Robinson Jiu Jitsu was a hive of activity at the weekend, with a huge number of students being put through their paces at the gruelling end of year grading session.
Coach Craig Robinson, himself a fourth-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, said the day was a huge success, with in excess of 50 students from both the Benalla and Mansfield jiu jitsu schools upgrading their belt after the session.
“It was really good, we ended up having 10 guys graded to blue belt, two graded to purple belt, and about 40 kids that are either up to a new belt or got stripes, so it was an awesome day,” he said.
It is no procession to get upgraded, either, with students having to prove they have sound knowledge of 36 techniques, first by demonstrating the techniques themselves and then mentoring someone else to understand them, before finishing off with a two-hour sparring session.
The growing number of students that are willing to put in the hard yards required to upgrade belts coincides with a rise in popularity of combat sports, Robinson said, but also came as a result of the benefits that some kids who struggle at school were seeing the sport have on their personal lives.
“Last year, we had two guys who graded to blue belt, so there’s obviously a massive increase in both Benalla and Mansfield, and it just shows the popularity of jiu jitsu as a combat sport,” he said.
“The culture we develop and teach at the school really encourages parents, because they get a lot of results from our kids, because they’re not getting answers from school.
“(If the) kids have got ADHD, or the kids are on the spectrum, jiu jitsu really enables them to focus at that as a sport, but it also relays back to their personal lives as well.”
With the sport becoming ever popular, Robinson said there would be two kids’ programs starting in the new year, with anyone interested encouraged to reach out via the Robinson Jiu Jitsu Facebook page.
“We have lots of kids next year because it’s become so popular,” he said.
“There's about 30 kids in Benalla who train now, so next year we will be splitting that class into an advanced kids and a junior kids.”