More Than Medals: The Powerful Impact of Childhood Jiu Jitsu Friendships
The biggest thing I will ever take away from Jiu Jitsu is not the skill itself; rather, it is the connections I made at Easton, which I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
I started the kids program at just six years old. Over my years growing up in the academy, I made countless Jiu Jitsu friendships. I still think about many of those kids all the time, even if they haven’t trained in years.
I remember the first girl I ever drilled with during the Big Tigers class, who made it so much less intimidating to transition from the Little Tigers. I still remember the games I would play with my friends while we waited for our parents to finish training, and I still think about the first Pan Kids IBJJF tournament I went to and the friends I got to experience it with.
Finding community in a new academy.
All of these early memories come from my years at Easton Denver. In 2021, I started training primarily at Easton Littleton. My sister and I became a part of a close competition team, spending countless weekends together cheering each other on through our best matches and supporting each other through our hardest.
We were accepted into this team, this family, so quickly. It almost felt like we had been a part of this community for years. Through the competition team, I met people who would eventually become some of my closest friends.
Soon after I moved to Littleton, I got very close with a girl around my age. We met through competition and quickly became each other’s favorite training partner. She lives about an hour away from me, which meant we were never really able to hang out when we weren’t at Jiu Jitsu.
Instead, we spent a lot of our time on FaceTime together, whether it was getting ready for school, absentmindedly conversing while we cleaned or playing games together.
Forging strong bonds through competition team travel
Then, in 2023, the Littleton kids competition team spent a lot of time training and preparing for that year’s Pan Kids tournament in Florida. Many of us had gone the year before, and despite most of our team losing our matches, the experience brought us closer.
My friend and I were so excited by the prospect of a week together in person, especially in a big house with a pool. I wasn’t able to compete; I had a broken knee from training with her earlier in the year. Ironically, that experience ended up deepening our friendship even further. Despite my injury, I went to support her, my sister, and my teammates.
Six young athletes and all of our families flew to Florida, where we stayed in a big house together. My friend and I spent a lot of time with a boy on the team who was competing as well. He hadn’t been on the trip the year before, but we had all trained and attended classes together for the months leading up to this tournament. We really got to know each other over the course of that week in Florida, and we swiftly became good friends.
The three of us really clicked. We ended up spending a lot of time together. Our days were spent playing in the pool or watching matches together, and our nights were spent playing games upstairs or trying to catch lizards outside. Somehow, between the stress of competition and the excitement of the vacation, we formed a friendship that has lasted way beyond that tournament.
[How Competing in Martial Arts Benefits Your Kids]
From students to leaders
Back at home, the three of us talked constantly. We would play games together or just sit on the phone and talk — so much so that my parents could probably tell you just as much about these friends as I could.
Three years later, we’re all involved in Easton in different ways. We’ve aged out of the kids competition team, and training in the adult program and working in the academy was the next step. I now work at the front desk at Easton Littleton and run our summer camps, while my friends are assistant coaches in our Tigers classes.
Now, we use the lessons we learned growing up in the kids program to show this new generation of grapplers why it is so important to be a “black belt training partner.” This means being respectful and self aware, treating our opponents with kindness, winning with humility and losing with grace.
[Rolling Up: A Coaches’ and Parents’ Guide to Helping Kids Transition to Adult BJJ Training]
What we gained from Kids Jiu Jitsu training
Even if we can’t train together nearly as much as we used to, we’re still close. These friends have been there for me countless times outside of Easton. They have shown me support in some of my worst times and have been excited for me in my best times.
I am grateful every day for everything they’ve done for me, even if they don’t realize how much they’ve changed my Jiu Jitsu career and my life outside of Easton. They’ve shown me what it’s like to have true support from my teammates, something that can go a long way in a sport that often appears individual.
Our friendship just goes to show the bonds that are possible through Jiu Jitsu. Doing something so difficult and so uncomfortable together is rare, especially among kids.
Easton is a community where kids feel comfortable being ourselves; having a space separate from school gives us another social circle in which we can grow and connect. That environment helps create friendships that many of us will carry with us for years.
Not every Jiu Jitsu friendship lasts as long as mine have; people leave or interest dwindles, and that’s natural. Yet, the things that we learn in such a tight-knit team, especially as a kid, are lessons we will utilize for the rest of our lives.
That support shows us exactly what it means to have a black-belt partner, and allows each of us to be one for those around us.
