Kids BJJ & Muay Thai, ages 5–12

Two classes, one membership

Kids BJJ runs Monday and Wednesday from 5 to 6 PM, coached by Amr on Monday and Youssef on Wednesday. It is NoGi Jiu-Jitsu, the same style the adults train: shorts and a rash guard instead of a kimono, and grappling that is about position and control rather than strikes. Children learn how to fall without getting hurt, how to hold a position, how to get out of one, and how to keep their head when someone bigger is on top of them.

Kids Muay Thai runs Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 7 PM with Shamail. Children learn a proper stance, footwork, punches, kicks and knees, and they throw all of them into pads and bags. There is no striking to the head and no sparring for beginners; partner work is controlled drilling that the coach sets up and watches.

The Kids MMA membership is one plan and it covers both classes. A child can come to one discipline or both, up to four classes a week.

Shamail coaches Kids Muay Thai.

He teaches the Tuesday and Thursday classes. Amr and Youssef coach Kids BJJ on Monday and Wednesday. Meet the coaches.

What a class looks like

Every kids class runs for an hour and follows the same shape, because children do better when they know what is coming.

1. Warm-up games. Tag, relays, animal walks and balance games that get the class moving and listening without anyone noticing it is a warm-up.
2. Technique. The coach teaches one or two things in small steps (a grip and an escape in BJJ, a stance and a kick in Muay Thai) and checks each child before adding the next step.
3. Controlled partner drills. Children practice the technique with a partner the coach has chosen for them, at a pace the coach sets. In Muay Thai that means holding pads for each other. In BJJ it means starting in a position and working the escape.
4. A finisher. A game, a challenge or a short round of positional work to close the hour.

Safety and supervision

These are the rules, and they do not bend:

• No strikes to the head, in any drill, at any age.
• No sparring for beginners. Partner work is drilling that the coach controls, not a fight.
• Coaches control every partner drill: who works with whom, how hard, and for how long.
• Every kids coach is a KŌVA coach who also teaches adults, so the standard of technique and the standard of care are the same across the gym.

Children tap early and tap often in BJJ, and the first thing they are taught is to let go the moment a partner taps. In Muay Thai, every strike is thrown into pads or bags with gloves on.

What kids learn beyond technique

Parents rarely sign a child up because they want them to be good at an arm bar. They sign up because a child is shy, or has energy with nowhere to go, or is being pushed around at school, or needs something that is theirs. Martial arts works on all of those, and it does it without lectures.

Discipline comes from the structure: the same routine every class, a coach whose instructions are followed the first time, and a technique that only works if it is done properly. Confidence comes from the mat: a child who has been held down and calmly worked their way out is harder to rattle anywhere. Listening comes from partner work, because a child who does not listen to their partner does not get to keep drilling. And respect is built in. You thank your partner, you look after the smaller kid, and you let go when they tap.

What to bring

Athletic clothes: shorts or leggings and a t-shirt or rash guard, with no zippers, buttons or pockets that can catch a finger. A water bottle. Long hair tied back. Bare feet on the mat, so flip-flops or slides for walking to and from it. For Muay Thai, KŌVA has loaner gloves and shin guards to start with; buy your child's own once they join. There is no uniform to buy for BJJ.

Membership

The Kids MMA membership is month to month, with unlimited classes in both Kids BJJ and Kids Muay Thai, and no long-term contract. Your child's first class is free, so they can try a session before you commit to anything. Every membership is on the memberships page.

Two timings worth knowing: Kids BJJ ends at 6 PM on Monday and Wednesday, when the adult Boxing class starts, and Women's Boxing on Thursday ends at 6 PM, when Kids Muay Thai starts. Families who train together can plan around both.