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Finding the right martial arts school for your children is an important decision. Training martial arts can help build and boost their confidence, discipline, and overall fitness. There are plenty of options like Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, and Jiu Jitsu. The best and one of the fastest growing activities in the US is Jiu Jitsu also known as BJJ or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If you're looking for  kids martial arts classes, this guide will help you know what to look for and how to choose the best fit for your kids.

Why Kids Jiu Jitsu and Martial Arts Classes Are a Great Choice

Martial arts classes offer a ton of  benefits for kids, including improved coordination, self-defense skills, respect, discipline and focus. Jiu Jitsu for kids is a great choice because it teaches how to defend kids to defend themselves without relying on punching and kicking like other martial arts in a safe, structured, and fun environment. Jiu Jitsu is great for all kids. Whether your child is outgoing and energetic or shy and introverted, it can help them develop self-confidence and learn valuable life skills.

What to Consider When Choosing a Kids Martial Arts School

Qualified Instructors

1. Look for schools with experienced instructors. Many schools hire instructors with hardly any prior experience. Be sure to choose a school with qualified instructors with real world experience in martial arts and teaching. Skilled teachers and coaches not only teach techniques but create a positive, safe environment, and know how to work with children of all skill levels.

Class Structure

2. Check out to see if the classes follow a structured format or if the class seems like a wild unorganized free for all.

Curriculum and Age Appropriateness

3. Check if the kids jiu jitsu classes are tailored for different age groups and skill levels. Are the classes teaching dangerous techniques to beat people up of are they teaching kids how to protect themselves. The curriculum and classes should prioritize safety, fun, and techniques suitable for children.

Facility Safety and Cleanliness

4. Be sure to see if the school is clean, well-maintained, and equipped with mats and safety gear.

Location and Convenience

5. Search for kids jiu jitsu near me or kids martial arts classes in Bucks County to find convenient options close to your home or school. If the school is hours away it  can make it difficult to stick with a consistent training schedule.

School Reputation and Reviews

6. Read online reviews and ask for references. Positive testimonials from other parents indicate a trustworthy, quality martial arts school. Ask if you can drop in to check out a kids class and talk to some of the other parents about how the like the school.

Why Choose Hellfish MMA for Your Kids?

At Hellfish MMA in Chalfont, we offer Jiu Jitsu classes for kids ages 5 and up to all of Bucks County. Classes are lead by experienced instructors dedicated to helping children develop confidence, discipline, and respect while having fun and getting in shape. Our programs are designed to be age-appropriate, safe, and engaging for kids of all ages and skill levels.

Find Kids Jiu Jitsu Classes Near You

If you're searching for Jiu Jitsu or Martial arts classes for kids in Bucks County, give us a call at 215-716-3554 or visit our website and enter your information to get a free trial for your kids. Our welcoming environment and expert staff make us the ideal choice for your child's martial arts journey.

Khabib Nurmagamedov is considered by many to be the greatest fighter that ever lived. He recently retired after defeating Justin Gaethje with a spectacular Triangle Choke from the mount and retired undefeated from the UFC. Khabib was known primarily as a grappling expert which showed in his submission win in his last fight, but he was also able to dominate the striking against many opponents that looked to be superior on paper such as Connor McGregor and Justin Gaethje. Khabib never used any fancy tricks to win his fights,  but rather relied on solid understanding of the basics of both grappling, Jiu Jitsu, Sambo, wrestling as well as Boxing, Muay Thai and kickboxing to dominate his opponents and retire undefeated. 

At Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts, we specialize in teaching the techniques that work at the highest levels of competition in mma, Jiu Jitsu, Grappling, Muay Thai, boxing and Kickboxing. No matter what level of experience a student comes in with, in our classes they will learn how to strike and grapple like the champions in the UFC.  

Recently, Hellfish MMA owner and head instructor Tim Carpenter taught the exact sequence of techniques that Khabib Nurmagamedov used to defeat Justin Gaethje in class. We recorded it and uploaded it to the Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts YouTube Channel for our students to review outside of class. 

If you are interested in learning the skills and techniques of UFC champs, learning how to defend yourself, getting in shape, and overall self improvement, come in and try a free class by entering your info on our website and subscribe to the Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts youtube channel

For both Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu students, we are always evaluating the progress of our students yearound, but twice a year we do formal promotions where students can move up in rank of their belt level in Jiu Jitsu or their pradjiat (arm band) in Muay Thai. A student can move up in rank by a stripe on either their pradjiat or belt at any time throughout the year, but moving up to the next level of rank is reserved for one of either spring or winter  promotions at the end of the year.

This year we have seen a tremendous increase in the progression of all the students at Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts in both the Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu programs. In Muay Thai we have not only seen improvements in technical ability, but students have lost weight, and achieved a level of physical fitness they never thought they could before while at the same time learning the invaluable skill of self defense. We even had a couple of students get into the ring to test their skills at the WKA Muay Thai National Championship.

In Jiu Jitsu we have seen the students skills growing by leaps and bounds. Many students have competed successfully this year in various tournaments. Almost all of the Jiu Jitsu students moved up the ranks by a stripe and several students moved up a belt level including 7 Blue Belts, 2 Purple Belts, and 2 Brown belts.

While it feels good to be recognized for all of your hard work in class by getting promoted, the goal of training is not and should never be focused on getting stripes, armbands, or belts, but on the acquisition of new skills and improvement of existing skills in the never ending pursuit of mastery of the martial arts.

The Hellfish Jiu Jitsu competitors took home 4 gold medals 1 silver and 3 Bronze medals from the Tap out Cancer Philadelphia jiu jitsu event on 11/12/2019. First up were the Hellfish Kids Jiu Jitsu competitors. Declan won 3 matches and took home a hard earned bronze medal. This was his best competition to date and was a huge improvement from last year.

Eli won his 1st match and then lost his next and took home a Bronze medal. Bennett and Charlie also competed and fought well but came up just short of victory.

Next was the Purple and Brown belts from Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts in Bridgeport. Charlie Neely won his first match 2-0 and his next via armbar in the last 10 seconds to get the gold medal in the brown belt division. Matt Richman was put into the Ultra Heavy weight division and won gold with his favorite technique, the guillotine choke. Luke Shiomos went 2-1 winning his first 2 matches with some very slick armbars from his guard and then losing by advantage in the finals to take home a silver medal.

One blue belt, Dave chase won his first match on points 9-2 and demonstrated some great technique against a very strong opponent before losing his next match for the bronze medal.

The white belts were last to go. Steve Flavell went 2-0 with 2 chokes from the back to win gold. Jason Ricles went 1-1 and did not place. Carl Franzetti went 2-1 with 2 submissions and one loss via points to take the bronze medal and Big Joey Szatmary went 3-0 with 3 finishes for the gold medal.

Overall it was a great day for the Hellfish team. Whether the competitors won or lost they all fought with heart, technique, and grit and made us all proud.

Two member of Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts took to the stage of Fight 2 Win in Philly on Saturday October 19th to compete in one of the premiere professional Jiu Jitsu/Grappling events in the world. This was a star studded event that featured some of the biggest names in the sport including a rematch of the gold medal match of the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships between Kaynan Duarte and Nick Rodriquez as the main event. 

Hellfish Jiu Jitsu brownbelt Will Wiesser, already an accomplished competitor in the ibjjf and local tournament scene stepped up to compete in his first professional Jiu Jitsu match on the big stage and although he did not end up winning, he put on a strong performance. His match was an exciting display of his Jiu Jitsu where he was able to showcase his complex guard and use sweeps to reverse his opponent and attack from top position. His opponent earned the victory with a slight edge in submission attempts. 

Hellfish Jiu Jitsu owner and head instructor Tim Carpenter was next up to compete in a NO-Gi match against former NFL lineman and No-GI world Champion Tyler King. Tim was able to earn a unanimous decision victory despite his opponent constantly running away and avoiding any kind of engagement on the ground. It was a frustrating match to watch, but Tim controlled the action of the match and attacked both on the feet and on the ground where he was able to pull guard and almost sweep his opponent into a front headlock position and improve his Fight 2 Win record to 3-1.

It was a great event and despite the frustrations of the matches it was a great night for the Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts Team.

When you find yourself held down with the most common and basic forms of control like side mount, you should focus on using the most common and basic forms of escape such as shrimping back to guard, or using the underhook to come up and reverse the position. As you progress in Jiu Jitsu, you will often find your opponents will use other variations of a given position that will thwart your most common forms of escape. When this happens, it is necessary to develop the ability to recognize when you must use alternative methods to escape a particular position. 

Your most valuable tool in escaping any position is your ability to recognize what is keeping you down. It is almost impossible for your opponent to control your entire body all at once. Some positions are far more difficult to escape than others, but there is always an opening for escape no matter how your opponent may be controlling you. 

The sidemount is a simple way to illustrate this. Your opponent can only control and immobilize  either your upper body or lower body at one time, but rarely both simultaneously. Similarly he can only control one side of your body at a time, but almost never both. When you want to escape, your first goal is to recognize what is holding you down and then work towards freeing that part of your body or finding the opening your opponent is giving you and exploiting his lack of control. 

In this video below, we go over some of the variations of the side mount you will encounter and how to escape each one.

The first technique taught in almost all Jiu Jitsu classes is the simple Upa or bump and roll technique to escape from the bottom of the mount. There are several reasons that this is the case. Much of Jiu Jitsu can be difficult to understand for a brand new practitioner. Shrimping, guard, half guard, spider guard, sweeps, guard passes can take a while to understand for a newbie, but being caught underneath an opponent mounted on top of you, it is frighteningly easy to understand why you would need to escape as soon as possible. Your opponent has any number of ways to attack you from the mount. Punches, headbutts, elbows, chokes, smothers, and armlocks are all readily available to him while your offense is basically non existent from the bottom. It is of utmost importance that when training you develop the ability to recognize the significance of each position and what is available offensively and defensively for both yourself and your opponent.

Your only option when caught mounted by an opponent is to escape. Ideally you will be able to trap and arm and leg and bump your hips up off the ground and roll over on top of your opponent. This is the preferred method of escape in all of the grappling arts including BJJ, but BJJ also offers us the ability to escape back to guard or half guard where we can utilize our legs in order to gain control, sweep, or submit our opponent. In jiu jitsu, you will most likely find that against more highly skilled opponents, you will more often than not be getting back to guard rather than simply bumping your opponent off of you.

Escaping bad positions is good but not good enough. You will also want to develop the ability to seamlessly transition from defending and escaping to attacking and sweeping or submitting. There should be almost no space between your defensive escapes and your offensive attacks. One of the best times to launch an attack it immediately after an escape when your opponents focus is most likely centered on preventing your escape rather than defending themselves from an attack. You will often find an opponent off balance or over extended after you escape which will allow you to possibly catch a quick submission or reverse position and get on top.

In this video from the Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts YouTube channel, we cover how to escape the mount and transition immediately into a simple sweep from the half guard.

The Hellfish team came up big this past weekend at the Newbreed Ultimate Challenge Philadelphia Summer Classic. Despite bringing only 6 competitors the the event, the adult team walked out with 10 medals and the overall team title and trophy. We had 2 first time competitors in Shane and Carl. Shane got silver in both gi and No-Gi, while Carl earned Gold in both Gi and No-Gi. Jason, earned a Bronze medal after some thrilling matches. Kyle earned a bronze in No-Gi and a Gold in the Gi. Big John earned a siver in No-Gi, and Steve earned gold in both Gi and No-Gi to remain unbeaten in Grappling competition. Every single one of these guys demonstrated tremendous skill, tenacity, toughness and heart in both victory and defeat and at the end of the day it all paid off!

Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts also brought a small group of kids competitors to the event, and although they did not earn the overall team title, they did earn some medals and demonstrated the kind of skill, determination, toughness and sportsmanship of the champs that they are. We took 2 first time competitors to the event. Charlie had some great matches and he made big improvements in each one and ended up earning a bronze medal. Eli had 2 great matches going 1-1 and also earned a bronze medal. Declan lost a very hard fought match in the finals and took home a silver medal and he continues to make improvements every time he steps on the mat. Finally Bennett took home a silver medal in both gi and No-Gi after some great matches in a very tough division!

Obviously the goal of any competition is to win, but often and especially with new competitors we try to take a way the pressure of focusing on simply winning and emphasize simply going out there and trying to the best of your ability that day to execute the techniques you want to execute. Winning is often an outcome that is out of your control, but trying your best and leaving no doubt in your mind that you went out there and fought to the best of your ability is the one thing that you have absolute control over on the day of competition. I am pleased to say that all the competitors did just that this past weekend and the results speak for themselves!

This past weekend was a busy and successful one for many of the students and coaches from Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts. Saturday afternoon was The Goodfight Submission only pan ams that featured 3 Hellfish students competing and Saturday night was a USKA Muay Thai event that featured 2 Hellfish students making their Muay Thai debuts.

At the Goodfight tournament, 2 of the kids from our kids program showed up and fought their butts off bringing home 2 silver medals and 1 bronze. Mackenzie took home a bronze medal in the gi division and a silver medal in nogi

while Bennett took home a silver medal in his Gi divison.

This was the Goodfights annual pan am tournament which features a higher level of competition than you will find at a normal tournament. Kyle Murphy who won double gold in gi and nogi divisions in his first competition a few months ago decided that 2 golds was not enough and ended up taking home 4 gold medals in gi and nogi weight class and absolute divisions in his 2nd ever bjj competition.

Saturday night was USKA’s knockout cancer event. We had 2 of our Muay Thai students make their debuts and both came away victorious. In the 2nd fight of the night, Jessica Amend fought a 3 round war and got her hand raised in victory after making excellent use of her kicks at distance and knees in the clinch.

Next up was Trey Hoffner. Trey had been training for this fight for several months and came into the fight in tremendous shape after having his opponents drop out and change several times leading up to the fight. Trey came out fast starting the fight off with a cross, hook, leg kick combo and 1 minute and 43 seconds later after knocking down his opponent twice in that time finished the fight with the same cross, hook, leg kick combo with some follow up punches that forced his opponents corner to throw in the towel.

We are all proud of the students whenever they go out and test their skills in competition whether they win or lose, but it is important to know that competition is not the goal of a martial artist, but rather a powerful tool used to test the skills they have developed in class. While I do recommend that anyone who has the desire to test themselves in competition should definitely go for it, most of the students do not compete or fight and can build and test their skills everyday on the mats of Hellfish Mixed Martial Arts. Martial arts is a lifestyle and not about competing but more so a lifelong pursuit of constant self improvement through training.

One of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal for improving your jiu jitsu is the private lesson. Whether you are black belt competitor or you are trying Jiu Jitsu for the first time, the private lesson is an invaluable tool for learning and improvement.

The regular day to day classes, are designed for everyone to work on basically the same set of techniques. One week we will work on passing the guard and submitting, the following week we may work on fighting off your back and sweeping, and the next week could be takedowns. These classes are focused on core techniques and principles that everyone should know and have a solid understanding of how to use them.

The private lesson is designed around your and only your particular needs. It is a perfect time to ask specific questions about anything you may want to improve. Maybe you want to work more on takedowns or learn some more advanced guard techniques that we have not covered in the normal class yet. Maybe there is a technique that you always seem to get caught in and you can’t figure out why. Maybe there is that one person in class that always seems to have your number and you want that to change. The private lesson is the perfect time to fine tune your jiu jitsu.

Private lessons can also be invaluable to a newer student, or even as an introduction to the art. Often someone is very nervous or apprehensive about joining a class. They may feel like they are too green or out of shape to keep up with the pace of the class, for that reason, the private lesson can be the perfect way to get started on learning the basics and getting you up to speed so you can jump in class and keep up.

For the more experienced or advanced student, the private lesson is your chance to get a completely personalized class. The best way to use the private lesson is to schedule it at least a week ahead of time and provide your instructor with a list of things you want to learn and work on and/or questions you want answered, like how to get the jump on that pesky purple belt that always seems to be on your back or the lanky brown belt keeps catching you in a triangle.

So whether you are a raw beginner off the street looking for a low stress introduction to BJJ or an advanced black belt champion, there is always room for improvement and learning from a more personalized perspective. Give some thought to trying out, and if you are interested speak to Coach Tim in class, or

Send an email to... hellfishseminarsandprivates@gmail.com