Empower Your Child: Kids Jiu Jitsu in Portland

“Five Rings is simply awesome for kids. Through jiu jitsu at Five Rings, my kids have developed the grit, discipline, and confidence that have helped them in other aspects of their lives. The fact that they are also getting stronger and learning how to defend themselves is an added bonus. They let kids try one class for free, so give it a try!

My 9-yo daughter has been doing the Dragons class (7-9 year olds) at Five Rings for two years & my youngest has been attending the Samurais class (4-6 year olds) for 6 months. My girls are both quite small for their age and generally not very physical or athletic. Despite this, they have thrived at Five Rings. This is mainly because of the great instructors at the school. Coach Tom and Coach Dan are very in tune with their students’ abilities, personalities, and physicalities. They make sure there are no major size or experience mismatches to make sure kids stay safe (rule #1 at five rings) and have fun (rule #2). The coaches are very good with kids. The decades of experience in teaching kids really comes through in this regard. They set clear expectations and communicate clearly with the kids. When kids misbehave or act out, the coaches are firm, yet patient and kind. The coaches are also very positive with the kids and emphasize learning and effort over winning (rule #3 is to try your best)

Compared to the other big JJ place in Beaverton, which we tried prior to Five Rings, Five Rings’ classes are more structured, less chaotic, and provide more personal attention. You can tell they have fine-tuned their curriculum and classes throughout their years of teaching. Every class begins with the black belt pledge, a mantra emphasizing discipline, perseverance, accountability and effort. Kids then do a game of tag to warm up their body and prepare their minds. Then teachers demonstrate a new move or chain of moves and let the kids practice with each other. Higher intensity work comes next through movement lines to help kids build strength and agility (think crab walks, bear crawls, rolls, etc). After more demonstrations and practicing, kids get to practice their skills with positional sparring (ex. trying to get out of/keep mount), sudden victory (first person to score a point wins), or even full 2-min matches (Samurais have a variation called scrambled eggs where they stay on their knees). Samurais then have a game of sharks and minnows at the end (a favorite amongst the kids!). By the end of each class, most kids are sweaty and better for it. Classes then end with a positive message for the kids and they each get a stripe or star for attending, which is another great thing about Five Rings. Kids like the stripe and get a sense of accomplishment; The stripe also serves as a way for the school to keep track the training each student has received that curriculum. Curricula run 10 weeks each and students must attend at least 16 classes to go up a belt. This sets clear goals for parents and kids and makes it clear that you have to EARN your stripe!

Another great aspect of Five Rings is their emphasis on developing leaders. More experienced kids are encouraged to help their less-experienced classmates during class. Also, kids have the opportunity to become L.I.T. (Leaders in Training), who act as assistant coaches for levels younger than them. (Ex. A Dragon could LIT for the Samurais class). L.I.T. help monitor kids as they practice, providing suggestions for improvements with their moves. They can even help lead some aspects of class (ex. lead black belt pledge or tell what to do for movement lines).

A few times a year Five Rings coordinates friendship tournaments w/ JJ schools from Salem & Seaside. This gives the kids the opportunity to roll w/ kids they don’t normally get to have a match with and is a great learning opportunity for them. My daughter didn’t always win at these tournaments, but she always had fun. Its one of the best parts of being at a well-run gym like Five Rings.”