or 8th grade with jiu jitsu then see if he wants to join the wrestling team and do that through high school because there isn't a whole of opportunity to compete in wrestling after high school if he isn't recruited.

We had a kid that started J.J. when he was around 12 or 13. He got good.
Then when he was 15 he started wrestling. Said the J.J. taught him to
scrabble with the wrestling. Then he got real good in wrestling techniques
fast and would even teach people wrestling in the Jiu-Jitsu class. Everybody
children and adults need to know wrestling to do better in J.J. tournaments.
Plus you need to know leg locks.

I say let him do both for as long as he wants. As long as hes doing something, he'll get better know matter what!

I think i would focus more on what would make him happy. My parents wanted me to play basketball i hated it so they let me stop. my Mother cringed at the thought of me doing JJ but she let me because she knew it would make me happy. That's how i look at it from a parenting point of view.

Based on how you think it will affect skills i would say if he is able to make the adjustments back and forth go for it. If you feel it is stunting his growth switching back and forth have him pick one to focus on.

If you think about it though ion the scope of things if switching affects him in competition its not a big deal as long as it is making him better in the long run. Now is the time to learn not to come home with the most gold medals (though those are certainly nice). I'm more of a long term person if I would lose every match now as a blue belt if meant having more success as a brown and BB. Ya dig?

assk him if he wants to be a champion if he gets older or if he wants to do it for fun.

wrestling if he wants to win, bjj for fun.

Don't forget that in order to do good in Jiu-Jitsu you need wrestling. You have to know how to sprawl.
You can't counter wrestling takedowns without knowing how to do wrestling takedowns.
You have to know how to sprawl and practice sprawling in live situations.
Besides wrestling gives you that strong base. Wrestling makes you strong. Of course then
again so does Jiu-Jitsu. All grappling is good and can be integrated.

My son is doing the same thing, he does wrestling at school everyday with Jiu-Jitsu and judo mixed in twice a week. The three together are really making him the top of his team at school.

That might seem like to much for a 12 year old but we live on a farm so there isn't much else to do but work, learn, and train.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VJ Bella

Hey guys,

Was wondering if i could get some friendly advice from yalls. When my son was 6 and 7 he used to do jitz with me an Gabby. He did a crap load of tourneys with us and he loved it and always did really well. I thought he always had a talent for grappling and the sport. The one thing he struggled in was takedowns. When he was 8 he wanted to wrestle and so i pulled him from jitz and we put him in wrestling.

Long story short he was horrible...he loved to play guard and just constantly would turn to his back and get pinned. It was a huge adjustment for him but he never gave up and now loves wrestling more than ever. So far this year (2 years later) he is 9-1 and has only given up one point all year (and its because he locked his own hands.) He is dominating in wrestling and having a great time doing it with his friends.

Yesterday he asked me if he could go back to jitz when wrestling was over. Im torn on this. He is 11 now and hasn't done it for 3 years. I remember how hard it was for him to make the transition from jitz to wrestling and now he finally has the wrestling figured out and I dont want to see him go through that transition again. Further more he wants to start competing jitz again. if he does where do i put him? Beginner, intermediate, advanced? He only did jitz for 2 years and was in advanced when he left.

Advice???

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I have about 8 kids that are with me all year except wrestling season. Most of them dont even go to preseason at school because they wrestle all year and do jiu jitsu. He will learn very quickly about the turning to his back or not. The two will complement each he will become better at both in the long run. Different set of moves and rules but the transition will become flawless over time.

I would remind him it's bad Jiu Jitsu to be flat on your back when he is in guard or half guard and have him focus more on his top game. You could also have him train wrestling after Jiu Jitsu class just so he remembers the difference in rules with his body. Other than that, it's your call man, but intermediate and above is only fair to the other kids in his division.

Wow thanks guys. Some great advice. I appreciate you takin the time. I think I'm just gonna let him do both. I'll probably let him do intermediate at the tourny. If he wins that I'll have him go back to advanced. 3 years is a long time away from the sport.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VJ Bella

Wow thanks guys. Some great advice. I appreciate you takin the time. I think I'm just gonna let him do both. I'll probably let him do intermediate at the tourny. If he wins that I'll have him go back to advanced. 3 years is a long time away from the sport.

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VJ, with you being a 10P purple and Gabby being a 10P competitive blue, your son simply KNOWS that succeeding is a reality for him.....and it's showing. As far as which direction to take your talented son, I'd say let him do both. Someone already mentioned how hard it is to wrestle after high school unless recruited, and since wrestling is a big part of grappling, I don't see any harm in letting him train wrestling during the season, and jits during off season *and perhaps one day a week during wrestling season if you can manage the time so he doesn't get rusty.* There's no wrong way to go really, so long as he loves it and progresses in it. Enjoy fathering a miniature version of you VJ =D.

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Originally Posted by Brent Smith

I think he would transition better from wrestling to jitz. He'll prob play more of a top game, not so much of a guard game, since he's been wrastlin for 3 years.

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This!

At least your son has the “problem” of having both available to him, when so many of us grew up with neither. I don’t see a bad choice here, just good ones.

I suggest you let him do what he wants. Both have benefits, but the biggest thing for a kid that age is to enjoy what he is doing. It will help him focus and help him to stay committed. Sure, wrestling has the tough mentality, but I'm sure he has already picked up some of that from wrestling... and from you. BJJ teaches a more intellectual approach, which will help him problem solve in the future, and it's also easier on the body. Plus, many wrestlers develop huge chips on their shoulders, and I also don't support young kids cutting weight.

That being said, they are both great. Let him go back and forth and see what he likes the most. Either will make him a badass, and help him grow as a person.