Category Archives: Education

College Students Embrace Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle!

As students are heading back to school, the lives of young adults attending college or high school can get busy, overwhelming and stressful! What is a better way to de-stress and take your mind off of everything than training jiu jitsu? Returning college students, who are also dedicated Gracie Barra students, talk about the best way to balance the two lifestyles! College student Gin Wells has been training with us for 3 months along with some experience from other jiu jitsu schools. She got in 6 days a week of training all summer long before returning to school! “I worked two jobs during summer 7 days a week. I made my schedules fit around jiu jitsu classes so I could go 6 days a week,” Wells said. “When I’m busy and stressed, being active helps me with taking a break from work while also doing something to release stress as

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August is Anti-Bully Month at GB!

Bullying can happen at school, on the playground, on a sports team, and in some cases even at home or online. But with so many different styles of bullying, such as verbal, physical, social, or cyber bullying, it can be difficult for children to understand how to solve the problem and how to face what may be a day-to-day situation in the best way possible. For the month of August, Gracie Barra will be holding classes twice a week that teach our younger students how to respond to many types of bullying, how to stand up for themselves and their friends, and hopefully build confidence and have fun while doing so! What will your child be learning this month? 1. What or who is a bully? - Understanding the root or the why of the person instigating the bullying or harm, can be helpful in solving the problem at hand.

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Jiu Jitsu For Self Defense

There are several martial outs out there, each having their own style of technique, training, and values. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling martial art based around self-defense, and it is widely claimed to be the most practical martial art when it comes to physical altercations. An estimated 85% of fights end up on the ground. Most if not all fights start on the feet and in our academy we teach you how to strike, defend against strikes and avoid or apply a takedown when it’s pertinent. Jiu-jitsu can be helpful in that we teach our students several ways to close the distance between you and another person and then how to get them to the ground and then control them. For both kids and adults, at Gracie Barra we strive to teach students the most safe and effective means of how to defend themselves including the fundamentals of striking, the

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Five Mental Benefits of Jiu Jitsu

Brazilian jiu-jítsu is often talked about in terms of how it can help you get in shape, get physically stronger, and help improve your cardio in ways you’ve never felt before. While all of this is true, what about what jiu jitsu can do for your mind? 1. Controlling Emotions While learning how to control your emotions may not happen overnight, it will come with time. Us instructors often joke about how breathing is the most important technique. But we do not only say this to keep you moving physically, it is also to make sure you are thinking about breathing and the situation you’re in rather than resorting to anger or panic if you are sparring from a difficult position. It also becomes important to control your emotions under pressure when you may be training with a good friend, as you wouldn’t want to risk the friendship because you

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The Importance of the Student Mindset

What does it mean to have a student mindset? Jiu-jitsu is no easy sport. It pushes people physically and mentally, whether they have ever done martial arts or other sports in their lifetime or not. However, it is very easy to forget to leave your ego at the door when it comes to jiu jitsu or any martial art, for that matter. It becomes easy to choose partners to train with that may be of lesser skill or smaller than you, which causes a person to never feel challenged in classes and may even lead them to feel that they no longer need to get better or learn new techniques. But, if you can learn to train with the mindset of a student, or a mindset of growth –  meaning you have the desire to learn through challenges and try new things (Carol Dweck) – then training improves in several

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Why Should Kids Do Jiu-Jitsu?

Does your child do jiu jitsu, or are you thinking about enrolling your child in jiu jitsu classes? There are several benefits for children who train! Including increased fitness, self defense, understanding of discipline, confidence, and so much more! Keep reading to find out why your child should try jiu-jitsu and how it can benefit them on and off the mats! 1. A Healthy Lifestyle The jiu-jitsu lifestyle doesn’t start and end as an adult. In fact, kids as young as 4 can learn the importance of exercise and how it can help make them stronger as well as help them deal with daily stressors as they continue to grow! Between practicing techniques, drills, and sparring, kids will work up a sweat while having a good time! While having fun is a top priority for our GBK classes, we also try to emphasize the values of hard work, both physically

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3 Exercises to add in to your workout routine for Jiu-Jitsu

Every jiu-jitsu practitioner is different. Some are or strive to be high level competitors, some train for a fun hobby outside of their daily routine, some are instructors, and some just love to train for fun and enjoy the workout! No matter the reason you train, here are a few exercises that you can do along with a regular workout or just try something new! They can be used to increase strength and coordination for specific jiu-jitsu techniques or concepts, or just help you achieve a personal goal. However, keep in mind that there are hundreds of ways to use exercise to enhance your jiu-jitsu, and these are only a few! 1. The Deadlift How to do it: Start with your toes under a barbell (or inside a hex bar), and then, keeping your back straight, slightly bend your knees until you can grip the bar with both hands as

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Starting off a Summer of Fun!

What’s happening at GB O’ Fallon/ LSL in June? We have quite a few weekends marked on our calendar for June! Here is a list of some events that are happening this month to kick off summer! Saturday, June 11th: Belt Promotion & Potluck! ● Starting at 12pm, we will be having a belt promotion for our adult students! If you are coming to congratulate your teammates, feel free to bring your uniform as there will also be an open mat for those who want to roll that afternoon. Don’t forget the food! There is a potluck sign up sheet at the front desk; Just put down your name and whatever dish/ snack you are bringing to share. It is going to be an awesome day of food, friends, and jiu-jitsu to celebrate the adult students who have worked hard to earn their belt promotions! There will be no regular

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5 Tips for Your First Competition:

Less Than One Month Until the CompNet Missouri Summer Championship 2022!   5 Tips for Your First Competition:   Are you a first time competitor? Then don’t worry if you are having pre-competition jitters, it is completely normal! Even the highest level competitors still get nervous before competition, and it is often said to be something that never truly goes away. There’s a little more to competing than just getting on the mat and trying to beat your opponent. For instance, you must be aware of what to expect upon entering the competition venue! Where do you go first? Where do I weigh in? Is there a warm up mat? There can be so many questions! Here are 5 tips of advice to help you stay cool, calm, and collected when it’s your turn to run to the referee and shake your opponents hand.   #1: What to Bring: What

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Wrestling for Everyone

Wrestling at Gracie Barra O Fallon/LSL: What to expect and highlighting the benefits! Each instructor has their own style of jiu-jitsu, sometimes related to what martial arts or sports they have done in the past. The newest instructors in our school, coach Justin Stouder and Jeremy Null, have been wrestling pretty much since the time they could walk! We couldn’t be happier to have them share their knowledge on our mats once a week starting this Saturday, May 7th. Like jiu-jitsu, you don’t have to have experience to do the class, you just have to show up and keep learning! Coaches Justin and Jeremy tell us all about what we can expect and what they aspire to bring to the mats each week.  Over the years, we have had several students with wrestling experience and even some of our competitors have gone on to do great in high school wrestling,

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