Our Youth Programs

An overview of Little Lions and Golden Tigers: what each program is, how they differ, and what to expect as your child moves through them.

Little Lions (Ages 4-7)

Little Lions is GJJ’s program for children ages 4-7. At this age, most kids are still getting used to structured group environments, managing big emotions, and interacting with peers outside their family. The program is built around that reality.

Classes run twice a week and are 35 minutes long. The format is warmup, a high-energy standing game, a focused ground game, and a brief closeout where every kid gets a sticker and a specific compliment from the coach about something they did well that day. Not “good job.” Something concrete: “I noticed you kept trying to get back to your feet even when it was hard.” That matters.

What Little Lions looks like in practice:

High-energy, play-heavy games with clear rules and win conditions
No submissions of any kind (no chokes, no joint locks, ever)
Simple game formats that repeat across weeks so kids can focus on playing instead of figuring out rules
Warmup movements including animal walks, cartwheels, and handstands that build coordination and body awareness
One coaching point per break, delivered in 30 seconds or less

The goal at this age is not grappling skill. It’s comfort: comfortable being on the ground with another person, comfortable trying things and failing, comfortable navigating a structured environment with peers. Grappling is the vehicle. The real work is developmental.

If your child is in Little Lions, the most important thing you’ll hear a coach say is: if they’re having fun, we’re succeeding.

Golden Tigers (Ages 7-13)

Golden Tigers is GJJ’s program for children ages 7-13. This is a wider developmental window than Little Lions, and the program reflects that. A 7-year-old and a 13-year-old in the same room are in very different places, but both can thrive in a well-run game-based class.

Classes run three times a week and are 50 minutes long. The structure is more layered than Little Lions: warmup, a standing/takedown game, a recall round (a game from a previous week, replayed with no instruction), a main topic using the drill-to-game pattern, and live sparring. Coaches hand-pick training partners carefully, especially for sparring rounds.

What’s different from Little Lions:

More structure, more complex games, more sustained focus required
Submissions may be part of the curriculum depending on age and size, with safety always the primary consideration
The drill-to-game pattern: a brief isolated practice of a movement, then immediately into a game where that movement is the entry point
More direct coaching feedback, including questions that build perception: “What did you see that made that work? What made it fail?”
Live sparring rounds that develop real problem-solving under pressure

Golden Tigers also introduces conceptual framing. Kids begin to understand not just what to do but why: why some positions are better than others, why creating space matters, why your body mechanics affect the outcome. These are the same ideas that underpin our adult Fundamentals program. Golden Tigers won’t master them, but they’ll start building the mental models that make everything click faster when they’re older.

The life skills emphasis doesn’t change. Character still comes first. But the format grows with the kids.

Side-by-Side Comparison

	Little Lions	Golden Tigers
Ages	4-7	7-13
Class length	35 minutes	50 minutes
Frequency	2x/week	3x/week
Submissions	Never	Conditionally, by age and size
Game complexity	Simple, familiar formats	More complex, layered constraints
Coaching intensity	Minimal instruction, maximum play	More direct feedback, perception-building questions
Sparring	Game-based only	Includes live sparring rounds
End of class	Stickers, specific individual compliments	High fives, lineup
What parents see	Structured chaos, lots of movement, visible fun	More focused, more like “real” grappling

Standing Work Is a Priority

Most kids classes at GJJ include some form of standing or takedown game. Wrestling is the most transferable self-defense skill we can give children, and learning it young is significantly easier than learning as an adult.

For the full rationale behind why standing work features so prominently, see How We Teach.

Program Transitions

Little Lions to Golden Tigers

This transition is primarily age-based, but we consider maturity and readiness alongside the birthday. Some kids are ready at 6. Some do better staying in Little Lions until 8. The deciding factors are whether a child can handle the increased structure, longer class, and more complex social environment of Golden Tigers.

We will talk to you before we move your child up. You won’t show up one day and find them in a different class.

The biggest change your child will notice is format and intensity: more structure, more complex games, and grappling that gets more real. The emphasis on fun, play, and character doesn’t change. The class just grows with them.

Golden Tigers to Adult Fundamentals

This transition typically happens around age 12-13, though it varies considerably by individual. Physical maturity, emotional readiness, and grappling development all factor in. Some kids are genuinely ready at 12. Others do better staying in Golden Tigers until they’re older.

The adult Fundamentals program is a meaningful step up. Your child will be training with adults, which means they need to be physically safe in that environment and socially comfortable working with older training partners. We don’t rush this transition, and we take it seriously.

When we think your child is ready, we’ll have a conversation with you. If you think your child is ready before we bring it up, talk to a coach and we’ll assess together.

What’s Next

Youth Program Goals to understand what we’re actually building in your child, beyond grappling skill
How We Teach for a deeper look at why class looks the way it does
Your Child’s First Class if you’re getting ready for day one