The newest mixed martial arts facility in Canada is expecting plenty of interest from people who want to learn the intense take-downs and submission moves that have helped make the Ultimate Fighting Championship so popular.
It's also expecting many of these would-be fearsome fighters to be arriving at the gym straight from kindergarten.
“Kids like it because it's so hands-on and they're doing the stuff they're seeing on TV,” says Saleh Kablawi, president of Ultimate Fight Club, the new facility in Vaughan, Ont.
“They're able to put somebody in an arm bar, they're able to defend themselves and control their opponent and submit them.”
As more and more mixed martial arts gyms open across Canada, kids who might have once asked their parents for karate or kung fu lessons now have an opportunity to fight like competitors in the televised Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon.
In generic terms, the sport is known as mixed martial arts, and allows for several varieties of fighting techniques, including boxing, wrestling, judo and jiu-jitsu.
And while instructors say the classes are a great way to build self-confidence and enjoy some harmless horseplay, parenting experts say there are some questions you should ask before enrolling your children.
Three years ago, when Joel Gerson, president of Revolution MMA, opened his first mixed martial arts facility in Ontario, children had few if any options to learn the sport.
“Nobody was doing MMA for kids back then,” he says.
Today, the kids programs at the two Revolution MMA locations, including “Munchkin MMA,” for kids between the ages of three and five, attract large numbers of youngsters, many of whom have been encouraged by parents who themselves are fans of UFC.
“You don't see a lot of three-year-olds watching the pay-per-views going, ‘I'm going to learn an arm bar,'” Mr. Gerson says.
Max Marin, the head trainer and owner of Canuckles, an MMA studio in Calgary, has seen his kids' program grow exponentially since opening in 2000. “We started off with one kid. Now we're up to like 80 kids,” he says.
“They learn exactly what the adults learn. That's striking, wrestling, submissions.”
Arm bars, guillotine chokes and neck cranks can be frighteningly violent when performed by professional UFC fighters – but parents whose kids are in MMA programs praise the sport as harmless fun.
“It's so not about fighting, especially at this age,” says Mark Brunswick, whose nine-year-old son Alec has been enrolled in the kids program at Revolution for the past three years. “They keep it very fun.”
Mr. Brunswick, a 39-year-old vice president of an advertising agency in Toronto, says he is much happier that his son's sport of choice is mixed martial arts and not, say, hockey.
“What's the worst that happens? ‘I lost position on the mat. I lost 10 points. I'll try better next time,'” he says. “It's not like, ‘Hey, you let that goal in, we're out of the playoffs and it's your fault.'”
Indeed, kids who take MMA classes are often drawn to the sport to get in shape, not just to lay a beat down.
“They're also into it for fitness,” says Robin Black, a professional MMA fighter and spokesperson at Xtreme Couture Toronto, a gym opened last summer by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture.
The 20 or so kids enrolled in the gym's under-10 program get to do plenty of tumbling around, but there's absolutely no hitting, Mr. Black says.
“Definitely, kids under 10 are not going to strike each other. That's just not going to benefit them in any way and it's not going to be fun for them,” he says.
The point, says Mr. Marin, is to have fun and gain the self-esteem that comes from knowing you can defend yourself.
“As the kids start to become more mature and experienced in the program, you will always see their self-confidence increase,” Mr. Gerson agrees.
But parents should ask their kids a few questions before enrolling them in MMA class, says Alyson Schafer, author of Honey, I Wrecked the Kids .
“Do you think fighting is a way to solve problems? Do you think that might is right? Are you impressed by people's prowess? If they've got the rest of their values lined up and they still want to burn some energy in that format, I can say I don't get it but I support you.”
Indeed, while kids may enjoy learning how to take down any opponent, instructors stress that avoiding fights is always best and that what youngsters learn in the gym should stay in the gym.
Mr. Kablawi says the kids program at Ultimate Fight Club will be limited to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a martial art that focuses on putting opponents into submission holds rather than striking them with punches or kicks.
“You're teaching them a mechanical art that basically doesn't matter how big their opponent is. Once they have learned the art they'll be able to defend themselves and take the person down,” he says.
The classes, for kids four and up, will also have an anti-bullying and healthy eating component.
Mr. Gerson takes it one step further: “We tell the kids, the best self-defense move is to have good cardio so you can run.”
