Youth Martial Arts
When you’re a member at Blue Wave you can do any sport in any class.
This means that your child can do different Martial Arts with us. We offer Karate, Kickboxing, Judo, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Most children settle into something they love but we have many that cross train.
We recommend they train at least twice a week in order to grow in their sport.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sessions are split into ages to adapt to the learning styles of younger members vs the older members of the team. In our other sports the different ages train together. But there are some such as kickboxing which have a higher minimum age due to the safety needs in session.
Sessions start with a warm up then some learning, then a short break for play. This resets their attention for more learning. Even our games are related to the Martial Art they’re learning and are very popular.
We encourage you to let us coach your child and deal with any issues that come up. This might be bumps, or a discipline matter, or managing boisterous behaviour. Doing this fosters independence and the idea that when they are in class they look to their coaches for direction, not their parents. This includes not calling out to your child while they’re in class. This helps children with their confidence. In each class there is a Coach and several assistant coaches. These are members of the adult team who have children of their own in the team or are members who are pursuing their own coaching career.
Why Choose martial arts?
Our youth Martial Arts offering is second to none. Our highly qualified and DBS checked coaches love teaching children and it shows on their (and the children’s) smiling faces. Our youth members learn important life skills at Blue Wave. Not just the Martial Art they practice but also respect for others, discipline, community, how to follow the rules, listening and how to look after each other.
They’re encouraged to be independent and work with adults other than their parents. Parents feedback to us that their children grow in confidence after joining Blue Wave.
Blue Wave coaches encourage grace in their wins but also in their defeats. Learning how to win is as important as learning how to lose and when two people spar only one will win! We encourage tenacity, responsiblity and perseverance.
We take great care to teach ‘care of others’ in our classes. This means children are encouraged to look after each other and many of our more experienced youth members become young assistant coaches. This is something special about Blue Wave and as well as being encouraged to take care with each other they learn how to hold their boundaries and work together even though they’re competing.
You will often see more experienced youth members nurturing less experienced or younger members by allowing them to ‘roll’ and get positions in order to learn.
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How young can they start?
We have no hard and fast age. Whether they’re ‘ready’ depends on your child. Some of our youngest members are our most confident! But we will try age 3 and up. They aren’t always ready that young but some are. The only way to tell is to try!
We have youth members as young as three join our classes all the way up to their teens when they begin to transition into the adult classes.
We offer a free trial to allow your child to settle in and become familiar with their teammates and coaches before we ask you to join.
Pictured here is our Age 8 & Under Team.
additional needs
Our coaching team has experience working with children with a wide range of needs, and we are committed to making our sessions as inclusive and accessible as possible.
When you book your child’s trial, we’ll ask you to tell us about any additional needs, diagnoses, learning differences, behavioural needs or other factors that may affect their experience in class. Please give us as much information as you can. This helps our coaches understand your child and make reasonable adjustments to the way we teach and support them.
Our aim is for every child to have fun, build confidence, make friends and develop important life skills such as self-control, teamwork, resilience and looking after themselves and others.
If your child has needs that we haven’t encountered before, we’ll talk to you about what works best for them and how we may be able to adapt their training.
We are not specialists in additional needs, and Blue Wave is not a specialist provision. This means that, while we will always try to make appropriate adjustments, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to support every child safely or effectively in a group setting. In some circumstances, the level of support a child needs, or the impact of their behaviour or needs on the safety, learning and enjoyment of the wider group, may mean that Blue Wave is not the right environment for them.
Our priority is inclusion, safety and making sure every child in the class has the opportunity to learn and enjoy their training. We will work with you openly and respectfully to decide whether Blue Wave is a good fit for your child. Plus and, what we can do together to make it work. Give Claire a call if you need further information.