Week 1Survives a full class conditioning warm-up and learns the first escape series.
Teen & Junior Jiu-Jitsu · Ages 10–15 · New Lenox, IL
Not A Kids
Class Anymore.
A hard workout, a real skill, and a room full of people who expect them to show up. For a 10-to-15-year-old, that combination does more than any lecture about screen time.
Strength, Composure & Something To Belong To
4.9★ · 100+ local reviews
Juniors train with juniors only
Gracie Barra certified coaching
Uniform included · continue only if they love it
01 / Why parents start their 10-year-old here
What You Came
Here To Fix.
"He's on a screen the second school ends."
Jiu-Jitsu is unusually hard to be passive at. You solve a physical puzzle against a resisting partner — there's no way to phone it in.
"She's anxious about handling herself."
Juniors learn to stay calm with someone on top of them. That composure under pressure is the part that shows up at school, in tryouts, and in interviews.
"He hasn't found his people."
Training partners become the most reliable friend group a kid this age can have — built on effort, not social status.
02 / The promise
A Room Where
They Belong.
Ten to fifteen is the age where kids quietly decide who they are. Juniors gives them a hard thing to be good at, coaches who notice when they're off, and a group that expects them on the mat Tuesday.
- Age-and-size matched partners — no getting crushed by a grown adult
- Coaches on the mat for every live round, every class
- Belt and stripe progress they earn, never buy
- A clear path straight into GB1 Adult Fundamentals at 16
03 / Inside a class
Exactly What
Happens.
01
Conditioning warm-up
Real athletic prep — mobility, core, grip.
02
Technique
Guard, passing, takedowns, and submissions from the GB juniors syllabus.
03
Live rounds
Structured sparring with coaches on the mat the whole time.
04
Debrief
What worked, what to fix, and the goal for next class.
04 / What actually changes
The First
Six Months.
Week 1
Month 1First stripe. Comfortable in live positional rounds with coaches watching every pairing.
Month 3Noticeably stronger, leaner and calmer. Grip strength and core show up in other sports immediately.
Month 6Has a training group they don't want to let down — the single best thing for a teenager's week.
It Ends The Same Way
Every Night.
Mat chat closes every class — what worked, what to fix, and the goal for next time. It's the two minutes most kids end up quoting at the dinner table.
05 / The path
Where This
Leads.
Gracie Barra runs one curriculum in 1,000+ schools across 60+ countries. Progress is defined, earned on the mat, and recognised in any GB academy in the world.
Yellow / orange / green
The Gracie Barra junior belt ladder from ages 10 through 15.
Live training
Structured sparring introduced gradually, always size- and experience-matched.
Competition team
Optional tournament prep for those who want to test it. Never required.
Into GB1 Adults
At 16 they step straight into the adult Fundamentals program with real mat time behind them.
06 / If they want to test it
Competition
Optional.
Our juniors compete at IBJJF events like the Chicago Spring Open — and come home with medals. It is never required. Plenty of kids train for years and never step on a competition mat, and they progress exactly the same way.
Juniors train with juniors — not dropped into the adult room
Clear belt path that continues straight into GB1 adult Fundamentals
Competition team available for those who want to test themselves
07 / Real classes, real students
This Is The
Room.
Our students, on our mat in New Lenox.
08 / Who is teaching your kid
Ron
Poholik.
Certified Gracie Barra Instructor · 30+ Years Teaching Martial Arts
Ron Poholik has spent more than 30 years on the mats as a full-time martial arts instructor, teaching thousands of kids and adults in the Chicago southland before opening Gracie Barra New Lenox in 2018. In 2017 he was named the Greatmats National Martial Arts Instructor of the Year — a national award voted on for teaching, not for trophies. Today he runs his academy on the Gracie Barra standard: a structured, worldwide curriculum used by 1,000+ schools in 60+ countries, taught by coaches who look after beginners instead of throwing them to the wolves.
2017 Greatmats National Martial Arts Instructor of the Year
30+ Years
Full-time martial arts instructor
4.9★ · 100+ reviews
From local families
Since 2018
Serving New Lenox and nearby
Part of something bigger
One Curriculum.
1,000+ Schools.
1,000+
Gracie Barra schools worldwide
60+
Countries running this syllabus
1986
Gracie Barra founded in Rio de Janeiro
09 / The trial
Two Weeks.
$19.99.
Everything a junior needs to find out whether this is their thing — including the gi they walk out with, whether they continue or not.
Start The Trial- Two full weeks of unlimited Juniors classes$120
- Official Gracie Barra gi, yours to keep$95
- Private 15-minute intro with a coach before class one$60
- Belt & stripe evaluation at the end of week two$40
Your price today$19.99
You're not required to continue when the two weeks are up. If it isn't for them, they keep the gi and we shake hands.
10 / Your first day
Nothing To
Figure Out.
01
Show up 10 minutes early
Meet the coach, get shown where to change, and get partnered with someone patient.
02
Athletic clothes for day one
Your gi is included with the two-week trial.
03
No experience assumed
First month is fundamentals — you'll never be thrown into something you haven't been taught.
11 / Straight answers
Juniors
Questions.
Still unsure? Call or text the school and we'll answer your questions straight.
(815) 463-9327Most start here with zero background. The first month is fundamentals only, and coaches pair beginners with patient partners.
12 / Where we train
New Lenox, IL.
14627 W Edison Dr, New Lenox, IL 60451
(815) 463-9327
Evening classes weekdays · Saturday mornings
Families travel to us from Frankfort, Mokena, Joliet, Manhattan, Tinley Park.
Try Juniors
$19.99 for 2 Weeks.
Free uniform included. Continue only if they love it. Walk in this week.