Mini Goons 5–9 · Goons 10–15
Mini Goons 5–9 · Goons 10–15
No testing fees and no fixed timeline. Kids move into Goons at 10, and plenty train both classes along the way.
No experience needed. Most kids walk in having never trained anything.
Before anything else, kids learn to hold and escape positions safely against a resisting partner their own size.
Longer rounds and more technical detail. Kids on the line between the two classes get placed by a coach.
Local no-gi tournaments are an option, never an expectation. Plenty of kids train for years and never enter one.
The kids program is led by Ken Robison, a black belt, with helpers on the mat most sessions. Your child is not being handed to a teenager with a few years of experience. Meet the coaches
Most kids here are not training to compete. These are the reasons they actually show up.
Kids who do not enjoy it stop coming. Ours keep coming back three times a week, which tells you more than anything we could write here.
Same room, same expectations, three times a week. Parents tend to notice this part before the kid does.
They train with the same group every week and get to know each other fast. Grappling does that quicker than most sports — it is hard to stay strangers with someone you have been rolling with all month.
Jiu-jitsu is control, not striking. A kid who trains can hold someone still and end a situation without throwing a punch — which is usually what a parent actually wants, and what gets a kid in less trouble, not more.
Pittsburgh, Cleveland and beyond · if they want it
Plenty of our kids compete regularly — Pittsburgh, Cleveland and further out. Tournaments are no-gi, and kids are bracketed against others around their own age, size and experience.
There is no pressure to enter one. Kids here have trained for years without ever competing, and nobody treats that as the lesser way to do it. It is an option, the same way it is an option to stay for open mat.
If your kid does want to go, a coach is in the corner on the day. You are not dropping them at a venue to work it out alone.
You do not need to sign up online or pay anything first. Pick a class from the schedule and come in.
You fill out the waiver at the front. It takes a couple of minutes.
No zippers, buttons or pockets. A rash guard works but is not required. Bare feet on the mat, shoes off at the edge.
Parents are welcome to stay and watch the whole class. Most do on the first day.
The free week is a full week, not a single class. Use all of it before deciding anything.
Two options, both set up in person at the gym after your child has trained. Nothing to pay online.
Unlimited monthly covers every kids class on the schedule — three a week. No sign-up fee, no contract, cancel any time by asking. Adult pricing and full terms
No. Most kids who walk in have never trained anything. Mini Goons is built for exactly that.
No striking of any kind. Jiu-jitsu is grappling — controlling position on the ground and working for submissions.
Kids do roll live, but against partners their own size, with a coach running the round.
No. This is a no-gi gym. Shorts and a t-shirt with no zippers, buttons or pockets is the whole uniform. A rash guard is useful once your kid is training regularly, but it is not required to start.
One hour. Mini Goons and Goons run back to back on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Yes. Parents are welcome to watch any class, and most stay for the first few.
That is the normal case, not the exception. A coach pairs new kids with someone who has been there a while rather than leaving them to find a partner.
Clean clothes every session, fingernails and toenails cut short, no shoes on the mat, and shoes back on to walk off it. Anyone with a skin infection, ringworm or an open cut sits out until it clears.
Go by age: Mini Goons is 5–9, Goons is 10–15. Neither class needs any experience.
If your child is right on the line — a young 10, or a 9-year-old who has been training a while — a coach will put them where they fit best.
Pick a kids class, come in 10–15 minutes early, and fill out the waiver at the gym.