There is no better advertisement for joining our gym than to watch our home grown white belts roll. While watching this video, an experienced practitioner will quickly be able to tell that our gym provides competent instruction which spans the full spectrum of Jiu-Jitsu. Notice how the match spans in just a few minutes from takedowns, guard pulls, lose passing, pressure passing, long range guards, foot attacks, inversions and double guard pull. Tim and John started from scratch with no prior experience! They train once a week on Saturday as they both commute from LA. They progressed without the aid of a beginner class which is a way to get people in the door. Prospective members often see the term beginners class and think the academy is geared more toward them, but these classes provide for a less efficient atmosphere for getting fluent at Jiu-Jitsu. Lets engage in a thought experiment. Imagine learning a foreign language in a high school class room where nobody speaks fluently save for the teacher. In this format, you can take years of the language and still struggle with rudimentary aspects of it. Why? The reason is you are not surrounded by people who speak the language constantly at a high level. You have a single teacher going over a single subject to a large group of students who know little of the language. You are completely reliant on everything the teacher teaches - or doesnt teach - for your entire spectrum of knowledge. If you dont understand the pronunciation of a word, you could ask the person next to you or wait to have the teacher go over it after class (if they have time). You could also look it up on the internet after class if so motivated. Usually, the students willing to seek the extra help or have the initiative to research extra are the ones who excel. Conversely, now imagine moving to the country in a overseas exchange program where the language is spoken. After just a single year you will be speaking the language exponentially faster. Not only that, but you will have an appreciation of culture and history. Why? You are completely immersed in the subject and have multiple teachers! Everybody you run in to can teach you in some manner - even if they are not aware of it. With this constant learning taking place at all time, how can this even compare to the same time spent in a classroom? If you cant pronounce a word correctly, you are probably living with somebody who has spoken the language since they learned to speak. There is no better way to learn how to say where is the bathroom? than be in a country that does not speak your language and having to pee. In this model, the teacher is a guide in respect to the knowledge and not an ultimate source of information. Learning in a class with all levels is like moving to another country. The argument against this method is that sometimes you learn topics too advanced. This is exactly why you should do it. When somebody starts speaking to you in a foreign language and you dont understand a single word they say, you dont give up and go home. You ask questions, stay humble and be willing to receive help from people. You look it up in your pocket dictionary or on your phone. This can be quite uncomfortable at first. Even with asking questions you might not understand the answer, but the journey towards knowledge begins. Sometimes an idea or a technique can sit in the depths of your brain for years before its context, application and timing are properly understood. Techniques forgotten also inform grappling intuition just as memories forgotten as a baby/child form part of the foundation of personality. Once you learn that the vast majority of people will give you a few pointers and help you on your journey, the unconformable feeling fades. An additional argument against this style is that it forms a sink or swim atmosphere. There is an element of natural selection in Jiu-Jitsu, but typically for those who insist that the waters be made calm or possess an inability to humble themselves to the steps required for learning. Some gyms cater to creating the illusion of a calm and logical process if only you follow their structure. Many gravitate to this and it will always be a harder sell to get new people in the door to learn in a manner which produces excellent results. Shortcuts are a pipe dream. Ironically you can progress to even advanced ranks and still be sheltered - the only clue to the ignorance is the occasional visit to another gym where the belt does not hold up. The role of the teacher is quite important in this all levels setting. It is not to be some infallible bearer of knowledge. It is to guide the student in both knowledge AND the mental hurdles that exist when engaging in a learning process. The relationship is between teacher and student is fundamentally different. Taking part in a class that does not expressly say HEY...this class is for beginners!!! is quite uncomfortable at first. This feeling of discontent is actually where the most learning takes place. This feeling is survival mechanism that we have built in to make sure we dont do anything too crazy and get eaten by a saber tooth tiger. Thankfully we have progressed to where we dont need to worry much about saber tooth tigers any more. We dont have beginners classes for a reason and we wont bite your head off. We are all quite friendly and want you to learn...I promise. Everybody here was a beginner at some point and Jiu-Jitsu (not just us) has a pay it forward type of system. If this logic makes sense, please come try a class as we are probably the right gym for you. We understand that there are a lot of people looking for something to try out with the new year. Stop by and give us a chance to prove our method! breajiujitsu youtu.be/C-LropQ8f6A
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 23:56:13 +0000
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