Children's Head Instructor Nick Gonzalez discusses the Children's Program
By John Fullilove, jacksons.tv
jacksons.tv: Can you explain your role here at Jackson’s?
Nick Gonzalez: I am the kid’s coach. I teach the kids and teenager classes. I also teach the adult beginners grappling class every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
jacksons.tv: Can you describe the different classes for kids?
Nick Gonzalez: Classes are held Monday through Friday. Mondays and Wednesdays are the teenagers’ class and that includes basic grappling and basic kickboxing. Grappling and kickboxing are held at the same time and the kids have a choice of either grappling or kickboxing. They can do either one anytime they want. Tuesdays and Thursdays are for the younger kid’s class. They also have the same option either for kickboxing or grappling. Every Friday is open mat at 5:00 pm. The Friday class allows the younger kids and teenagers to meet each other and interact as a team. This helps when we go to tournaments because all of the kids have met each other. Fridays are a great way for everyone to get to know each other. Fridays are also called “dodge ball” Fridays. We enjoy playing a lot of games and having fun on Fridays.
jacksons.tv: Can you explain the goal of the kid’s class?
Nick Gonzalez: The goal for the younger kids is to have them understand that they are here to build self-confidence. Learn how to have fun and 
make friends. The lessons they learn here will benefit them the rest of their lives. One thing we stress for all the children that walk-in here is, either for kids or teens, they are not here to learn how to fight. That is very important to us. We are not cage fighters throwing our children in there to fight in MMA. We don’t want to portray that image because that is not who we are. We hope that our children grow up to be doctors, lawyers and scientists. We guide them to continue their education. We do not guide them to be fighters.
jacksons.tv: Can you explain the format of the class to the parent of a child who would be new to the class?
Nick Gonzalez: Students will start class with a warm up. Warm ups include running the mat and partnering up type exercises. The first 15 to 30 minutes (depending on the exercises) will be focused on their warm ups and conditioning. We stress a healthy diet and conditioning for our children. Next, the class will focus on technique for the next 30 minutes. Technique will be on grappling which we stress most of our teaching on and/or kickboxing. The technique portion is focused on showing them moves, partnering the kids up and having them practice the moves on each other. Usually at the end of the class we will play games and/or grapple.
jacksons.tv: What does teaching technique mean?
Nick Gonzalez: Technique means to learn how to do moves. For example, a wrestling take-down or jiu-jitsu – we teach take-down, control and 
submission. Everything we teach is in steps. We learn how to do our take-downs. Next, we learn how to do a set-up to take-down. What you need to do if you fall into your opponent’s guard. We teach them how to pass the guard and set-ups to pass the guard. We teach in that order.
jacksons.tv: Is there a separate class for teenagers?
Nick Gonzalez: The older kid’s class is for teenagers. We also have a few advanced younger kids in the older kid’s class. We ask the advanced kids to go to that class because it is more mature in how it’s taught. We work a little harder in that class. We push a little more in that class. Older kids mean teenagers. We also have some older teenagers who have studied long enough to move on to the adult class as well. It all depends on their age, maturity and skill level.
jacksons.tv: Does the older kid’s class follow the same format as the younger kid’s class?
Nick Gonzalez: It has the same format – warm-ups, conditioning and technique but we usually teach them more techniques because their attention span is longer. We add more push-ups for conditioning. It will be the same format but more intense.
jacksons.tv: Can you explain the Friday Open Mat class at 5:00 pm?
Nick Gonzalez: Friday class is one of my favorite classes because we get right to grappling. It’s a light warm up, water break and we go into grappling. We will grapple for rounds – anywhere between 3-5 minutes. They find new partners at the end of each round. Everyone will grapple with everyone regardless of age, size or skill level. We will do the grappling for about a half hour to an hour. We then play dodge ball which is really cool and fun. The goal with playing dodge ball is to let all of the children meet and greet each other. It helps build a strong team bond. It also helps to remind them to have fun. We really want them to have a good time. We usually play dodge ball and games longer than we grapple so they understand they are here to have fun and grow in a healthy and safe environment. They know they are treated with respect. Our goal with Fridays is to build a strong team bond.
jacksons.tv: Can you explain your background and how you came to teach the class?
Nick Gonzalez: Before starting with Jackson’s I did not participate in any other martial arts. I had started watching the UFC from the very beginning back in `93. I never thought we would have such a top world class gym in Albuquerque like we do with Jackson/Winkeljohn. I am absolutely thankful that we do. I’ve been with the gym going on 4 years now in November. I’ve been teaching about 3 years. I started out assisting Mr. Floyd Sword when he originally started the kid’s program. I was his assistant. Floyd runs a fantastic gym, Four Corners, out there in Farmington, NM. He asked me to 
take over the class when it became difficult for him to make it down regularly from Farmington. Reluctantly I said yes with a lot of nervousness. I lost all but two of the students. My son, Robert Gonzalez and Diego Ortiz are the two students who are still training with me today. They are the only two that remain from the previous program. Diego is a fantastic student and his family is fantastic as well. That is how it started. I was handling the class all by myself. I started it from the ground up. I was new and the students didn’t know me that well. I don’t blame them at all. The program is really strong now. We are averaging 15-20 students a class. It is just fantastic! It’s so much fun and I’m thankful for walking into Jackson’s when I did.
jacksons.tv: My understanding is that competition in submission grappling tournaments is optional. Can you explain the competition experience if a kid chooses to compete?
Nick Gonzalez: You are absolutely right. A kid does not have to compete if they do not want to. If they do want to that is awesome. We will do our best to get them prepared in the safest possible manner. We will make sure they are prepared for any tournament they enter. We evaluate their performance in class. If a child is performing at a high level I will ask them if they would like to compete for the team. If they choose to then great and if not that’s fine. Sometimes, the child will ask us if they can compete and what they need to do to get ready for a competition. We do hold extra classes when the kids are getting ready for a tournament. We’ll have classes on Saturdays and extra classes during the week or longer classes. It’s strictly for kids who would like to compete.
jacksons.tv: Where has the junior team gone for submission grappling tournaments?
Nick Gonzalez: We’ve been to Del Mar, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; Fort Worth/Dallas, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; El Paso, Texas; and of course here in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
jacksons.tv: Would you like to add anything else?
Nick Gonzalez: I would like to stress it’s all about what the child chooses. They can decide how far they would like to develop. I want to stress that we DO NOT teach cage fighting to our children. We DO NOT let our children cage fight. We want them to excel in education and develop self-confidence.
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