Every parent hopes to find activities that help shape who their child becomes. At SBG New Braunfels, owners Coach Michael and his wife, Coach Kaylee, have built a Brazilian jiu jitsu program where kids learn confidence, resilience, and self-defense while developing life skills that reach far beyond the mat. We sat down with Coach Michael to learn more.
Michael Heinz
Owner, SBG New Braunfels
What inspired you to open SBG New Braunfels in the first place?
It’s kind of a long story. I lived in South Korea for about 13 years before moving back here. I found Brazilian jiu jitsu while I was teaching at a university in Seoul, and honestly, the first time I trained, I got completely humbled. I remember walking away thinking, This is amazing. I want to learn how to do this.
At that point, it became something I really dedicated myself to. Eventually, Coach Kaylee and I decided to move back to the States, and after looking at a lot of different places, New Braunfels really checked all the boxes for the kind of family-oriented community we wanted to be part of.
At what point did you realize the kids program was becoming such a big part of the gym?
Pretty early on.
At one point, Coach Kaylee looked at the numbers and said, You realize we’re about 60 percent kids and 40 percent adults, right? That was kind of the moment where we realized, okay, this is becoming a huge part of what we do here.
We always knew kids training mattered, but I don’t think we realized just how much it was going to become part of our identity. Since then, it’s been a constant process of refining the program and figuring out how we can keep improving it.
What makes your kids program different from other martial arts programs?
A huge part of it is understanding how kids actually learn.
I have a background in education, Coach Kaylee has a background in education, so we spend a lot of time thinking about how to target each cognitive development stage effectively. Teaching a five-year-old is completely different than teaching a teenager.
Sometimes parents are watching class, and I’ll say, Everybody touch your elbow, before I even explain a movement. It sounds silly, but kids that age process information completely differently.
A lot of what we do is figuring out how to meet kids where they are developmentally instead of forcing one teaching style on everybody.
You incorporate a lot of life skills into the program. Why was that important to you?
Because I’ve never wanted this to be just about jiu jitsu.
One of the biggest things I care about teaching kids is learning how to handle failure. I tell them all the time that life is a failable project.
You’re going to mess up. You’re going to lose. You’re going to have setbacks. The important thing is learning how to recover and keep moving forward.
I think kids need more opportunities to understand that struggle is part of growth, and sports like this naturally create those moments over and over again.
One of the most unique parts of your program is thunder breathing. Where did that come from?
That comes from my background in yoga and meditation.
Before opening the gym, I spent years teaching yoga, meditation, and breathwork. I wanted to bring some of that into the kids program because emotional regulation is something a lot of kids struggle with.
What’s funny is I taught these same breathing techniques to my own kids for years, and they completely ignored me. Then they joined the program, saw other kids doing it, and suddenly it worked. Sometimes kids just need to hear things from someone besides their parents.
Parents often talk about seeing changes in their kids outside of class. Why do you think that happens?
I think combat sports help kids process emotion in a really healthy way. A lot of frustration and anger gets stored physically in the body, and movement helps work through that.
It’s not that kids stop feeling frustration. That’s not really the goal. The goal is helping them learn how to manage those emotions better.
I’ve seen kids come in carrying a lot of tension, and over time they become calmer, more focused, and a lot more confident. That’s one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.
Beyond self-defense, what life lessons do you hope kids take with them?
I want kids to become people others want to be around. That sounds simple, but I think likability is really important for a child to learn, and a lot of that comes back to values.
I try to impress upon the kids things like sportsmanship, integrity, honesty, and learning how to be a good teammate. Those are skills you can take with you your whole life.
A lot of success comes from consistency, focus, and simply being someone people trust and enjoy being around.
“We’re teaching kids skills that will help them for the rest of their lives.” - Coach Michael