Jan de Jong - Martial Arts, Fitness

Childrens Ju Jutsu

Learning a responsible, ethical and effective self defence can improve your child's self-confidence and protect them when you are not there to do so. Many parents and schools have been delighted with the positive effects that self defence training with Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness has had on their children.

The assault on children's self-confidence and self-image often lasts longer than the original physical injuries that an attack can inflict. Bullying also leads to poor scholastic performance and a fear of attending school.

Jan de Jong's Ju Jutsu does not teach children to use brute force or violence, but seeks to build confidence, self-esteem and a sense of control over their lives through mind-body training. The instructors always keep this in mind when teaching children and always emphasis the importance of maintaining the fundamentals Jan de Jong's martial arts are methods of self defence and not sport oriented, consequently, there are never any "losers". Students learn how to cooperate with each other so they both benefit, not how to fight each other. In this way they gain a greater capacity for compassion, restraint and patience, as well as respect and courtesy for others – aspects rarely found in 'Western' sports.

Classes for children are offered at the Perth and Melville locations. We recommend for most children that the earliest time for them to start Ju Jutsu is when they commence Primary School. Children attend from 1 to 3 times per week. Personal training lessons are available for children of all ages and can be the ideal option for children to help them get started if they are a little shy to join in to a class. Personal training lessons can be taken alone or as a family group. Classes for children are taken by our most experienced instructors.

You are welcome to call us and speak to an instructor for any questions you may have regarding your child and Ju Jutsu.

A strong sense of community responsibility as well as personal and family values are embodied within our School and its teachings; as is also a healthy respect for others both within and outside our classes.

Within Jan de Jong's Ju Jutsu, one of the first thing people learn is how to fall safely, a useful skill that can avoid injury in other areas of life. They also train all techniques on both sides of the body - involving the use of the whole body and the mind in concert. The result of this training is an increase in co-ordination, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, overall muscle tone and strength of students, as well as mental and character strength, flexibility and resilience.

From the point of view of self defence in everyday life, a child needs to have acquired techniques outside arts such as Karate and Tae Kwon Do etc. which have a striking-based background and also such as Judo which has a throwing-based background. These arts often cannot be used in a semi-violent situation, such as bullying in the school playground, without the risk of serious harm to the opponent. Ju Jutsu emphasises a proportionate response to a threat and provides the exponent with the range of techniques necessary and the knowledge of how to adapt the defence to the severity of the attack.

Additional Notes on Children and Martial Arts:

There are many benefits that young people receive from martial arts training. This has been supported by a study conducted on the psychological and physical changes in school-age martial arts participants.

• In general, most parents reported marked increases in their children's self-esteem and self-confidence. While the parents of boys had their expectations fulfilled, often to a greater degree than anticipated, the girls actually surprised their parents - and in a highly positive way. These parents anticipated development of simple self-defence skills and perhaps some increase in self-confidence as a by-product. What they saw was a much greater increase in self-esteem than expected, plus more self-discipline and assertiveness. The parents of boys also noted a marked improvement in interpersonal relations. These findings lead us to speculate that martial arts may permit a re-socialisation of girls and boys; for example, parents may perceive that it helps fill gaps in our traditional gender socialisation, compensating for lack of self-confidence in girls and the lack of sensitivity often perceived among boys.
• In addition, martial arts is perceived by the general public as a promoter of aggression. This view has been shown to be fallacious as applied to traditional Japanese martial arts, which has its roots in Zen philosophy and training-hall etiquette that teaches respect for others as well as self and emphasises humility while developing self confidence.
• A need exists for a sport or physical activity that is open to all, does not require expensive equipment or facilities, does not preselect only the biggest, fastest or tallest, and offers physical and psychological benefits

This need is certainly met by Jan de Jong's Ju Jutsu, possibly more so than the sporting oriented or striking based martial arts.

For further information please contact us.