WHY BJJ IS LIKE LEARNING TO SWIM
Recently, we introduced our once-a-week membership option at Nova Arte, and it’s been eye-opening. We've noticed a pattern—parents bringing their child to one class a week and expecting them to pick up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) quickly. Then they see other kids who train four or five times a week moving effortlessly and rolling with confidence. It creates a false expectation, and suddenly, BJJ feels frustrating and too hard.
The reality? Progress is slow when you only train once a week. That’s not a flaw in your child—it’s simply how skill development works. And in a sport like BJJ, there's nowhere to hide. Unlike a soccer team where a child can hang back and avoid the ball, BJJ puts them front and centre. They can't disappear into the background; every roll exposes their level of experience. That can be confronting for parents, but even more so for the child.
And when progress feels slow, kids don’t want to do it anymore. Because let’s be honest—being bad at something sucks.
You Don’t Wait Until You’re Drowning to Learn to Swim
Imagine throwing your child into the deep end of a pool and expecting them to swim 50 meters freestyle. Sounds ridiculous, right? But that’s exactly what happens when we expect kids to step onto the mats once a week and suddenly hold their own against those who train daily.
When a child learns to swim, they start with survival—floating, kicking, and treading water. They struggle, but they keep going because they need to. The same happens in BJJ. When you're stuck in bottom mount, you're treading water, just surviving. It’s hard. It’s frustrating. And it’s not fun when you feel like you're drowning.
But you don’t pull your child out of swimming lessons just because they struggle. You keep bringing them back because you know swimming could literally save their life.
BJJ is no different.
Trust the Process—and Your Coaches
Watching your child struggle can be tough. But what looks confronting to you is normal to us as coaches. We’ve been there. We know what it feels like to be stuck in bottom mount, struggling to breathe. And we also know how to guide kids through it.
As a coach, and as an early childhood and primary school teacher, I can read the body language of my students. I know when to push and when to pause. I know how to support them through the discomfort of learning something hard—just like a swim teacher patiently guides a child through their first strokes.
BJJ isn’t a sport you can hide in. You can’t jump in and expect to be naturally good at it. Just like swimming, it takes time, consistency, and trust in the process.
So keep bringing your child to class. Even when it’s hard. Even when progress feels slow. Because just like swimming, BJJ has the power to save them.
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