Question for bjj affiliate instructors

[bjjboulder]

Let me start by saying that I really don't care about Muay thai, JKD, Boxing, or Hard Core NHB Training. I am not interested in anyones' opinion of what I need to do to be a great "streetfighter"....

I love jiu-jitsu..true, pure, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I run an affiliate school for Pedro Sauer in Grand Junction CO. It is extremely hard for me to be in the instructor position...My teaching is fine, but I feel my own training is really suffering. People are lazy, and no one is at as high of a level as I am so I am no longer challenged on the mat.

I go out to see Pedro once a month, but that is slim pickins to grow in jiu-jitsu. Pedro told me that all his affiliates maintain a super high level and most of them dont get out to see him as much as i do....How is this done?

What do you guys do to grow in the art without being at a regular school..how do you approach training with much less skilled opponents?

What drills or exercises can be done solo to keep your blade sharp?

I know its possible..there are tons of affiliates that have been away from the mother academy for years ..who eventually earn blackbelts. But how did they do it?

Thank You,
Matt.

[AWSolis]

I run an affliate Machado School in Texas. www.solismartialarts.com

One of the best things you can do is change your perception.....if you view your students as lazy, what you are doing as an instructor isn't "fine". What are you lacking as an instructor if you cannot motivate your students? Remember you can not change your students behavior unless you change yours.

Another thing you can do is teach your students how to beat you. How would you beat you? Find your weaknesses and teach your students how to beat you...they will grow and so will you. Put yourself in bad situations, grapple with your arms tucked in your belt, start with your students already mounted on you or on your back....challenge yourself and don't be afraid to tap.....tapping is growth. My school grew because I taught my students everything I know as fast as I could and I tapped alot. I picked a couple of students and made them training partners, and brought them up to my level....I now have extremely loyal students/training partners who are better than me, and I love it.

Alvis

[bjjboulder]

alvis,

That was good advice, thanks for taking the time to give it. I get frustrated because most of my students are just doing jiu-jitsu for something to do...alot of them dont come consitantly, and they are fine with only training once or twice a week. I would love to train everyday if I could. Sometimes I come to openmat sessions on Sat. and I am the only one who shows up...I actually wrote that post right after that had happened and I was kinda upset.

I guess I just wish everyone loved jiu-jitsu as much as I do.

[AWSolis]

trust me, I understand....when I first started teaching no one would show up for classes consistently.....I had to look at the way I was teaching and change.....I could not change my students' feelings but I could change mine. I was constantly trashing my students to feed my ego....so I did not grow. So I changed. Once they realized I was teaching them to beat me, and rewarding them when they did well, they started loving bjj.

Also, I offer BJJ twice a day Monday-Thursday 10am-noon and again at 7pm-8:30pm, open gym on Fridays BUT as a beginner you have to pick twice a week to come in....once I evaluate you after 3 months then you can add one more class after that I evaluate you again after 3 more months and if you are at level to hang with my advanced students, then you can attend more classes. It builds a hunger plus its easier to teach a curriculum...in each class I train as well.

If you are by yourself, stretch, do some Ginastica Natural drills....practice your takedown shoots, shrimp, do bridges.

hope this helped,
Alvis

[jhinds]

Alvin,


Hello. I train with Orlando in DFW. I was wondering what shrimp and Ginastica Natural drills are? Do you mind explaining them?


Thanks,

Jarrett

PS- After reading your website, your school's curriculum sounds very cool

[AWSolis]

Hi Jarrett,

The shrimp drill is basically the elbow escape from mount done solo.

The Ginastica Drills are a combination of yoga and animal movements developed by Orlando Cani and Alvaro Romano....I found some tapes on the internet and had one of my training partners (Siggi) watch them with me and develop a program for me.

Orlando is an awesome guy. You are lucky.

Hope this helps,

Alvis

[SweepEm]

Matt: you need to infuse some enthusiasm into your students.

First off, I would change your routine. from the beginning of class to the end.
At our school, we have some regular workouts, but other weeks, it is very different.
Usually, we do 15-30 minutes of stretching and cardio, 30-45 minutes of training and techniques and 30-45 minutes of sparring.
This is our usual schedule.
But some nights, we do a very short warm up and then go hard at drills for maybe an hour. Other times it is 30 minutes of cardio and stretching short training and they long time in sparring.
Once in a while, it's just question and answer, where you have a partiacular part of your game that you are having trouble with, you ask the teacher what to do in a certain situation and everyone trains that situation.
Keep it different, yet with some regularity and it will change.
If you have a rigid schedule, it can be boring.

I think if you can vary your warm ups, drills and training, it will stimulate your students to come and look forward to new and different training.

this may take a bit of planning, but get someone to come out and teach a seminar, bring Pedro out and have him conduct a one or two day seminar. This will really have all your students excited and you can publicize it and try to get new students too.
With new students, it's new blood and will usually bring new enthusiasm to your classes.

I've got relatives in Boulder and would love to stop by if I ever get out that way.

[Waza]

hey bjjboulder!

I just became a Pedro rep. Will you be at his seminar with Royler next month? I will be for sure.

I am sure you know Peter Iacavazzi. He is teaching a seminar at my school this Saturday. You are more than welcome bro. hi5nroll@attbi.com is my email and I live in Billings, MT.

Dog brother!

Great advice. Everytime I get down to Lafayette, I tell myself I am headed to Houston to train with you but I always fall shy. I will make it there bro. I promise.

I have a question for you Alvis:

I also teach Judo. A lot of my students can't wait for my jiu-jitsu classes to start up next week. I tell them that Judo and BJJ can go hand in had. Especially if they want to compete in both. However, I feel like I am going to lose some judo students, and regain them in jiu-jitsu. I know you teach more than one style. Has this situation come up with you?

I am going to post this on the jiu-jitsu gear forum as well.

Waza

[AWSolis]

Waza!

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond...my computer was nailed by a nasty virus...I was going through Internet withdrawal!

I have students that train in almost everyone of my classes. I encourage them to. I offer price incentives for being on our Gold program which allows them unlimited training. If the school's lights are on, they are allowed to be on the mat. I have BJJ guys in my Kickboxing class, Kickboxers in my stick program, etc....I feel its important to be well rounded.

I think you are right in saying that Judo and BJJ should go hand in hand....so I would probably suggest that if you wanted to be on the competition team, you should take at least one Judo class a week. I have students who are Browns and Blacks in Judo and when I get ready to compete, I train my BJJ standup game with them. I may not try a Judo throw (I still prefer double or single legs), but at least I am aware of when one is being set up against me. This has saved my butt from flying a couple of times in a tournament.

Good luck with your venture...I have heard nothing but good things about Pedro Sauer.

Alvis

https://www.solismartialarts.com

[Waza]

A.W.-

Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate the advice. I'll see what I can do and give you a heads up

Waza