Gracie's Bullyproofing...

[Ronin13]

For those of you with kids this is some pretty awesome stuff. I wish I had this when I was in school because I was a victim of constant bullying during my younger years and it's true, the mental scars can be (for me are) much worse than the physical...
http://www.thepostgame.com/features/...lp-ufc-royalty
But there is one inherent issue- Zero Tolerance. Perhaps the biggest bullshit policy schools can take on. Zero Tolerance is a crock of shit and I think schools teach the wrong idea to kids "Defend yourself and you'll still get in trouble." It happened to me in high school, I defended myself from an attacker and we both got suspended. I even told the Jeffco School Resource Officer (a deputy who has since become a very close friend) that I think it's bullshit, if I get attacked I'd rather defend myself than continue to be attacked.... what kind of lesson does that teach? But good for the Gracie's for having this program that teaches first to tell the bully to stop, if he refuses then you sweep/tackle and pin until he relents.

[jhood001]

Being a victim of any kind can have lasting effects. Get your 'power' or 'control' taken enough times from you and some people just start to think they don't have any at all.

I recall bullying a neighborhood kid when I was in middle-school and when he finally had enough, he put a nice sweep on me that he learned in Taekwondo that put my ass flat on some cement. I picked up a nice knot on the back of my head out of the deal. That was enough for me to gain some respect for him and I never touched him again.

Teaching kids self-defense along with the Gracie family values and discipline? Sounds like a win to me.

And yeah, Zero Tolerance is bullshit.

[hammer03]

I'm all for it, as long as you can instill some of the discipline longer-term students learn while they practice. I wonder how long before some kid goes, comes back and kicks the crap out of some other kid, and the Gracie school ends up in court. It's crap, but that's what our legal system is these days...

and -1 for zero tolerance too.

[blacklabel]

I'm all for it what they're doing but I think that there's a lot that needs to happen at home to build a self reliant, stable child that understands that freedom and liberty cannot be attained if they're concerned with what others are doing or think of them.

There's a balance there that needs to maintained. My son will know that if someone touches him, he is to defend himself appropriately but he will also understand that all through his life, there are going to be individuals that will not like him and will treat him poorly. His freedom comes from being able to accept that and move on.

[spyder]

I posted a while back about this kind of thing and the shit schools let happen. My daughter cleaned the clock of a bulley and I went in and argued with the principal and her teacher over it when they called me in. She told her teacher about the bulley and the teacher did very little about it. I taught her how to defend herself and she used what I showed her. The fact that a teacher, that the school would let that happen is negligence on their end and if they can't take care of my daughter, then she would take care of herself. It was compelling enough of an arguement to get her off the hook.

[spyder]

I hated bulleys, I was never picked on by them (I was 5,11" in the 7th grade) but lost two friends to bulleys (parents moved them to different schools). With the second friend that moved away in highschool, I took action against bulleys. I remember the first one I turned the tides against. He was getting ready to throw a "nerd" in the pond and I walked up behind him and kicked him in the ass directly into pond in front of the group that had gathered that was there to watch. It was all down hill from there.


My kids will not go through that shit, they will know how, and when to defend themselves, plain and simple.

[mcantar18c]

I don't see bullying as a problem. Another one of those overplayed things to get bleeding heart douches to donate money to what have you.
The problem, IMO, is parenting.

Sure, kids have probably been dicks to other kids since Jesus walked the earth. Kids will be kids, they're little shits and its just what they do. But up to a few decades ago, a kid might be inclined to push back when pushed. Parents raising their kids to think that violence is never acceptable and that the authority figure will always be around to protect you, in a society that's lost its appetite for self reliance and no longer appreciates its warriors (and treats them as outcasts).... THAT is the issue.
They're kids. They don't need BJJ training to be able to face a bully (not that they'll learn anything seriously useful in the whopping 5 days of camp anyway). They just need parents that will raise them to understand that they can, and should, defend themselves if they need to, and teach them that standing up for themselves is important and necessary if they're going to get anywhere in life.


Note... I'm not against kids learning martial arts/fighting skills. I think enrolling them in classes is a great way to teach useful skills and enforce discipline in them. Just not when its a 5 day camp with the singular goal of teaching them to fight bullies.

[Ronin13]

mcantar, while I see the validity in your point, I was a small kid growing up (I didn't break 100lbs until sophomore year of high school) and grew up with kids picking on me left and right with not much hope of defending myself. I'm not too sure if any of you guys know the motivation behind Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris (everyone remembers Columbine), but they were picked on and harassed constantly. Granted, I'm of more sound judgement and have a good head on my shoulders and was raised better, so I never would have resorted to going on a shooting spree, but... in all fairness, I can see things from their perspective and understand the toll that bullying takes on a young person. Mind you, I have friends that went to school at Columbine during that time and they said Dylan and Eric were harassed and assaulted constantly (one example was they were walking over to Eric's house one day and a car full of students drove by and threw bottles at them). Bottom line is, I will teach my kids not to ever start fights, but if they're getting bullied to go through the proper channels- tell the bully to stop, tell mom and dad, and last resort if all else fails, SUBDUE, but do not strike first. I fully plan to teach my kids some of the combatives I learned in the Army (but I'll leave out what our SF A-Team taught me about how to "neutralize" a threat with minimal effort).

[Lex_Luthor]

We had a kid that got jumped by 3 other kids at school. He defended himself, hurt 2 of 3 pretty badly, and the 3rd got wiser about what he was doing. Unfortunately we lost him in class because his school expelled him and he was upset that kung fu is what got him in trouble. I made sure he knew he did the right thing.

[Inconel710]

While I hope my son never experiences it, we are preparing him to handle himself (he just started 1st grade, BTW). He's in Kenpo and while it's caused some trouble with "play fighting", it's been a good experience for him.

He did get in a bit of trouble once - last year, in Kindergarten, the one annoying kid in class was following him around the play ground bugging the crap out of him with questions. Randy told the kid to leave him alone and walked away, but the kid wouldn't stop. Finally, he had enough and just stopped while putting his arm up in an outward block - kid walked into his fist and busted his lip. Luckily, the teacher had been watching the whole time and understood why it happened. Quick trip to the principal's office and request to use more restraint. Best part was when we made him tell his karate instructor and he said "He walked into my fist with his face." We had a hard time not laughing while telling him that wasn't the best thing to do!