Week 1 is a beginning. The first turn of a new 16-week cycle for every program in the school — kids, adults, women’s, beginners, advanced. New students walking on the mat for the first time. Long-time students restarting the foundation. Coaches reviewing what worked last cycle and sharpening what’s coming. Week 1 is where the standard gets set.
This week, that standard has a name. Our Word of the Week is RESPECT.
Word of the Week: RESPECT
Respect is what makes jiu-jitsu possible. Without it, the mat is dangerous. With it, the mat is one of the safest, most transformative environments a person will ever step into.
Respect on the mat means a lot of specific things:
- Respect for your partner — soft hands, controlled grips, instant release on the tap
- Respect for your coaches — eyes up, mouth quiet, follow direction the first time
- Respect for the art — the technique is older than you are, and the lineage stretches back over 100 years
- Respect for yourself — you showed up. That’s the first decision of every champion, every day
Respect is the price of admission to Gracie Barra. It’s also what every student leaves with when they walk off the mat — more of it for themselves, for others, and for the work it takes to build something real.
🥋 Big Announcement: GBK 6.0 Launches This Week
Gracie Barra is rolling out GBK 6.0 — the new global youth curriculum — and Week 1 of our 16-week cycle is also Day 1 of 6.0 at Centennial. Every kids program is part of it: Tiny Champions, Little Champions 1, Little Champions 2, and GBK Juniors & Teens.
What’s changing: more drilling per class, sharper progression, cleaner age-appropriate complexity at every level. Juniors & Teens now get 20 minutes of dedicated drilling per class — nearly double the previous program. Little Champions classes run two drilling blocks instead of one. Tiny Champions is rebuilt around developmental motor-skill categories tied to fun jiu-jitsu themes.
Same coaches. Same belt path. Same schedule. What’s different is what happens between when they bow in and when they bow out.
On the Mats This Week
Tiny Champions (Ages 3–4)
- Focus: Locomotion — Move in a Supine Position
- Technique: Kitten Guard (foundation guard control)
- Game: Bulldog
- The cycle opens with foundational movement disguised as play. Day 1 of a brand new program for our youngest students.
Little Champions 1 (Ages 5–6)
- Self-Defense: Double leg takedown entry
- Sport Jiu-Jitsu: Scissor sweep from closed guard
- Game: Bulldog
- First taste of real BJJ technique names. First sparring sessions of the cycle.
Little Champions 2 (Ages 7–9)
- Self-Defense: Spider control and grip-fighting drills
- Sport Jiu-Jitsu: Spider guard sweep, triangle from spider guard
- Game: Bulldog
- Advanced kids work — sweeps and submissions with the same tap-means-stop discipline that protects every student in the room.
GBK (Juniors & Teens)
- Takedown: Guard pull
- Self-Defense: Wrist grab escape
- Sport Jiu-Jitsu: Scissor sweep / Triangle from guard
- The 6.0 upgrade pays off here: 20 minutes of dedicated drilling per class.
GB1 (Adults Fundamentals)
Talking Point: Jiu-Jitsu for Everyone.
This is where the journey starts for every adult who walks through our doors. Week 1 lays the foundation that every other technique builds on.
- Self-Defense: Escape from side mount with punches + recovering the guard + technical lift (Class A); Escape from mount with punches + bridge + posture from closed guard (Class B)
- Sport Jiu-Jitsu: Pulling to closed guard using foot on hip, scissor sweep (Class A); 4-finger collar choke, thumb-in collar choke from closed guard (Class B)
- Drill: Pulling to closed guard + scissor sweep / collar choke combinations
If you’re new, this is your starting line. Show up twice this week and you’re already ahead of where you were.
GB2 (Adults Advanced)
Position Focus: Guard Bottom
- Class A: Stand-Up Technique — Transitions to the Guard or Sacrifice Throws / Ground Technique — Guard Bottom
- Class B: Self-Defense Technique — Transitions to the Guard or Sacrifice Throws / Ground Technique — Guard Bottom
Advanced students start the cycle by sharpening one of the most fundamental positions in jiu-jitsu. There’s no technique too basic to refine — every black belt still drills guard bottom.
Women’s Class
Tuesday at 6:30 PM. Same theme — RESPECT — translated into the women’s program. Strong technique, real connection, and a community of women building each other up every week.
📅 Save the Date: Belt Ceremony — Saturday, June 6
Our next belt ceremony is Saturday, June 6:
- Kids: 9:00 AM
- Adults: 10:00 AM
June 6 is also the first ceremony at Centennial under the new GBK belt system. IBJJF updated the youth belt structure and Gracie Barra is rolling it out worldwide. Two changes parents will see: the grey-and-white belt minimum drops from 1 year to 6 months, and the last three stripes on every kid’s belt now display in the color of the next belt up. Adult belts are unchanged.
For the kids: most students keep their current belt. The one exception — kids with more than 6 stripes on grey-and-white promote to grey at this ceremony. A full breakdown will come in a separate post.
🥋 CompNet Tournament — Saturday, May 30
The next CompNet Gracie Barra tournament is Saturday, May 30. Gracie Barra students competing against Gracie Barra students. Lower stress than IBJJF, real competition, and the best way to test what you’ve been building in class.
Sign up at smoothcomp.com.
Whether it’s your first competition or your fiftieth, registering is itself an act of respect — for your training, for your training partners, and for the work you’ve put in.
And, if you are ready to take the next step and try a class CLICK HERE!
Better than yesterday. That’s the whole game.
We’ll see you on the mats.
