Characteristics Of A Great BJJ Instructor Written by BJJ Today · Leave a Comment What makes a really great BJJ instructor? Is it how many championships and competitions they’ve won? The person with the biggest academy? The guy that tells the best dirty jokes? What kind of martial artist do you want to be? Well, find somebody like that and start training. When we walk into an academy for the first time, what makes us want to be a student there? There are all types of instructors but which is right for you? Fortunately there are a few characteristics that are pretty universal to help you make your training experience a good one. Characteristics Of A Great BJJ Instructor Physical Conditioning – When you walk into the academy what do you see? Do you see someone that is an inspiration like Roberto Cyborg Abreu or do you see a cautionary tale? (Sorry Roy…) Just because you’re not all jacked-up with 30-inch arms and a six pack doesn’t mean you couldn’t defend yourself. The mats don’t lie. But it’s not looking good. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a lifestyle, especially when you’re an instructor. You should look the part. Appearances can be deceiving but that’s the first thing people are going to notice. I wouldn’t want to train with someone that is huffing and puffing after our first set of jumping jacks, would you? You will start to take on some of the qualities of the people you train with, so choose carefully. I teach BJJ and when we visit other academies one of the first things I hear others say is: “you can tell he trains with you”. Do you look up to your instructor? Being Open – I pride myself on understanding that BJJ doesn’t have all the answers when it comes to training or fighting. I am a huge fan of BJJ but I am also a still a student. For example, I still like to work my wrestling, judo, and striking to stay well-rounded. I’m no Vitor Belfort but I do constantly try to put everything together in a complete plan of attack. This is a great thing to look for in your instructor. If you show up and hear how this art is the only one you need and if you get really good you’ll beat anybody at anything, it’s time to go. All the disciplines of fighting have their strengths and weaknesses and for the most part, they all answer the same questions of attack and defense. If learning more than one fighting style was good enough for Batman, it’s good enough for you. But if you really like one style or category (ex. grappling or striking) then by all means focus on what you like but don’t be surprised if you get whupped by something new one day. Depth of Knowledge – No instructor can teach what they don’t know. Sounds simple, right? Not everybody lives in Rio or down the street from the Machados. It’s better to train where you can than hold out for some imaginary, perfect teacher. But there’s going to be a limit to where a lower belt instructor can take you. Not just in number of techniques but in their ability to adapt those techniques to our personal game. If you can find an instructor that knows more than you do, time to train. But if you feel you’re running into a dead end in your training, it’s ok to look elsewhere. And you’ll hit that wall a LOT faster if you’re learning from a blue belt. A blue belt “instructor” is still building an understanding of what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and its theory is. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re getting top quality instruction from someone that is only a few months more experienced than you are. Personal Communication Skills –Being good at doing doesn’t mean you’re good at teaching. I must admit that I have a problem with this one. Not in the sense that I don’t care about those that train with me but, that I care too much. I take it personally when people don’t take this as seriously as I do. For better or worse I am a very open person and have a habit of being too blunt to say the least. As far as actually teaching goes, your instructor should be able to help you understand what you need to do to get a technique to work. Notice I didn’t say, “make you understand.” The teacher can only do so much and can’t make up for you being lazy. They’ll work as hard as you do. End of story. The hard part is that personal feelings can get in the way. People, including your instructor, have lives outside of class that can creep into the academy. A high quality instructor should be able to maintain a boundary for themselves and for the students that lets everybody focus on getting better. This is probably the thing that is the most subjective when looking for a teacher. Some students need to be yelled at to improve. Others need a mentor that will encourage them to overcome their challenges more subtly. Obviously those are two extremes so it’s up to you to find the instructor that is right for your learning style. Find the right one and your school stops being just an academy and becomes your “BJJ Family.” Humility – I used to know a guy that was a story topper. When he found out I trained, he let me know that he’d rolled with all the greats. To hear him tell it, he’d fought professionally on three continents, was on a first-name basis with Pat Miletich, and he gave up totally dominating MMA at age 43 so he could spend more time with his kids. Ugh. I understand you have had the opportunity to spend a couple hours with thirty different world champions whether it involved rolling or drilling. By the way, shaking their hand after an autograph session doesn’t count as training. What we truly want to know is if you’re a good person or you’ll get us into talking trash and treating other academies bad because you don’t think they’re very good. We enjoy a harassment-free place to train and don’t enjoy being treated like a punching bag because we came from a competing dojo for extra “knowledge” (see number 3.) Anyone that does this is very insecure about their abilities. You might want to find a new place to train. Like we said at the beginning, we know there will be a lot of discussion about what characteristics you look for in an instructor. As always, we welcome the interaction and opinions. We wish you the best of luck on your search for the best instructor possible. Share your experiences with us in the comment section below and maybe we will find a way to have an annual “instructor of the year” around here at BJJ Today. In closing always be open to learning from everyone you meet, the good and the bad. BJJ is an art and each individual expresses themselves in a unique way. Learn all you can on your BJJ journey. Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this post and git something useful out of it, please share the knowledge by clicking SHARE above. Jeffrey Carter Gracie Barra Black Belt 828 Combat Systems Hickory, NC - See more at: bjjtoday.net/characteristics-of-a-great-bjj-instructor/#sthash.sk1OPgEU.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 05:53:28 +0000
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