Bullyproof®
Gracie Bullyproof, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for Kids, Aurora's Jiu-Jitsu for Kids 5 - 12
Every month in the United States, three million children miss school due to fear of bullies. In the Gracie Bullyproof program, our goal is to instill your child with unshakable confidence so they can overcome bullies without violence. Due to the non-violent nature of the techniques, CNN, ABC, NBC, and Oprah have featured the Gracie Bullyproof program as one of the few effective counter-measures to bullying for children between the ages of 5 and 12. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Aurora is currently offering the Jr. Grapplers, 8 to 12 year old, section of the Bullyproof program — the Denver area’s best Jiu-Jitsu for kids.
Every Child Needs to be Bullyproof®
​Critical Confidence Building for Kids Studies suggest that bullying may be the leading cause of low self-esteem in children, and according to some surveys, less than 15% of kids actually report acts of bullying. A child’s inability to stand up to a bully is rooted in profound fear for their personal safety. Ironically, the victims know that they must confront the bully and would like nothing more than to stand up to them. But, they simply can't follow through for fear of the physical harm that backs the bully's every action. And, therein lies the challenge – how do you instill in a victim of bullying the confidence to face the tormentor, look them in the eye, and back them down? The answer is simple – teach the victims to defend themselves against physical attack, and the rest will follow.
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Fighting Fire with Water Most martial arts programs rely on striking the attacker with violent punches, kicks, knees, and elbows, but in the Gracie Bullyproof program we take a different approach. All the techniques are purely defensive and utilize no strikes. Furthermore, we teach children how to defuse confrontations with words and never to initiate physical aggression. If attacked, we offer techniques to non-violently neutralize the threat and gain control until help arrives. In the Gracie Bullyproof program, we teach the children how to fight fire with water so that you never have to worry about your child becoming a bully under our guidance.
Little Champs (5 to 7 years old) - The Little Champs program is for kids 5-7 years old (we offer private lessons for children ages 3-4). Using our time-tested “Gracie Games,” we teach the Little Champs basic self-defense techniques while instilling the foundational principles of leverage and control. The secret to the success of this program is that we make the lessons so fun that the kids beg for more! Once a child masters all ten Gracie Games, they advance to the Jr. Grapplers program.
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Jr. Grapplers (8 to 12 years old) - Jr. Grapplers is for kids between 8 and 12 years old. In the Jr. Grapplers program, we focus on 33 non-violent self-defense techniques that teach children to “neutralize and negotiate” with the bullies. Verbal assertiveness strategies are a major portion of this curriculum. A child needs absolutely no experience to start, and we guarantee a noticeable increase in your child’s confidence within a few weeks!
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We will teach your child to use verbal assertiveness to deter bullies and several non-violent self-defense techniques to stay safe if physically assaulted. Importantly, we don’t teach how to punch or kick, since this often does more harm than good. Instead, we use leverage-based control holds to neutralize threats without violence — think kids Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, not mixed martial arts for kids. Numerous school districts have embraced the defensive nature of the Gracie Jr. Grapplers techniques as a reasonable, nonviolent response to bullying and some even host Jr. Grapplers classes on campus! The bottom line is: we will prepare your child to defend themselves against bullies without turning them into one. If you’re interested in instilling your child with unshakable confidence while reinforcing positive values and good character, the Jr. Grapplers program is for you!