A BICESTER jiu jitsu club is offering free classes for school children in the town.

Inspire Jiu Jitsu is holding the live sessions online for a number of schools in a bid to support schools and help children at home who are desperate to move around and stay active.

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It comes after the club has continued to work throughout the crisis delivering online classes to keep their community of members active - both mentally and physically - despite the challenging landscape.

Inspire Jiu Jitsu says it is now proud to have a list of schools either having live weekly sessions for the whole school or using its pre-recorded lessons for the school to distribute.

Coach David Plested said: “Being a strong force for good in our community has always been central to our club and we are just so proud to be able to continue making an impact helping wherever we can."

Children at Southwold, Bladon, William Fletcher, Bletchingdon and Chesterton primary schools are all receiving weekly live online sessions.

While pre recorded lessons are being shown at Kirtlington and Launton primary school.

The first lesson saw nearly 100 children active in their school as the teachers beamed the video into the classroom or at home to children smiling with their families.

Since then hundreds of children a week are now enjoying the lessons.

The martial arts club, which teaches Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), opened in 2017 and has steadily grown ever since.

BJJ uses leverage, as opposed to power or physical size, to control an opponent. This means a practitioner can defend against a much larger opponent.

Film star, comedian and author Russell Brand visited the club in 2019.

He promotes the benefits of jiu jitsu and was invited to train with renowned mentor, Mauricio Gomes, and said he enjoyed the experience.

There are several jiu jitsu clubs based in the Bicester area and more across Oxfordshire.

A Chesterton mother and daughter team who run a club have been teaching others martial arts during lockdown in a bid to keep people moving.

Natalie Day, 39, and 13-year-old Iris are owners of Grow Jiu Jitsu.

During lockdowns, they have both been teaching at their home dojo online through their morning and afternoon sessions for juniors, teens and adults.

If you are a school that is interested in Inspire Jiu Jitsu's free sessions, or are a family wanting a way to keep your child active safely, visit inspirejiujitsu.com for more information.