Entries by Webmaster
The Concept And Structure Of A BJJ Intro Class (Ognen Dzabirski 25:10)
This video outlines how introducing the concept of an Intro Class for new members can allow new students to integrate far better into the training environment of Jiu JItsu. The structure of an intro class is the crucial aspect of having one in the first place. After years of experimenting, here is an outline of […]
Putting Together An Introductory Course/Group (Ognen Dzabirski 15:17)
What do you do with people that are brand new? An introductory course is a great option to present your approach to BJJ as well as get people to understand the important underlying principles of the sport. This video shares an overview of the structure in terms of classes for such a group and curriculum […]
Teaching Principles Series: “Animals for Kids” (5:20)
Kids relate to animals, even from a young age kids will have the ability to impersonate various animals. When kids use their imagination and try to really embody a particular animal it allows them to move in ways that are natural and easy. I have noticed that using animal movements is a great way to […]
Brainstorming and structuring a training block (Felix Adler 35m)
In this video I present my ideas on how to structure a training block focussing on guard retention with frames. You will get to know how I define a goal for my training blocks and make sure that my students focus on the main aspect at all time without being bored. In the end it […]
Curriculum – Long Term Planning (Felix Adler 13m)
Having a well thought out curriculum will help you to structure your training blocks and identify the goals for each lesson. In this video I present the curriculum I use in at our club. This is just one way of structuring the chaos and complexity in grappling, but it seems to work for beginners and […]
3 problems you will run into when teaching and how to solve them (Felix Adler 22m)
No lesson will be perfect. Especially as a beginner, but also as an experienced teacher, your lessons will not always go according to plan. In this video I summarize the 3 main problems you will have because we are working with humans. People sometimes do not really do what they are told to do for […]
The Mindset Of The Eternal Whitebelt (Philip O’Connor 5m)
Teaching white belts is different to teaching almost anyone else in jiu jitsu – higher belts often know what they need to work on, but white belts often don’t even know what they don’t know. Having an “Eternal White Belt Mindset” can help you to help them
Stickfighting warmup game for kids (and adults) (Wim Deputter 15m)
Stickfighting for kids and adults What? A fun class I play regularly at the kids classes. Variations of stick/sword fighting using pool noodles. Why? Fun Train action/reaction Learn to gauge and control distance Train footwork Something different Easy, low entry first contact with martial arts Do martial arts with kids / adults who are afraid […]
How to build a BJJ competition team (Christian Graugart 1h35m)
INTRO Creating a BJJ team is essentially experience design Humans feel social comfort and true sense of achievement when they can join a tribe larger than themselves and, through hardship, grow within this. Create a tribe with the potential for people to achieve accomplishment at their individual level. All human development happens outside of comfort […]
How to film things good and do other things good too part 8: Painting With Light (Florian Dedio 21m)
Without light, there is no image, and no film. In this video, I’ll try and demystify the most basic lighting setup, called three-point lighting. Once you know what it is and how it works, you’ll see it everywhere. And, without too much effort or gear, you can use its principles to better light any kind […]
How to film things good and do other things good too part 7: Making A List & Checking It Twice (Florian Dedio 23m)
No matter how many hours they have logged, no pilot can – or would – take off without completing a checklist. In this video, I’ll examine how this concept can be applied to filming – especially repetitive filming where a lot of details stay the same. By adjusting the provided checklist to fit your specific […]
What to teach when starting out (Rahman Fahed 10m)
Starting out as a BJJ instructor can bring with it a lot of questions. What should you be teaching? How do you design a syllabus? In this video, I set out my thoughts on what new instructors should focus on when planning their lessons as well as how my club developed its syllabus.
Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, Accessibility and BJJ (Adam Medlock 15m)
A brief introduction into the various disabilities as a coach or gym owner and general good practice techniques to make you gym and sessions accessible for all.
Methods and Drills Part 1: Progression (Felix Adler 19m)
If there was no progress, everybody would remain a white belt. In this video I explain how I make sure that my students progress throughout a lesson, a training cycle and their grappling journey. By showing your students where they have been, where they are now and where they will be in the future, you […]
Methods and Drill Part 3: Learning to Learn by Progressive Drilling (Felix Adler 20m)
The more advanced your students are the more they should be able to use progressive drilling and any type of sparring based on its purpose to develop a certain aspect. In this video I talk about how you can teach your students to use drills not for conditioning but to acquire new knowledge and improve […]
Methods and Drills Part 2: From Games to Sparring (Felix Adler 15m)
Games, drills and any kind of sparring are just methods that we use as coaches to focus on certain aspects of grappling and help our students to improve in that area. They are like tools in a toolbox, each tool has a more or less specific use. Sure, you can drive a nail into a […]
Start of a Lesson – Warm-Up and Lead-In (Felix Adler 14m)
Every part of a lesson should help your students to work towards the goal of the lesson or improvement of an aspect of their game. In this video I explain why there is a difference between the warm-up and the lead-in of a lesson and how it can improve your student’s learning experience.
Learning Objectives Part 2: Teaching less to learn more – Didactic Reduction (Felix Adler 20m)
The more you know about grappling, the more difficult it is to pick a goal for a lesson because you don’t want to leave something important out or you feel like you should be answering all questions that are possible at once. In this video I show how I approach picking a goal/topic for a […]
Adapting BJJ to MMA (Francesco Fonte 14m)
Small but important changes that you can do to adapt your BJJ coaching to the MMA ground game.
Conversations worth having: The Guard (Matt Wuchner 5m)
The second installment of the Conversations Worth Having Series. In this video Matt discusses the guard as it relates to “guards” seen in other sports/forms of combat, and the value of explaining the objective purpose it serves as a defensive platform first and foremost. When students are made aware that there is indeed a base […]
Conversations Worth Having: Reacting vs Responding (Matt Wuchner 5m)
The First Installment of the Conversations Worth Having series to continue helping people suck less at JiuJitsu. There is no doubt people learn JiuJitsu best by doing, but the beautiful thing about using the spoken word as a tool is to create a sense of clarity for those who may be practicing ‘blind’ so to […]
How to film things good and do other things good too part 6: Up, Up, Down, Down… Film Cheat Codes (Florian Dedio 32m)
Cheat codes, they’re not just for video games! No, there are actually a bunch of little tricks that can help make your life easier when it comes to filming. I’ll try to give you a bunch of little settings or tricks that WILL make things look better, by and large without explaining WHY they make […]
How to film things good and do other things good too part 5: Attention Everyone… Or How To Draw The Eye (Florian Dedio 12m)
As you may have noticed by now, this series is about developing your own style, your own story, your own brand. A major part of that is controlling what the viewer looks at on their screen. This is something you absolutely can – and should – control, so let’s look at what makes us as […]
Learning Objectives Part 1 (Felix Adler 22m)
What do we teach in a grappling class? This video shows my ideas about what should be improved over the course of a grappling lesson (physical abilities, knowledge and skills). I take a first look at how one should modulate different aspects over a longer period before choosing suitable goals and learning objectives for each […]
Principles of Planning Lessons and Lesson Plans (Felix Adler 11m)
Fail to plan and you plan to fail. In this video you get to know about the benefits of planning a lesson properly and which principles one can use to make sure that everything is taken care of. At the end there is a blueprint for a regular lesson as I use it for my […]
Characteristics of a Good Lesson (Felix Adler 13m)
Learning is universal and so is teaching. In this video you get to know about ten principles for a good lesson, no matter the topic or goal. I explain what they are and how they can be applied to grappling.
Help people suck less at Jiu Jitsu: Using all five frames (Matt Wuchner 15m)
Building off the first videos of the series, Matt puts all the frames up on the whiteboard to see how they can be used together to help people figure out what is ACTUALLY important in order to suck less at JiuJitsu.
Pay-What-You-Want: How to Make a Living Teaching Jiu-Jitsu for Free (Robert & Amanda McMasters 11m)
BJJ can be a very financially exclusive hobby. To make it more accessible to our community – and improve our training partner pool – we offer some of our classes on a pay-what-you-want basis. No contract or membership necessary. In this video, we explain why we think this kind of program is important, how we’ve […]
Avoiding the Rabbit Hole (Robert McMasters 8m)
We’ve all done it before – started answering an endless stream of “what ifs” during class, only to find that we’ve strayed far far from the original technique. By setting small, easily digestible goals that lead to larger goals, you can keep your lessons on track and not go down the rabbit hole.
The Importance Of Root Technique (Luke Spencer 4m)
A brief into to the idea of finding the “root technique”, in order to really break down technique and movements within martial arts. This breakdown will be very effective in helping the student learn the origins of a movement, or principle, why it is done, what it leads to (“branches”) and this will help aide […]
My general method for teaching sweeps (Wim Deputter 15m)
During a roll you have to sweep a person who actively resists. Imagine sweeping someone who resists, if you cannot even sweep the person correctly when he or she allows it 🙂 For that reason, the first step when I teach a sweep, is connecting myself to my partner and let my partner roll or […]
My general method for teaching submissions (Wim Deputter 21m)
One of the most important things to learn and teach more effective, is to focus on concepts rather than on techniques. When I analyze Jiu Jitsu, I always focus on the commonalities between different techniques; what is universal. A certain technical improvement my help you in a specific situation. A universal concept, applicable everywhere, will […]
A Simple Way to Structure Active Drilling (Kenneth Brown 6m)
This is one of the methodologies I used in my competition classes to work on some of the intangibles of skill development.
Running a fun and high-energy-low-injury wrestling program for non-wrestlers of all levels (Christian Graugart 32m)
In this video, I explain how I have been running my weekly wrestling class for all levels. We always teach “position before submission” on the ground but when it comes to standup, most Jiu Jitsu academies just teach a few takedowns here and there, with very little—or no—emphasis on the positional aspect. People also have […]
BJJ Orientation Class for beginners (Sorin Raduta 8m)
The BJJ Orientation Class is a training session where I try to offer new students as much information as possible without overloading the total beginner. The goal is not to teach a lot of techniques but to create a sense of understanding what bjj practicaly is all about so the new student does not feel […]
Basic Internet Marketing 1: Cheap Easy Fixes for Your Online Presence (Chris Paines 10m)
A brief history in Search Engines, and how understanding where it has come from can make sure you don’t make any easy mistakes with your online presence. A short series of videos detailing easy and cheap ways to improve your online marketing.
How to film things and how to do other things good part 4: How To Sound Good (Florian Dedio 20m)
Just as you have done with your Jiu-jitsu, I want to encourage you with this series of videos to find your own voice as a storyteller in video, and I firmly believe that any choice you make is your creative, artistic expression, and your (gentle) art. That is, with one exception. I do not believe […]
How to film things and how to do other things good part 3: Choose Your Camera (And Style) (Florian Dedio 20m)
I made a mistake in my last video: I (wrongly!) assumed that most people would either have (or would get) a DSLR/Mirrorless/Camera-that-looks-like-a-photo-camera-but-can-also-film. This is of course not the case, so let’s talk about other kinds of cameras, from camcorders to action cams and cell phones, and how you can use these to film whatever it […]
Writing for BJJ: Clearly Describe What You and Your Academy Have to Offer (Ruadhan MacFadden 51m)
As a coach, you’ll often have to write things about yourself and your academy (websites, social media posts, instructor biographies, and so on). When doing so, it’s crucial to keep your specific audience in mind and tailor your writing accordingly. In this video, we look at some tips and guidelines you can use to ensure […]
Let’s make some money (Eric Robinson 13m)
A few ideas on how I made some extra money while starting my business. www.customink.com for fundraisers www.teespring.com for print-on-demand apparel and other goodies www.93brand.com for wholesale pricing of gis without a tax-ID number www.cruzcmbt.com for wholesale and retail of rashguards and other nogi gear. https://app.elify.com/vbc/glzk9g8tmm?t=nvsfc6 for your website / digital business card / landing […]
Tips For Teaching Kids BJJ Class (Benny Wynne 7m)
Teaching groups of kids can be challenging! This video includes principles that will help you be an effective kids bjj teacher and deal with off task behaviour. Topics include, how your attitude affects your students attitude, how to position students for maximum attention, giving feedback & correction and how to deal with behaviour issues.
Help people suck less at Jiu Jitsu: Wrap-up (Matt Wuchner 1m)
A quick little wrap-up of this series on how to Help People Suck Less at JiuJitsu. Here Matt explains potential projects moving forward. If you enjoyed this series and would like to see more, let us know and we’ll put out deeper dives into each of these frames individually rather than spreading out attention over […]
Help people suck less at Jiu Jitsu: Frame 5 (Matt Wuchner 2m)
Frame #5 out of 5 designed to Help People Suck Less at JiuJitsu. In this video, Matt gets nerdy with alliteration again, but this time they are Five-Cs to help instructors design classes that are quite likely to help people suck significantly less at JiuJitsu at the end of class than they did when they […]
Help people suck less at Jiu Jitsu: Frame 3 (Matt Wuchner 3m)
Number 3 out of 5 Frames to Help People Suck Less at JiuJitsu. In this video, Matt discusses 5 qualities we can look for and cultivate in people in order to help them get out of their own way and get better with more concentrated effort. These qualities run deeper than physical attributes like size, […]
Help people suck less at Jiu Jitsu: Frame 2 (Matt Wuchner 3m)
The Second of 5 Frames to Help People Suck Less at JiuJitsu. This video takes a look at the bigger picture of the Training Game. We create a distinction between ‘Practice’ and ‘Performance’ so your students can go into training with a more clear perspective on making genuine progress. We define ‘Training’ in simple/straightforward terms […]
Help people suck less at Jiu Jitsu: Frame 1 (Matt Wuchner 4m)
The First of 5 Frames to Help People Suck Less at JiuJitsu. This video discusses the value of taking a subject as broad and complex as JiuJitsu and stripping it down to 5 Base Skill Categories. This can allow you to organize your teaching material in a way that flows together with the big picture. […]
Help people suck less at Jiu Jitsu: Introduction (Matt Wuchner 2m)
A brief introduction to who Matt Wuchner is and what his ‘Five-Frames to Help People Suck Less at JiuJitsu’ will be about. Watch this to decide if you are interested in the content of this series.
A basic example of microdrills, drills, concepts (Francesco Fonte 7m)
In this video I will use a simple and common technique (passing the half guard and going for the arm bar) to show how to teach it using microdrills, drills and/or concepts. This is just an example to understand the basic differences in these approaches.
How to film things and how to do other things good part 2: Choose Your Camera (Florian Dedio 23m)
To most people starting, producing video content can be daunting, right from the first question: what camera should I use? I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this myself, and I hope I can pass on some things to help guide you towards a choice that works for you and your content… or help […]
We Train UFC, Bro: Teaching Techniques with a Touch of Storytelling (Ruadhan MacFadden 10m)
BJJ techniques are not suddenly born in isolation. They’ve been developed and battle-tested over the course of decades (sometimes centuries) by people on the highest level, in multiple different combat sports. Every technique has a story behind it. As a coach, making beginners aware of that story can help them realise just effective – and […]
The Power Circle aka. Knights of the Round Table (Ruadhan MacFadden 8m)
A way to finish training sessions in an atmosphere of open exchange, beneficial for coaches and students alike.
Strategies – Concepts – Heuristics (Francesco Fonte 7m)
A brief explanation of what these tools are and why knowing how to use them can make a difference compared to simply “teach a technique”.
A week of classes in 9 minutes (Eric Robinson 9m)
How to plan for a week of classes and why we practice the same techniques all week long.
Progression for Half Guard and Didactic Tips (Wim Deputter 21m)
In this video I will give a progression of how I let kids and beginners get acquantainted with the concepts of Half Guard (Deep Half Guard to be more precise) and related positions. Kids in particular, and beginners as well, tend to have shorter attention spans than older and / or more experienced grapplers. You […]
How to film things and how to do other things good part 1: Tell a story! (Florian Dedio 16m)
Welcome to the first in a series of videos on how to optimize any video content you’d like to publish. I hope this series can be helpful for you in creating better video content, be it filmed classes, seminars, rolling footage, or whatever else you may want to publish. In this episode, I’ll dive into […]
Thumbs Up: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Teaching BJJ (Jenn Carson 3m)
People come to Jiu Jitsu from all sorts of backgrounds. In order to create a safe teaching environment, it is important to have staff trained in mental health first aid and trauma awareness, especially when teaching at-risk populations. This video will show you how to use the Thumbs Up technique to allow your students control […]