At a handful of schools across Shanghai and Suzhou, students do not have the option to skip martial arts class. Jiu-Jitsu and Judo are part of the core curriculum, graded the same as mathematics or science, and required from kindergarten all the way through university.
The man behind the program is TJ, owner of the EFL gym in Shanghai, who sat down with martial arts commentator Ramsey Dewey to explain how it came together.
“We put the Jiu-Jitsu curriculum as a mandatory course in school from kindergarten all the way to the university,” TJ said. Schools currently using the program include Meigao International School in Shanghai, a school in Suzhou, and Jiaotong University in Shanghai. EFL coaches are present daily, teaching from morning to evening.
The mandatory nature is significant. As noted during the conversation, this is not a drama club or an after-school elective. Students must fulfill graded requirements each year to advance.
“It is just like other subjects,” TJ said. “You have to fulfill all the grades every year, and then you can level up to the next grade.”
TJ originally tried to bring mixed martial arts into schools but found the optics were a barrier. Blood, visible injuries, and the association with cage made it a hard sell to parents and administrators.
Jiu-Jitsu, by contrast, offered a clear path forward. “The only contact sport that we think is pretty safe is Jiu-Jitsu, and maybe wrestling also,” he said.
The program has been running for six years and has since expanded to include Judo. TJ sees both arts as tools for character development rather than purely athletic training.
“We try to educate them and have them become good people. Humble, brave, respectful. Those things we put heavy emphasis on.” He estimates that roughly 90 percent of students will never compete. For them, the value lies in physical fitness and personal growth.
Each class runs with three coaches, a head coach and two assistants, to accommodate the range of skill levels that come with mandatory enrollment.
TJ’s benchmark for a successful class is straightforward: “I check every class the lowest level kids. If the lowest level kids are pretty okay, then I think the whole class is okay.”
One challenge TJ acknowledged openly is that not every student wants to be there. “You cannot let everyone like you,” he said. “We have to lower the requirements, lower the level to face most of them.”
He compared it to mathematics: nearly everyone recognizes it as important, but very few students actually enjoy it.
The program is believed to be one of the only ones of its kind in the world, comparable in scope only to mandatory martial arts programs in Abu Dhabi.
For TJ, that is not the end goal. “If somebody listening to this podcast wants to introduce Jiu-Jitsu in your school,” he said, “just contact us.”
