my son is only 7 weeks old so i know i have sometime now but when is a good age to introduce him to BJJ. i want him to love it so bad the way that i do, but i dont want to be one of those dad's that 'forces' his kid to like something when he doesnt. what is a good age to get him started, and what is a good way to introduce him to it? A teammate of mine had a good point as far as joint manipulation at too young of an age if he broke a bone at a growth plate it could cause big issues down the road and i obviously want to avoid that. i never wrestled growing up but id like to introduce him to that to start i think, as it is far less joint manipulation. any thoughts or experiences with this?
lmao thanks man, i wish i posted this ealrier than. he did move the other day looked like he was attempting to shrimp. i was stoked. my wife tells me to talk to him cuz its good for the development so i just keep saying "jiu jitsu" over and over wont be suprised if his first words are some variation of that haha
There was a thread about raising kids to love grappling. However, it might have been on the UG.
Send ChipW a message and ask him to bump the thread for you as he was a significant contributor on that thread.
Good luck! 
thank you for your experiences with this lets get dangerous it is much appreciated, it must be indiscribeable to share jiu jitsu with your family. i appreciate the perspective too on that kids will be kids and have other interests it definitely is important that i keep that in mind. thank you for the kind words aswell i am going to do my best to be a positive influence in his life and share my passions with him.
thanks chitownbjj i will look into that
My oldest daughter (7) started training at 6 years old and loves it. They learn submissions but rarely execute any while rolling though. Still teaching position before submission. I'm anxious to see her develop though because her arm bars are way better than mine.
I also have a 3 year old daughter who "trains" with the class, but only when she's in the mood. Sometimes it's twice a week and sometimes she doesn't train for 2 straight weeks. We don't push it and don't even ask if she wants to take class, we let her ask us if she can join in. Kids are sponges at that age, it's really fascinating to watch. No submissions obviously, but she has a good understanding of the closed guard, mount, seatbelt from the back, etc.
I get so much joy out of watching them train.
that is priceless juanderlei, thats what i was thinking was around 3 or 4 yrs old once he is walking and moving arund good on his own i can introduce him to the mats we have at home and see what he thinks. man are you right i helped out with a couple kids around 12 yrs old at class and their attention to detail is much more than the average adult it is incredible
thanks man i really appreciate you looking into that for me i just added it to my favorites. i may be past my prime and wish i had the time to devote to being great, but if my son ends up wanting to work at being as great as possible i want to be able to afford him all of the right oppurtunities in hopes he will far surpass my knowledge and ability in whatever he decides.
8-10 
akston any specific reason or is it just a point when their attention spans are more prevalent?
I began taking my son with me to train occasionally when he was 5.
I bought him a kids gi when he turned 6, and had him join me when I teach kids on Saturday morning. Just to watch and play.
By 7 he's all into it and participates in every class.
You can't force these things, for some the right age is 8, for others the right age is 18. For some it's never, and you have to be prepared to accept that. Focusing children to early is counterproductive, youth is for trying different things and seeing how they fit.
That's absolutely right - tried to push my son into it when he was 8 and he didn't enjoy it so I nearly ruined it for him. At nearly 11 he's gone back and is really enjoying it
my daughter is about 3 weeks and I've been wondering about this too. I told my wife that I'm not going to be one of those overbearing parents and I don't care what sport she wants to do, that she could pick wrestling, judo, or BJJ and I'd be fine with any of them (in all seriousness, I don't care what she decides she wants to do, but I want to encourage her to be active and participate regularly in some sort of competitive sport where she will experience both winning and losing in her youth).
In seriousness, the local judo club has an active group of kids in the 8-12 range that compete a few times a year and seem to love it, and one of my nephews (he's about 7) loves to wrestle and wants to try and fight every time I see him. He's already earned his black belt in TKD, of course, but his folks say he doesn't like the sparring very much (I've been trying to get them to take him to a judo class, I think he'd love it).
i dont know the right age,but i started my son at 6.
i think the most important thing i stressed was bjj to be a part of his life just like music,school and surfing.it was never about him loving it as much is it was about just being something he did.
I'm 17, started when I was 14, and I wish I had found BJJ earlier. I think a good age is 10-12, any earlier and they'll be too young to understand the concepts and end up hating it and think of it as a chore...
I think as kid it should be practiced when there is no other sport going on. I wouldn't put a focus on a sport that makes dick. My kid will do it for fun in the off season, but when it's baseball, wrestling, hockey- we'll put our focus on creating an athlete that can go to college.
thank you all for you particiaption and advice on this thread. it gives me alot of hope that he will grow to love jiu jitsu eventually and it may be off and on but hopefully eventually stick, like others said i dont care what he does i just want him active i fish and hunt aswell and plan on getting him involved at a young age in both along with any other sports he wants to try. my hopes are of course that he will enjoy the same things as i do.
i also want to appologize for duplicating a thread i should have searched prior to creating it, thank you for not burning me on that.
Seul congrats on the birth of your daughter.
I have a 9 year old boy and soon-to-be 3 year old daughter. I started my son at 6, but he really didn't have fun, so I backed off of the formal teaching and pulled him from the class. The last thing I wanted to do was to have a negative association with the art.
What I have done instead is teach him more fundamental concepts such as pushing when pulled, defensive postures, how to keep balance and so on. In my opinion, teaching submissions comes much later and the aforementioned concepts are more applicable to everyday life. Even in a bully situation, getting the mount and keeping it until an adult comes while not getting hit is incredibly powerful.
Additionally, if you search for "kids bjj games" you will find great ideas on ways to convey the fundamental concepts while not making it seem so much like work. I highly recommend Gracie Bullyproof as it also focuses on the importance of teaching the right way and keeping kids interested. Example of one of their exercises, the Crazy Horse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az9XH0eajXI
Edit: at risk of sounding like a shill, here is a great example why Bullyproof is an excellent platform, teaching you how to teach Transfer Teaching.
If anything, I think the most important thing is to play wrestle at such a young age and keep things light. Kids love it and a house full of laughter is the best.
chitownbjj - http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/thread/2325170/Raising-a-child-to-love-grappling/?page=1
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/thread/2325170/Raising-a-child-to-love-grappling/?page=1
I brought my son around the gym from the time he was 2. He's 9 now and has no interest in grappling of any kind. He loves baseball. Which means I love baseball now too.
Introduce him to every sport you can. He will let you know what he likes, if you're willing to listen.