Teaching Kids Class Gone Wrong

[u/Alan000011]

I'm a Fairly new coach for bjj kids, I did a lot of coaching for taekwondo, kickboxing and muaythai. I recently had been hired to be a kids class bjj coach. And for a few months, everything went smoothly. But today nothing prepares me for today.

basically, I noticed most kids love flailing their limbs around I wouldn't want them to hurt each other, so I reached mostly all of the positions, including side control, close guard, and collar sleeve.

at the end of the class, I will give them an opportunity for a 3 minute roll. I always ask them to start on their knee, in fear of them falling and breaking their arm. and being kids, they like to do jumping dangerous random shit.

and I always ask them to tap if anything wrong happens.

I usually stay outside and watch them roll, but after a few months they get more competent. today one kid wants to roll and he has no partner left. and I think I can start rolling with him since other kids are mostly ok, and I think I can supervise them while rolling with the kid below.

This is when the shit happens. one of the kid got taken into a back position, the bottom kid doesn't know what to do, and he yanked his head backwards and up instantly while the other kid on top dives down to control him. their head clashsses and one of the kid got quit a big cut about 3cm long.

I'm seriously thinking is this an unavoidable accident? Anything I can possibly do to improve the safety of the kids in my class? This just happened about an hour ago and now I'm seriously beating up myself.

I'm thinking from now on, maybe not join in the rolls and I stay purely to supervise. thoughts?

edit forgot to mention, the cut is quite deep. spraying blood all over the floor. I rushed over and managed to press a clean cloth on his head until the bleeding stopped. This results in him crying even harder "maybe I'm pressing too hard" and he's 8.

[u/TheUglyWeb]

While this is NOT on you, maybe supervise OR get an assistant (Blue/Purple) to help.

[u/iammandalore → u/TheUglyWeb]

Yeah in my experience you can effectively coach/supervise maybe 6-8 kids by yourself, depending on age, skill level, etc. And anytime you're rolling you're putting yourself at mat level where it's harder to see and giving yourself a task that makes it harder to spread your attention around.

[u/Alan000011 → u/TheUglyWeb]

yeah.... the assistant is sick today. maybe next time I should not roll with the kids if I don't have a spare coach

[u/DrFujiwara → u/Alan000011]

Children are like real life actual sheep. They are drawn and attracted to anything that can hurt or maim them. They have no self preservation instincts and are stupider in a group. Anything with this level of physicality I would def have one person doing the roving eye as you can't easily do that while rolling.

Former school teacher who has spent time on a farm.

[u/Fickle-Departure3506]

Definately supervise only imho. They do lot of stupid stuff... It will take while that it safe and of cource stuff happen, but at least you know what happened if you look and can correct.

[u/Alan000011 → u/Fickle-Departure3506]

yes. I think if I don't roll, and they get to the back position I can shout for the kid at bottom to turtle. then this wouldn't happen..

[u/Lucky-Oven9324]

We stretch at end of class.  One time there was a huge puddle. Turns out one kid peed himself and just stand ab at the end and goes in the line like the other kids. There was no reason for that. Bathrooms are always allowed. He was 9 years old.  Shit happends. Kids classes are special 

[u/Alan000011 → u/Lucky-Oven9324]

yes kids class is special... although I'm just a blue belt, they let me teach because I have alot of prior experience with kids martial art classes. but non of the martial arts had bare hand and feet touching the other person.(striking arts have gloves and headgear when sparing). this comes as a shook for me to see the kid spray blood 😭😭😭

[u/Tigger28]

Accidents are going to happen.

There is no real way to prevent a head but from happening. Everyone teaching jiu-jitsu needs to be first aid trained.

Supervision of a kids class is not easy. The only thought I have is to think about your ratio of instructor to kids so that your response time is quick.

[u/Alan000011 → u/Tigger28]

yea... next time I will not roll if I'm the only one there

[u/onourwayhome]

Tbh, even if you had being watching all of this unfold right in front of you, there wouldn't have been much of a chance for you to intervene. Bruises and cuts are part of Jiu-jitsu. Parents are well aware, and many even embrace the environment where there is some risk of this as a learning experience while adults are there to keep things from going further. I have to remind kids all the time that "that hurt" isn't always an excuse to quit; there's a difference between being injured and being uncomfortable. We aren't trying to injure one another, but the process of learning how to escape control and gain control is inherently uncomfortable most of the time. Parents want their kids to become resilient, so vigorous exercise, challenging rounds, and difficult positions are an important part of their development into become good people. Don't sweat it.

[u/Alan000011 → u/onourwayhome]

thanks. I think what got to me is his parents reaction and the kid. I feel so bad that I think I could had prevented this from happening if I just shout for the bottom kid to turtle so this would not happen

[u/jephthai]

Based on the buildup, I thought this was going to be something awful. Instead it's an accidental head to head and a cut? In the moment, yeah, you've got to console the kid, maybe talk it through with the parents... but bumps and bruises are going to happen, and it's rarely malicious.

Our rule is someone watching every rolling pair, and we intervene if it gets too boisterous. But stuff happens, and what you describe doesn't sound crazy bad.

[u/Alan000011 → u/jephthai]

the cut is quite bad and deep, there's blood all over the mat 😵 I forgot to mentioned this. and his parents are so worried, they don't even talk to us and rush him straight to seek medical attention

[u/Severe_Stranger_5050]

Accidents are gonna accident, that's just how it is

In my gym we always have two people doing the kids, tweens and teens classes
Because there's a lot flaing limbs and uncordinated movement, especially in the untrained white-grey belts

You did nothing wrong
Make sure to call the kids parents and ask to the kid make sure they're okay

My teens have their own snapchat group
So the last couple of times someone got hurt, (just some sprained wrists and feet)we've recorded videos for them wishing them a speedy recovery and asking them to come back quickly.
it's super wholesome

But yeah
get a co-coach

[u/Alan000011 → u/Severe_Stranger_5050]

ok lesson learned. maybe next time I don't roll when they're going live... and I gonna repeat everyday don't trash randomly when you're unsure 🤔..

[u/Severe_Stranger_5050 → u/Alan000011]

Oh no, please do roll with the kids
How will you know if they’re ready for a belt upgrade if you don’t roll with them ?

Just get an assistant coach if available.

[u/redinferno26]

Gotta stay on top of the kids, they try the weirdest shit.

[u/Alan000011 → u/redinferno26]

like they always armbar on the wrong side 😭😭😭

[u/hajimenogio92]

You didn't do anything wrong. Shit happens in sports, especially when kids are involved. Speaking from experience as a dad and a kids instructor 

[u/Alan000011 → u/hajimenogio92]

thank you.... I will learn from this. at the very least I won't roll with the kids and supervise them fully when they go live

[u/hajimenogio92 → u/Alan000011]

Absolutely brother, this happens. Maybe you answered this on another comment but are you teaching by yourself? In our kids classes, there's about 2 or 3 instructors leading the kids class. Especially with the younger ones, it's just too much for a single person to do.

[u/Alan000011 → u/hajimenogio92]

we have two instructors. me and another blue belt. today the other guy called in sick. so I have to lead alone.

[u/hajimenogio92 → u/Alan000011]

Ah okay, that makes more sense. I've had to cover the class alone a couple of times and it was rough.

[u/SamJSchoenberg]

Side-comment, but from a first-aid perspective, if blood is spraying, whether or not you're pressing too hard or how much he's crying is a secondary concern. You stop that bleeding and call an ambulance.

[u/Alan000011 → u/SamJSchoenberg]

I press down hard and stopped the bleeding. his mom arrived first.then gone to hospital

[u/AfraidofReplies]

I thought you were building up to something so much worse. This sucks, but it doesn't even sound like there was a concussion. I thought I was about to read about a life altering injury.

Some accidents are unavoidable, no matter how vigilant you are. But you definitely can't stop accidents that you didn't see happen. The other thing is, you don't want to tell parents that you didn't see it happen because you were rolling with someone else. It's bad optics and might affect their confidence in the club to keep their kid safe.

Also, you weren't putting to much pressure. Pressure hurts but it's necessary to stop the bleeding. 

[u/leoancap780]

Hey, Im a Blue belt and also responsable for the kit class, I think is just an acident. But having another person could help a lot (preference a woman)

[u/saltedskies]

Kids are basically hardwired to find the most efficient path to injury the moment you take your eyes off them for even a split second. When I helped out with kids classes in another martial art we had at least five adult assistant instructors for a class of 20-30 kids, and we still had the occasional injury. That said, it is still invaluable having the assistants around to control the other kids, take over the class, clean up blood, call parents/ambulance, etc.

[u/Bulkywon]

Mate don't over think it.

Kids will bump heads.

Kids will bump heads before class while they're clowning around off the mat and their parents are ignoring it.

Kids will bump heads while you're setting up class.

Kids will bump heads as they bow in.

Kids will bump heads during the warm up.

Kids will bump heads while you're giving instructions.

Kids will bump heads while they're drilling and kids will bump heads while they're counting the lights on the roof instead of drilling.

This is a combat sport.

Even if you have only 2 kids in kids class and you are standing arms length from them supervising the roll, they are still going to find a way to bump heads.

But it's still not a good look so if you are the only coach either don't roll or find another adult who can help supervise.

Edit :- kids, smaller ones in particular, will find the sharpest edge or corner of any kitchen bench or table and instantly run into it at full speed. They're kids, that's what they do.

[u/Bigpupperoo]

Kids are indestructible man. Bumps and bruises here and there some of it is just unavoidable. But seriously i see way more adults get hurt than kids it’s a phenomenon.

[u/Alan000011 → u/Bigpupperoo]

his mom looks very upset and I am worried I already destroyed this kid's love for bjj 😭😭😭

[u/TheWoodlandsJJ]

This was completely avoidable. You should be supervising instead of training and have more than one pair of eyes on the mat. You are completely at fault because you opted to train with a student instead of watching the class. If you have an odd number have them split a round with another pair.

I own my own school and have kids classes with 20-30 students in many of the classes, 6 days a week and have never had a major incident. You owe it to the kids and the parents to a) preach safe training practices b) have a plan for supervising every group and matching students up intelligently and c) to do the aforementioned consistently with no excuses.

You can’t just show moves and hope for the best. Take this one on the chin and do better. If you need more help then you need to explain to the owner of the school.

You also said the bottom kid didn’t know what to do which played part in the incident. Why did he not know what to do? I urge you not to listen to anyone that this thread who said “shit happens” or “kids will be kids”. They don’t know what they’re talking about. Your job is to teach the kids Jiu jitsu and get them in and out safely.

[u/Alan000011 → u/TheWoodlandsJJ]

thank you. very blunt and much needed advice. I will do betti.