DUDE, THAT'S MY FACE YOU'RE SQUASHING-Left, Kid Gloves Boxing coach Casey Caccam helps his son Daniel, 6, a Justin Elementary School first-grade student, and Timothy Ortiz, 8, a Big Springs Elementary School second-grader, learn grappling positions during a recent training session. For 8-year-old Jack Gill, grappling means more than submission holds, sweeps, takedowns and clinch holds.

"It's about endurance, and a really great way to turn negative energy into something useful and positive," said the third grader of Los Angeles, who participates in a grappling class for children at Kid Gloves Boxing and Fitness Academy in Simi Valley.

A huge wrestling fan, the boy discovered the class because of his grandmother, Pearl Buckland of Westlake Village.

"He wrestles me and his uncles-he wrestles everyone he can," said Buckland, who enrolled Jack in the class for 6to 10-year-olds.

Grappling "is not mean, aggressive or destructive," she said. "It's very empowering. Jack has become aware of his own strength and respectful of his ability. The stronger he gets, the more he knows his own strength."

Jack is one of many youngsters from Ventura and Los Angeles counties who grapple on Monday and Wednesday nights from 6 to 7 p.m.

Launched the spring, the class falls under the umbrella of mixed martial arts, an organized sport in which two competitors attempt to achieve dominance through a variety of martial arts techniques, including grappling.

"Size doesn't matter in this," said Casey Caccam of Simi Valley, a mixed martial arts instructor and grappling coach at Kid Gloves.

Because 90 percent of fights go to the ground, grappling helps kids become more well-rounded in self-defense, he said.

"Most kids know how to hit- this teaches them how to control someone on the ground," Caccam said. "In most street fights, both end up on the ground. If anyone tries to mess with them, they can take care of themselves."

For the children who take the class, it's more about play.

"Kids like to wrestle-it's fun for them," Caccam said.

Shannon Weschta of Simi Valley said her 9-year-old, Tyler, and 6-year-old, Mason, are safe in the controlled environment at Kid Gloves, where children practice their grappling moves under constant supervision inside an octagon cage.

Grappling has helped her sons with other sports, like swimming and football, because "they have that core body strength that you can only develop by being on the ground and having one-on-one contact," she said.

It also benefits the boys' other pastime: dirt bike riding.

"The class teaches them how to fall safely-they learn how to brace themselves and roll to prevent their body from getting hurt," Weschta said.

At Kid Gloves, youngsters are sure to become physically fit through a sport that taps into virtually every muscle, said gym owner Robert Ortiz.

Grappling is also a great way to build self-esteem while teaching kids how to outsmart bullies and cope in potentially harmful situations.

"They know how to handle themselves if someone gets them in a hold or tries to take advantage of them," said Ortiz. He emphasized that the class is not about hurting someone or getting hurt. "It's not about violence. It's about self-defense, self-discovery, and learning what they can conceive and believe they can achieve."

Fundraiser this weekend

This Saturday, Kid Gloves Boxing will host a fundraiser in memory of Logan Hall, a 10-year-old Simi Valley boy who died Aug. 3.

Donations will benefit the youth ministry in Logan's memory at Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley.

The fundraiser will feature kickboxing classes at 9, 10, 11 a.m. and noon.

Participants will don a pair of boxing gloves to punch and kick a heavy bag to channel frustration and anger in a positive way that doesn't hurt anyone, said Robert Ortiz, Kid Gloves owner.

The event will also feature sparring sessions by pro boxers and kickboxers, and appearances by Lindsay Greenbush of Simi Valley, who played Carrie Ingalls on the television series, "Little House on

the Prairie," and Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Olson on the show.

Cost is a donation of $10 per adult, $7 per child. For more information call Kid Gloves, (805) 5263214.

The event will be held at 4210 Los Angeles Ave., Suite D, Simi Valley.