By RUSSELL BENNETT
“IT’S not only a martial arts academy – it’s a community club.”
They do things a little differently at Concept Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/Will-Machado Pakenham, as instructor Joel Warren explains.
While they’ve only be operating out of their Hogan Court base for a little over six months, they’ve already achieved astonishing results.
“We’ve got a lot of talented kids but we don’t push anyone to compete,” Warren said recently.
“I’ve competed for the last eight or nine years, across Australia and internationally, and I get nervous even now so for these kids to get on the mat is unbelievable.
“Last year we came second in the state for the juniors, and we’ve had three competitions this year so far and have medalled pretty much in every one.
“At the Victorian state titles in the middle of March we had 17 students there and took 14 medals home, which is huge, and I only just found out that we had the smallest team competing!”
Warren said the club is unique in that it doesn’t try to dissuade families from coming along and supporting young members.
“A lot of the parents have input into our club, which is a lot different to many other clubs,” he said.
“A lot of those like to separate the parents and the family, and we’re quite the opposite to that.
“For us, we feel that having a family and a community club is all about bringing the community in, rather than just bringing in the participants and separating the family and the people who want to be a part of it.
“It’s not only a martial arts academy – it’s more of a community club.
“We also try to help people within the club – those having a hard time – and everyone gets together and tries to help out as much as possible.”
Warren said he did boxing for 10 years until he got into trouble in a street fight and wasn’t able to find a way out of it.
“I ended up on the ground and had no idea what I was doing, and got hurt,” he said.
“I was looking at ways of being able to defend myself without actually hurting the other person, because a lot of the other martial arts are really quite frontal, whereas Jiu Jitsu is a martial art where you can protect yourself without actually injuring the other person.”
And for Concept Brazilian Jiu Jistu, young members are key.
“We find that a lot of the kids that come in have been picked on at school or have issues, like family issues, that they’re trying to deal with as well.
“This just gives them unbelievable confidence.
“We find that the kids are actually confronting the issue, rather than trying to run away from it.
“A lot of kids do that, but a lot of adults do too!”
For more information, drop by Concept Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/Will-Machado at Hogan Court in Pakenham, or call instructor Joel Warren on 0400 788 921.
