Ages 7–17
Three sessions a week with a Texas National Team wrestler, for ages 7 to 17. Included in every kids and teens membership, no wrestling background needed, and the first class is free.
The program
Wrestling is the oldest thing on this list and the plainest. You take somebody down and you hold them there. There are no belts, no submissions and nothing to hide behind — which is exactly why it does something to children that few other sports manage.
We run it three times a week for ages 7 to 17, coached by Malik Pickett, a Texas National Team wrestler. It is open to children who have never wrestled and to children who wrestle for their school and want more mat time out of season.
It also happens to be the single best complement to jiu-jitsu. The most common gap in a young grappler's game is that they are excellent once a match hits the ground and have no idea how to get it there. Wrestling closes that gap directly, and our kids who do both are noticeably harder to deal with in the first thirty seconds of a match.
Who trains
Three fairly different children end up in the same room, and it works.
No experience
A child who has never wrestled. The first weeks are stance, motion, level changes and how to fall — the same fundamentals a first-year school wrestler gets, taught without the pressure of a season already running.
School wrestlers
Lamar CISD wrestlers who want mat time between seasons. Practice with a coach who has competed at national level, in a room where nobody is fighting for a varsity spot.
BJJ students
Jiu-jitsu kids who are strong on the ground and lost standing up. Takedowns, hand fighting and top pressure transfer straight into a BJJ match and are the fastest available upgrade to a young competitor's game.
Timetable
All three sessions are open to ages 7 to 17 with no wrestling background required. The Wednesday and Thursday classes run in the evening after the kids BJJ classes have finished; Sunday afternoon is the longest and least rushed of the three. First session is free.
Detail
A tolerance for being uncomfortable. Wrestling practice is hard in a way that is difficult to fake your way through, and children who stick with it develop a working relationship with discomfort that shows up in everything else they do. This is the thing parents report back to us about, far more than any technique.
Genuine conditioning. Few youth sports build an engine like wrestling. Six minutes of live wrestling is a different order of demand from most things a child of that age does, and it arrives without anybody having to be talked into cardio.
Takedowns that transfer. For a child who also trains jiu-jitsu, this is the most direct improvement available. Most youth BJJ matches are decided by who gets on top, and wrestling is the art of getting on top.
A way into a school sport. Wrestling has a season, a team and a structure, and a child who has trained here for a year walks into a middle school room already knowing how to move.
Coaching
Wrestling Coach
Texas National Team wrestler bringing elite-level takedowns and grappling fundamentals. Known for his energy and dedication to youth development.
Membership
Eight classes a month across BJJ and wrestling, in any combination.
Every kids and teens class on the timetable, wrestling and BJJ alike.
Unlimited for two members, kids or adults, +$80/mo per extra member.
Wrestling is included in any kids or teens membership at no extra charge — there is no separate wrestling fee and no minimum number of sessions. A child on the 8-class plan can spend all eight on wrestling, all eight on jiu-jitsu, or any mix of the two. Month to month, 30 days notice to cancel, and the first class is free. See all membership options.
Questions
None at all. Most children in the room started with none. The first few weeks are stance, motion, level changes and safe falling — the same place every wrestler begins, taught without a season already in progress.
Shorts without pockets or zippers and a fitted t-shirt or rashguard. No wrestling shoes or singlet needed to start; if they carry on, wrestling shoes are the one thing worth buying and they are inexpensive.
It is club training, which means there is no season and no varsity spot to win. Children train year round, at their own pace. Plenty of our wrestlers also wrestle for their schools and use this as off-season mat time; plenty of others never wrestle competitively at all.
More than almost anything else. The usual weakness in a young jiu-jitsu player is that they are dangerous on the ground and helpless standing up, and most youth matches are decided by who gets on top first. Wrestling addresses exactly that, which is why we run it in a jiu-jitsu academy.
No. Wrestling is included in any kids or teens membership — $239 a month for eight classes or $249 unlimited — with no separate fee and no minimum. Eight classes a month means eight classes, and your child can spend them on wrestling, on jiu-jitsu, or on any mix of the two. The first session is free, the same as everything else here.
Coach Malik Pickett, a Texas National Team wrestler. He brings elite-level takedowns and grappling fundamentals, and he is known here for his energy with the younger kids in particular.
Yes, with the coaching and pairing done properly, which is the whole job. Children are matched by size and experience, falling safely is taught before anything is done at speed, and a coach is on the mat for every live round. Wrestling injury rates in supervised youth programs sit in the same range as other youth contact sports.
Keep reading
Wednesday and Thursday evening, or Sunday afternoon. Shorts and a t-shirt is all your child needs to find out whether this is their thing.