Milton Keynes Jiu-Jitsu Yubukan Dojo
Juniors Page

hello, welcome to the juniors page. i go to the yubukan dojo in bradwell common every saturday to learn jiu-jitsu. it's a fairly small club but its AWESOME because we get to um punch and kick things....? we have a cool sensei who is really kind to us (even if its scary when he yells, heh) and we learn techniques from him to defend yourself, starting with the easy stuff then the harder ones which involve breaking bones. i feel really comfortable at jiu-jitsu because everybody knows everybody, its cool.

The Milton Keynes Jiu-Jitsu Children's club was opened in April 1993 and has been going strong ever since. Some of the earlier members are still with the club as Seniors now, still enjoying themselves and learning new techniques.

The syllabus for the junior class is very similar to that of the adult class. There are a few changes, any techniques considered to be dangerous for children because of complicated moves, or because as children their bodies are not suitable for the technique are either removed or altered to suit younger people.

As a martial art Jiu-Jitsu is able to adapt to individual needs, there are several variations to nearly all of the techniques meaning that if a move does not work for a student there will be a variation that does. Part of the training for any Jiu-Jitsu Instructor at Milton Keynes is to study the way that students move in order to find the best way for that student to train.

Unlike the Senior class the juniors have each grade split into three sections. When they start as White belts their first grading is white belt 1 yellow tab where they do 1 third of the yellow belt syllabus. When they take their second yellow tab they do 2 thirds of the yellow belt syllabus. When they take their yellow belt they do the whole yellow belt syllabus. The same goes for the rest of the belts.

The belts are as follows: White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, Brown and Junior Black belt. Junior Black belts wear a red belt with a black stripe through it and have the title of Sho-Dan-Ho, after reaching Black belt the student then learns the second Dan syllabus their title will not change but as they take gradings Gold tabs will be added to their belt. We do not have junior instructors as we believe that children are there to learn and most children when they reach the rank of instructor feel that they have learned all there is. In reality we believe that when you reach Black belt and the rank of instructor it is the start of the real learning process.

A junior student receiving his yellow belt from Shihan Wood.

We do not only teach children how to defend themselves, we also teach them how to be more confident, to respect themselves as well as others and to achieve good discipline. We believe that most of our students also find that their concentration improves and their general feeling of well being improves as well.

The Junior club runs a very strict policy on bullying; any student found to be bullying other children in the club or outside are dealt with severely. This normally would mean removal from the club. We are very glad to say that since the Junior club has been open this has only been necessary once.

Training sessions are from 11.00am until 1.00pm on Saturday mornings. The sessions are varied during the month to keep them more interesting, on the first Saturday of the month we teach pad work and for the last 15 to 20 minutes of the session we do stamina training, hand to eye co-ordination or other similar exercises, on the second Saturday of the month we do general Jiu-Jitsu techniques with the last 15 to 20 minutes the same as the first Saturday, on the third Saturday of the month we do Syllabus training (techniques needed for grading’s) with the last 15 to 20 minutes the same as the previous Saturdays, on months with 5 Saturdays the fourth Saturday follows the same format as the second, on the last Saturday in the month we do general Jiu-Jitsu techniques until about 12.15pm then we have the rest of the session for games, races, competitions and the like. Each session starts with a warm up and a run through of Breakfalls.

At the Milton Keynes club we do not teach the competition version of Jiu-Jitsu known as sport Jitsu. The reason for this is simple, to teach the sport version of Jiu-Jitsu means removing a lot of techniques from the syllabus. If a child or adult for that matter were in a situation where they needed to defend themselves, most defensive moves are instinctive; you react rather than think. If you are trained to only strike certain areas of the body, you might not use a move or strike you need to get yourself out of trouble because your instinctive training tells you not to.

The youngest age that we allow children to start at the club is 7 years old (6 years old if they have an older relation at the club). The reason for this is that Jiu-Jitsu is more involved than a lot of the other martial arts and younger children can find it a bit too complicated. Most children find that virtually every lesson they attend they learn something new, which keeps the training sessions more interesting.

On their first lesson students are taught basic brakefalls (how to land) and how to block, we do not start teaching students how to throw or be thrown until they have gained some confidence in how to land. When new students first start to throw they do it very slowly and are thrown very gently to minimise the risk of injury.

All children learn at different rates, if a child finds that they are progressing slower than the other children at the club are it does not mean that they are not good at Jiu-Jitsu. Some of the best Martial Artists in the world started slowly and found training difficult, but once they started to pick it up they showed their true ability. Being a good Martial Artist is not just being able to perform the techniques, it is also about having the right mental attitude and determination to succeed.

We have a junior student of the month medal that comes in a display case with the month it was won, on a plaque which along with a certificate, is given out at the end of each month to the student that we consider has put in the best effort and behaviour during that month. The student gets to keep the medal. At the end of the year there are four trophies and certificates that are given out, the trophies are engraved with the students name the year and what they were awarded for, the students get to keep these trophies.
The trophies are:
 
Student of the year, which is given out to the student that we consider has been the best behaved and put the most effort in to their training during the year.
 
Most improved student, which is given to the student that we consider has shown the most improvement during the year, it can be awarded for improvements in ability, effort, attitude or any other area of training.
 
Best technique, which is given to the student that we consider has performed the best technique during the course of the year, the technique does not have to be a throw, it can be a lock, a block, a strike or anything else to do with their training.
 
Best Attendance, which is given out to the student's who have the best attendance record during the year.

At the Junior club we believe that the safety of the children comes first. All Instructors and Junior club assistants are Milton Keynes council registered and police checked, all Instructors are first aid trained. We do not run any training sessions without a fully qualified and insured Instructor present at the session. All Milton Keynes Jiu-Jitsu Instructors have attended Instructor training courses run by Senior Instructors from the World Kobudo Federation.

Training for Juniors is on Saturday mornings from 11.00a.m. Costs are £2.00 a session with the first session being free. Membership is £17 a year first membership is not due until students have completed 4 to 5 weeks giving them time to decide if the like it.

Junior Club Waiting List

For safety reasons I am limited to the amount of students that I can have on the mat at any one time.
 
Due to the popularity of the junior club at the moment I have had to start a waiting list of children waiting for places.
 
New students are still welcome to come along and watch to see if Jiu-Jitsu is what they are looking for and if so have their names put onto the waiting list or if they contact me with their details I will add their names.
 
I am sorry that we have had to do this but the safety of the students comes first.
 
Colin
 
Shihan C Wood 5th Dan senior Instructor Milton Keynes Jiu-Jitsu

For further information please contact Shihan Wood:
 
Telephone: 01908 395227
 
E-mail: colin@mkjujitsu.co.uk