Solarte offers youth classes four days a week, year-round: Monday–Thursday. These lessons challenge children to develop mental and physical skills for sport and self-defense. They also make friends for a lifetime and have fun while learning! Please see our FAQ page for general questions about Solarte.
A GREAT SPORT FOR KIDS
YEAR-ROUND PROGRAM
Our classes run year-round, even during the winter, spring and summer breaks. This sport is easy on parent’s schedules, too! Skip the grind of long, late practices and away games.
SKILLS FOR A LIFETIME
Jiu-jitsu is a great way for kids to develop strength, agility, determination and resilience in a safe yet challenging environment.
KIDS LOVE IT
Kids love our Youth BJJ program because the classes are fun. This isn’t just boring rote learning. They get to be creative and use their problem-solving skills.
Class Days/Times
The Tuesday and Thursday 4:30pm classes are all very beginner friendly! The students in the Mon/Wed Submissions class (by instructor permission only) are strongly encouraged to attend at least one Tuesday or Thursday class each week. We want to develop well-rounded grapplers who are confident in ALL skill sets, NOT just submissions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: At the instructor’s discretion, children may be invited to move up to the Youth Class, Submissions Youth Class, or Adult Classes depending on attention span, seriousness and size. Around age 7 or 8 we often see very differing levels of attention span—some have more fun in Li’l Ones or BJJ Kids, while others prefer the greater challenge of the Youth BJJ lessons. NOT EVERY YOUTH student is invited to the Submissions class. They must demonstrate enough attention, interest and self-control FIRST.
A Family-Friendly Club (and a Note About Coaching Your Own Kids)
Parents and well-behaved younger siblings are welcome to hang out matside during the Youth Class. There’s a comfy chair to sit and read, do homework, draw, play games and nap. Parents often sit on the mats to watch. IMPORTANT: During the BJJ KIDS and YOUTH Classes, parents/guardians are welcome on the mats. HOWEVER, please DO NOT coach your children during the class. This is because the other kids don’t know who you are. This causes concern not only for the kids, but also the other parents. If you are interested in becoming a vetted assistant for the Youth Program, DO contact Jenn. We love it when parents get involved as a trained and recognized Youth Program Assistant!
Youth Program FAQs
For general questions, please visit our FAQ Page.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, students do NOT wear a gi. Any active wear is fine. Many students wear leggings with shorts over the leggings plus a compression shirt (called a “rash guard”), but a t-shirt and board shorts are fine, too. Try not to wear anything with buttons or zippers—things that scratch the mat.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays, students DO wear a gi. Newer youth students who do not have gis can borrow a club uniform until they purchase their own. We recommend Elite Sports Kids Gis or Sanabul BJJ Gis for Kids which include a belt and are sold on Amazon. Both brands are of good quality and well-priced. We do not have a specific color so pick whatever you like! Club patches can be purchased directly from Jenn.
Either way, we highly recommend bringing flip flops, slides or crocs to wear when not on the mats! This type of footwear is easy for kids to slip on and off their feet as they go on and off the mats.
We do provide water, but many students like to bring their own water bottles.
Jiu-jitsu a is one of the best sports for building confidence and coordination in kids. Our coaches are experienced at working with all kinds of personalities. Shy, awkward, and uncoordinated—all are welcome here!
CLEANLINESS: Please make sure your child is clean and wearing fresh clothing for class. They should NOT go barefoot when off the green training mats—wear flip flops/crocs/slides. This is important for preventing skin infections! Immediately before and after training, they should use the wipes provided matside to clean hands and feet. They should also wear a clean cover-up layer before getting into your vehicle to go home. It’s also important for them to shower and wash clothing after every training session.
Children SHOULD NOT come to class with any respiratory/viral/skin infections. Sometimes it’s better to NOT SHARE!!!!
FOR ALL AGES, COMMUNICATION IS KEY! We encourage children to communicate with each other and with coaching staff. It can be difficult and scary, but it’s an important life skill—better to learn sooner than later!
FOR CHILDREN’S SAFETY & HAPPINESS: During class, kids are allowed to take breaks at any time (but can’t leave the building unless accompanied by their parent/guardian.) All kids learn to tap on their training partner (or say, “tap-tap-tap”) whenever they want their training partner to immediately stop whatever they’re doing. Tapping is NOT just for submissions. Students do NOT have to train with anyone they feel uncomfortable training with. We do encourage them to make new friends, but only when the child chooses to do so.
Keep in mind, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a full contact combat martial art. Little injuries are to be expected during any type of sport. However, our style of training + open communication means injuries are rare at our club. We do have supplies such as bandages, alcohol wipes, athletic tape, etc. and are happy to provide them to children whenever needed.
We have a very informal training environment. We do have kids line up and “bow in” and “bow out” as a way of clearly marking the beginning and end of class. It also allows us to take attendance which we sometimes do via a quick video taken by the instructor.
Tuesday & Thursday Classes (Foundations)
The 4:30pm Tuesday and Thursday classes are 45 minutes and begin with a warm up. It’s usually an easy going game or skill-building exercise that develops grappling skills while getting mind and muscles ready.
After that, we usually teach a series of games and skill-building exercises that focus on:
- standing (both kids standing)
- escapes and attacks from grounded positions (versus a kneeling or standing person)
- movement, pinning and attacks from the top/back control positions
ATTACKS include sweeps (going from bottom to top position)and taking the back (controlling from behind). We don’t teach kids finishing submissions such as chokes and joint locks until they’ve demonstrated that they have enough impulse control and awareness. In general, the Tuesday and Thursday classes focus on basic skills and controls as well as basic submission holds.
Monday & Wednesday Classes (Submissions)
The 4pm Monday class (starting Nov. 2, 2026) and 5:30pm Wednesday class are one hour long. Kids often warm up with a pop “quiz” where kids have to demonstrate a previously learned technique or submission. They also warm up with a few basic movement that they’ll use during the lesson.
After the warm up, kids work together on skill-building exercises and games related to finishing chokes and joint locks. This class also covers more advanced back takes. NOT EVERY YOUTH student is invited to the Submissions class. They must demonstrate enough attention, interest and self-control FIRST.
For ALL Kids Classes
Before class begins, kids are welcome to play and socialize together on the mats. They should be dressed and ready to go right at the start of class time.
Training sessions usually end with rolling, which are 4- to 6- minute timed rounds of sparring. There is no kicking or punching during sparring, but chokes and joint locks are in play if they’ve learned how. Kids DO NOT have to roll if they don’t want to, especially if they’re brand new. All students, whether new or experienced, can use the rolling time to work on skills or play games. Eventually, all students do roll because it allows them to tie together all the skills learned from playing the games.
At the very end of class, the kids line up and share at least one specific thing they remember from class. After “bowing out” (thanking each other for training together) the kids are welcome to play on the mats for 10 minutes before the next class begins. It’s a good time for kids to socialize and for parents to talk with the instructor about any questions.
The instructors at the club are NOT gods, Yoda or secret wisdom keepers. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing a black belt. They’re just human beings who love jiu jitsu and want to share this sport with others. It’s fine if kids call the instructor “Coach” or “Teacher”, but calling them by name is perfectly fine and usually preferred.
Traditional martial arts tend to make the instructors into kings. That can lead to serious problems including abuses of authority, weird culty behavior, and worse. Solarte BJJ stands against that type of creepy power dynamic. Our instructors tend to think of themselves more as jiu jitsu facilitators. We are here to help students have fun and stay safe while discovering and developing their own jiu jitsu. Period.
At Solarte, children choose whether or not they want to participate in the striping/belt promotion program. They are not automatically “in the system”. Keep in mind—in the modern sport of jiu jitsu, traditional belt ranks are NOT standardized. They are often bestowed arbitrarily or based only on attendance rather than actual skill. At Solarte, we have developed a system for those who are interested in “belting up” in a more meaningful, useful way:
First, we ask the student if they are interested in competing. (There are competitions throughout the year in Everett, Puyallup, etc.) We call this the competition + self-development track. Students ARE NOT required to compete and may also choose the purely self-development track. For these students, we are largely comparing the student to him/herself. The competition track means that we also compare the student to the average performance of a competitor close to their age/size/experience level.
Up to four stripes can be placed on the black bar that’s on the belt. At Solarte, we’re evaluating four skills:
- Guard Retention & Escapes—staying safe on the ground by escaping/preventing Back/Top Control
- Guard Passing & Pinning Controls—getting past the ground player’s attacks and defenses to secure Back/Top Control
- Guard Attacks—The ability to attack from a grounded position. This includes submissions and sweeps.
- Standing Work/Takedowns—When both people are standing, the ability to get to the ground with control (guard pulls) or to take the other person down to the ground (takedowns).
The stripes don’t necessarily correspond directly with a specific skill set. For example, a student who is evenly developing all four skills may get one stripe or two depending on the amount of progress. On the other hand, a student may have a breakthrough on a certain skill and can, indeed, get a stripe for “Standing Work”. Students will also sometimes skip stripes and jump to the next belt level if they’ve made a big jump in development. We allow for flexibility since every student learns at different rates.
If your child chooses to get an evaluation (see above about belts & stripes)…
To qualify for an evaluation, the student must be at least 8 years old and consistently training for at least 2–3 consecutive months!!!
Qualifying students can ask for an evaluation at any time. This is a formal assessment to help them better understand what skills they’ve made progress in and which ones need more work. The evaluation can result in additional stripes or belt promotion if enough progress has been made.
You must schedule an evaluation at least one week in advance for either Mon 3:30pm, Wed 5:30pm or Tue/Thu 5:15pm. (Alternate times available by request.) It takes about 15–25 minutes. Parents/family are welcome to watch, take video/pictures and ask questions. At least one parent/guardian must be in attendance during the evaluation. Students may choose a training partner to work with them during the evaluation. The instructor will have the kids play training games and ask questions. We explain the skills we’re checking and how the belting and striping system works. If they’ve chosen the purely self-development track, we will be comparing him/herself from 2-3 months ago. If they’ve chose the competition route, we will be also be comparing the child to a typical competitor of the same age/size/experience level. At the end of the evaluation, the child may or may not receive stripes or a new belt.
The progression of belt colors is different from the adult system. For youth, the belts are:
White > Gray & White > Solid Gray > Gray & Black
Yellow & White > Solid Yellow > Yellow & Black
Orange & White > Solid Orange > Orange & Black
Green & White > Solid Green > Green & Black