- Hi kids, I'm Coach Jennie!

- Hi kids, I'm Coach Betina.

And welcome to Westside Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

(upbeat music) - I hear you all want to learn about Brazilian Jiu-jitsu today.

So we're going to give you a little introduction and we've got some students here that are going to show you some moves.

(gong clangs) Jiu-Jitsu originated in Japan in the 1800s.

Japan is a country in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

The word Jiu-Jitsu means gentle art.

And the sport is all about gentle ways to control your partner or opponent's body without any hitting or kicking.

Kind of like wrestling, if you've ever seen that.

A Jiujiteiro is someone who practices Jiu-Jitsu.

And today we have our students, Reina and Sheffield, to show you guys some moves.

- So where's the Brazilian part come from?

Well, in the 1900s, Jiu-Jitsu made its way to a country called Brazil in South America.

Which is where I am from!

Brazil loved the art so much that they worked very hard to perfect it.

They add even more fun techniques.

- [Jennie] Jiu-Jitsu is a great way to help with body control, balance, self-confidence, and respect for others.

- No, ma'am.

Thank you!

- [Jennie] In our classes, we really focus on our core strength and control of our bodies.

As well as listening and learning to respect our coaches and teachers.

Our goal is to make sure our students take the concepts of respect, confidence, and responsibility into their everyday lives in both school and at home.

- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is fun and we get to wear a really fun uniform.

We have two different type of uniform for Jiu-Jitsu.

We have the gi and we have the no gi.

The gi is the traditional uniform made of a really strong fibers, and we use this to get our grips and so we can push and pull our opponents.

No gi is when we wear rash guards and shorts.

And it's faster pace, which makes our fun is slippery movements.

- [Jennie] Jiu-Jitsu is all about the gentle art of controlling your opponent's body and movements.

But in order to do that, you must be able to control your own body first.

So here are a couple of beginner moves to help get you started.

One of the first things we learn in Jiu-Jitsu is called a breakfall.

And that's exactly what it does.

It helps you to break your fall.

First we squat down, roll back and smack the mat, making sure to keep our chin tucked and we use that smacking the mat to absorb the impact of our fall.

And you can even take it one step further into a back roll when you roll over your shoulder and back up to your feet.

Have you ever been running and playing and then you trip and fall?

Jiu-Jitsu has a move for that as well!

So instead of putting your hands out to catch yourself, we do a move called the front roll.

And it's so simple.

As you're moving forward, you tuck your head and roll over your shoulder.

Once you roll over, come up to your feet.

These are a couple of our very first moves we learn in Juujitsu and they're helpful on and off the mat.

- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's also a sport that will have tournaments.

And we get to compete against each other.

Competing in this sport is a great way to get better and really test our skills.

When you win, you get cool medals.

Here is one of our students that competes.

- I'm Carson Young.

I've been training with Westside for a little bit over two years and I recently won gold at Fort Worth AGF Kids World Championship and I'm really glad that I got to have this wonderful team with Westside to help me prepare for the great experience that I was in Fort Worth.

To win gold medal just meant a lot because it showed how great of a team I have and you put in all this hard work and then you see the end goal that you wanted to achieve.

And when you finally accomplish that goal, it's just a great feeling to know that all the hard work you put in really paid off.

- [Announcer] In first place, we have Carson Young!

- [Betina] In Jiu-Jitsu, we are always learning and growing.

Here at Westside, we really try to focus on the growth of our students, both as kids who practice the gentle art of Jiu-Jitsu and as good people.

- We hope you guys enjoyed learning about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

If you think you'd like to give it a try, come visit us at any one of our three central Arkansas locations.

- I hope to see you guys on the mat soon!

- Oss!