The rough, tough sport of mixed martial arts might seem a bit brutal for young children, but United MMA & Fitness Center in Waipio has turned it into a fun fitness activity.
Longtime MMA instructor Jewelz Lee, co-owner of United MMA, started the Dragon Warrior program to teach basic martial arts skills to children ages 4 to 6.
MIX IT UP!
Mixed martial arts classes for keiki ages 4 to 6.
>> When: 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
>> Where: United MMA & Fitness Center, 94-530 Ukee St. in Waipahu
>> Cost: $30 a month for lessons once a week; $40 a month for lessons twice a week (membership in the gym is not required)
>> Call: 450-5700
>> On the Net: unitedmma.net
“It’s a half-hour program and it’s a great introduction to martial arts for the little ones,” Lee said. “It starts them off with the basics so it starts them with the basic falling technique, basic hand technique. It’s a great start for them for the coordination and a little bit of structure.”
The facility has long offered MMA classes for children ages 6 to 12. The Dragon Warriors program aims to start training children even younger, Lee said.
“It’s like organized play and they don’t realize that they’re learning great grappling techniques and wrestling takedowns,” she said of the Dragon Warriors program. “They’re just having fun and that’s the way we’d like to keep it.”
Dragon Warrior sessions are offered twice a week, but youngsters can attend once or twice a week.
Unlike the more methodical martial arts instruction that older students receive, there is no set curriculum at Dragon Warrior classes. Each day’s activities are planned spontaneously, after the instructor assesses the abilities of those who show up that day.
“One day we’ll do ladders, and then another day we’ll do rolling into like a kick-punch, then we’ll do a drill where we work on reflexes. We’ll work on jumping and ducking and dodging,” Lee said. “There’s so many things we can do with them.”
Lee usually teaches the course, but many of her colleagues want to teach it because it’s so much fun.
Lee said a variety of personality types have enrolled in the course, from active, outgoing youngsters to shy, nonathletic kids who were pushed into the sessions by their parents.
She said the latter types often benefit the most from this kind of training because they learn safe self-defense techniques.
“You have to learn how to fall properly, how to protect yourself, how to protect your head. So we do these drills to strengthen your neck,” she said.
“Even if you are only 3 years old and I grab you and throw you to the ground, you will know to disperse your weight and not break your elbow.”
Martial arts runs in Lee’s family.
Her father and uncle taught martial arts in Hawaii, and her husband, Ken, also is a mixed martial artist.
The couple lived in Canada for many years, competing for Canada’s national team before returning to Hawaii about 10 years ago and opening their gym, which has been at its current location for two years.
Two of their children, Angela, 20, and Christian, 18, are up-and-coming pros in the MMA world. Angela has won all six of her bouts, while Christian just lost for the first time after starting out his career 5-0.
The family tradition carries through at their gym.
“We pride ourselves on being a family-oriented gym so we have a lot of moms and dads training together with their kids,” said Lee, who when not teaching or training in MMA works in her family’s real estate business.
“Everybody can get their fitness in at the same time and then there’s that bonus of having that common activity, and that this activity is a life skill that they can keep with them. It’s not only something you do as a child.”
