A recent scientific study was conducted on the effect that both BJJ and MMA have on children in terms of their aggression, self-control, and other pro-social behaviour. It’s an area of study that has gained increased attention over the past few years, even though the benefits of martial arts for children have been talked about casually for a very long time. It was only a few years ago that some of this was actually demonstrated in a study on BJJ for the first time, confirming that the sport does have a positive effect on a number of children’s executive functions; like inhibition control.
It’s often said that martial arts will help children to channel aggression into a more positive outlet and allow them to have a greater level of confidence, with many of the biggest names in Jiu-Jitsu taking a similar stance. It’s no surprise then that a number of people do everything they can to push their children into martial arts, even though this can sadly have the opposite effect and push them away from it in the long run. It’s a noble cause of course, because every parent seeks the best for their children and if the benefits of martial arts are legitimate then it makes perfect sense to encourage them to pursue it.
A recent study by Tony Blomqvist Mickelsson entitled ‘Modern unexplored martial arts – what can mixed martial arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu do for youth development?’ was conducted in order to assess exactly what happens to children doing both BJJ and MMA. Mickelsson included a total of 113 children and followed them over the course of 5 months where they were training in either sport, and discovered some interesting trends. He found that both the children training in BJJ and their counterparts in MMA experienced improved self-control and an increase in pro-social behaviour; which is essentially a group of actions that are done for the good of others or society as a whole like sharing or co-operating.
Although this mirrors what many proponents of BJJ and MMA for children have always said, Mickelsson found that aggression was slightly different. Where the children doing BJJ demonstrated a decrease in aggression, those doing MMA actually demonstrated an increase in it instead. He also noted that those who pursued MMA had much higher initial levels of aggression compared to their counterparts in BJJ too. Mickelsson’s findings would suggest that, while both sports can have some positive effects on children, BJJ will have a far better effect on their levels of aggression than MMA will. So for any parents looking to deal with aggressive behaviour, Jiu-Jitsu may well be the better choice.
