Starting my quest for the Hotbox

[Aiseop]

Just talked to him and he cleared up a few things. All's good. Thanks, brother.

[Amir Allam]

You're my hero; I can only dream about a future in which I'm a professor running a hotbox at a university. I have a few curriculum recommendations, though these are just my opinion and there are many more experienced instructors on this forum whose opinions carry more weight than mine. IE, if 'zog or McKatherine differ, follow them and ignore this fat nerd.

First, I think it is extremely beneficial to teach the same techniques every night for two weeks straight. This lets you dive into the nuances by the 2nd week, and it helps solidify them in students' minds. That's how Eddie runs things and it worked wonders for myself. Second, I would teach almost nothing except the warmups for perhaps six months. They contain a great well-rounded skillset, lacking only in some submissions perhaps (which is why I said 'almost'). If you have a good core of students, they'll be ninjas at them and you can switch to using them as actual 15-minute warmups. When new students come in, they'll see all of the ninjas looking slick and they'll say, "I want to look like that!". Since Eddie added the warmups to the curriculum at HQ, I've seen our success at competitions skyrocket.

Just my 2¢. Feel free to make fun of me if I've said something stupid, McCrackin'.

[NotReady]

You're my hero; I can only dream about a future in which I'm a professor running a hotbox at a university. I have a few curriculum recommendations, though these are just my opinion and there are many more experienced instructors on this forum whose opinions carry more weight than mine. IE, if 'zog or McKatherine differ, follow them and ignore this fat nerd.

First, I think it is extremely beneficial to teach the same techniques every night for two weeks straight. This lets you dive into the nuances by the 2nd week, and it helps solidify them in students' minds. That's how Eddie runs things and it worked wonders for myself. Second, I would teach almost nothing except the warmups for perhaps six months. They contain a great well-rounded skillset, lacking only in some submissions perhaps (which is why I said 'almost'). If you have a good core of students, they'll be ninjas at them and you can switch to using them as actual 15-minute warmups. When new students come in, they'll see all of the ninjas looking slick and they'll say, "I want to look like that!". Since Eddie added the warmups to the curriculum at HQ, I've seen our success at competitions skyrocket.

Just my 2¢. Feel free to make fun of me if I've said something stupid, McCrackin'.

Serious question: How do you prevent people from getting bored doing the same technique every night for two weeks? I feel like when I teach the same thing 2 times in a row, let a lone 3, attention levels start to wane as compared to me saying "here is something new!"

I am totally on board and want to implement an approach like the one you describe, it's what I am used to from wrestling - but BJJ as a business I feel like there are different concerns like keeping students engaged. Obviously you/Eddie/HQ have found a solution to this, so whatever you are willing to share would be very, very much appreciated.

[David Rosado]

LOL'd at McKatherine.

[David Rosado]

Serious question: How do you prevent people from getting bored doing the same technique every night for two weeks? I feel like when I teach the same thing 2 times in a row, let a lone 3, attention levels start to wane as compared to me saying "here is something new!"

I am totally on board and want to implement an approach like the one you describe, it's what I am used to from wrestling - but BJJ as a business I feel like there are different concerns like keeping students engaged. Obviously you/Eddie/HQ have found a solution to this, so whatever you are willing to share would be very, very much appreciated.

From my experience, it's about progression. Adding a new element.

So, for example, let's say we're doing lock down. Zog would start us off doing maybe 10 minutes of reps of just lockdown, jaws of life to double unders. Then he would add a new element; the whip up. So we would get in another 10-15 minutes of reps of LD, jaws of life, double unders, whip up/fat whip. Then he'd add a new element. Old school. Then we'd finish the class with live situation drills where the goal is to get your double unders and hit old school on a 50% resistant opponent. Mix in the time it takes to actually teach, and you have one hour right there.

Next class, you start off the same. This is important to build muscle memory. And then you add the electric chair. Submission. Then you add the sweep and pass. Then you add stoner control. Then you add, then you add, then you add, until you have a student group who's put in like 100 reps in a matter of two weeks. It's the adding of new element that kept it interesting for me. It's the repetitions in the beginning that ingrained it in my muscle memory.

[NotReady]

From my experience, it's about progression. Adding a new element.

So, for example, let's say we're doing lock down. Zog would start us off doing maybe 10 minutes of reps of just lockdown, jaws of life to double unders. Then he would add a new element; the whip up. So we would get in another 10-15 minutes of reps of LD, jaws of life, double unders, whip up/fat whip. Then he'd add a new element. Old school. Then we'd finish the class with live situation drills where the goal is to get your double unders and hit old school on a 50% resistant opponent. Mix in the time it takes to actually teach, and you have one hour right there.

Next class, you start off the same. This is important to build muscle memory. And then you add the electric chair. Submission. Then you add the sweep and pass. Then you add stoner control. Then you add, then you add, then you add, until you have a student group who's put in like 100 reps in a matter of two weeks. It's the adding of new element that kept it interesting for me. It's the repetitions in the beginning that ingrained it in my muscle memory.

Good post, thanks for sharing.

[Brian Debes]

I am pretty sure Barncat ran his Hotbox out of his university for a couple of years till he got his own Moon.

Yeah, a university may be the BEST place to run a hotbox out of becouse you can get a semi profeprofessional thing going without overwhelming expense to do it for free. With either a garage situation or renting a mat space, you lose one of those two things.

[Just Kadek]

You're my hero; I can only dream about a future in which I'm a professor running a hotbox at a university. I have a few curriculum recommendations, though these are just my opinion and there are many more experienced instructors on this forum whose opinions carry more weight than mine. IE, if 'zog or McKatherine differ, follow them and ignore this fat nerd.

First, I think it is extremely beneficial to teach the same techniques every night for two weeks straight. This lets you dive into the nuances by the 2nd week, and it helps solidify them in students' minds. That's how Eddie runs things and it worked wonders for myself. Second, I would teach almost nothing except the warmups for perhaps six months. They contain a great well-rounded skillset, lacking only in some submissions perhaps (which is why I said 'almost'). If you have a good core of students, they'll be ninjas at them and you can switch to using them as actual 15-minute warmups. When new students come in, they'll see all of the ninjas looking slick and they'll say, "I want to look like that!". Since Eddie added the warmups to the curriculum at HQ, I've seen our success at competitions skyrocket.

Just my 2¢. Feel free to make fun of me if I've said something stupid, McCrackin'.

+1

[john harris & sons]

Herzog is in charge of all the hotboxes. Study up on that guideline, and let him know you wanna be a hotbox candidate.

Be a cool guy and love Jiu jitsu and you'll love working with Zog. He's the best.

Unless you're a d-bag. I bet those guys hate him.

Good luck and let me know if I can be a help in any way!

Yeah, they hate him. Lol