Little Jits, 4 to 6 years
Their first thirty minutes on the mats
A half hour class for four, five and six year olds, built around movement, balance and taking turns. If you are worried they are too small for this, they are almost certainly not, and here is exactly what happens so you can judge it yourself.
Nobody gets thrown in, least of all a five year old.
When it runs
- Monday16:30 to 17:00Little Jits
- Wednesday16:30 to 17:00Little Jits
- Friday16:30 to 17:15Little Jits and Junior JitsCombined class
Up to 10 in a Little Jits class.
Times come straight from the club timetable, so this page cannot drift out of date on its own.
See the full timetableWhat a Little Jits class actually looks like
Thirty minutes, start to finish. Short enough that they are still enjoying it when it ends, which is exactly the point at that age.
It starts with moving, not fighting
The first stretch of the class is games and movement. Crawling, rolling, getting up off the floor, changing direction, balancing. It looks like play because at this age it should, but every one of those movements is a piece of jiu jitsu they will use later without realising they learned it here.
One idea per class, repeated
They are shown a single simple position and then they practise it. Not six things they will forget by the car park, one thing they can actually do by the end. Small children learn by repetition and by copying an adult who is doing it slowly in front of them.
Partner work, one thing at a time
When they work with another child it is structured. There is no striking in jiu jitsu at all, so nobody is being punched or kicked, and at this age nobody is being slammed about either.
It finishes before they run out
Half an hour is deliberate. They leave while it is still fun, which is what makes them ask to come back on Wednesday.
Who this is for
- Four, five and six year olds, whether or not they have done anything active before
- Children who are shy in a new room and need it to be low pressure
- Children with a lot of energy and nowhere sensible to put it
- Parents who want their child moving rather than sat still
The honest answer
Will they get hurt?
This is the question every parent actually wants answered, so here is a straight response rather than a brochure one. Jiu jitsu has no striking in it. Nobody is hitting your child, and your child is not being taught to hit anybody. That alone makes it very different to most things people picture when they hear martial arts.
What is left is grappling, and at four to six years old that means controlled positions, taught slowly, practised with a coach standing over it. Children this age are not sparring hard against each other. They are learning how to move, how to fall safely, and how to keep their hands to themselves when they are told to.
Bumps happen, the same way they happen in a playground or at football. What does not happen is a small child being put in with someone who does not know how to look after them.
What they need on the day
Shorts and a t-shirt
No uniform to buy before their first class. Something they can move in and are not precious about.
A drink
Half an hour is short, but they will still want it.
Short nails, bare feet
Trim their fingernails and toenails before you come. Everyone trains barefoot.
Nothing else, and no experience
You do not need to prepare them. Turning up is the whole ask.
Grading
How they move up
Grading here runs on attendance rather than a one-off test. Keep turning up and a stripe follows roughly every six months. There is nothing to cram for the night before and nothing that gets sprung on them on the day.
Come and watch one
You do not have to commit your child to anything to find out whether they like it. Their first couple of classes are free, so book one in, stay and watch the whole thing, and decide afterwards.