Attention Jiu Jitsu teachers and Instructors: Survey for Ari

[Ari Bolden]

Hey everyone:

I am looking for some input on day time classes. This is a question for instructors and school owners. I am less than 2 weeks away from opening my brand new school. We've been building and renovating for months. After 7 years of teaching, I am finally getting the space which I have always dreamed about.

I have played around with tons of different schedules. My current one is found here.

Anyone running noon or morning classes? What city are you in? What is the market like (what may work in one city doesn't mean it will work in another). What are your numbers like for your day time classes? What have you students told you?

Feed back guys!

Cheers in advance!
Ari

[Josh Passini]

We have a group of guys that come from 1:30 to about 3:00 Its a small group but in that setting I think they will excell faster. The gym that I was at before ran a 10:00 to 12:30ish fighters only time but once again it was a small group of guys. Pro fighters or night shift dudes that fight but mainly pro fighters. All here in the Chicagoland area.

[James]

Hey Ari,

At our school we have day classes Mondays and Wednesdays for traditional JJ at Noon(we teach JJJ, Kickboxing and BJJ).The students who come to this class are generally those who work 9-5 but have extra time at lunch hour to come in and train.Last week I taught class and had 7 people. I covered a little of every aspect of JJJ (throwing, striking, grappling) and threw in some core strength drills at the beginning. The range of belt levels lets me cover alot of different material which all of them seem to enjoy.Our school is in Ottawa and alot of families train together here so many adult students are parents of kids who also train.
Hope that helps.

By the way- I'm a huge fan of Submissions 101.When I first started BJJ it really helped me build my game and exposed me to both the gi and no-gi aspects of Jiu-Jitsu so...Thanks a million!

[K Madden]

my afternoon classes typically have about 8-15 students. we do hour and a half sessions, with 30 mins of yoga, 30 mins drill, 15 min roll, 15 clean up. they have told me they like having that class because they have ability to use their lunch hour for class.
with me its a lil different because i teach on the military base. their bosses allow them to take long lunches (2hr) when they are exercising. my best participation comes at 5-7pm or 6-8pm. usually people get outta work and come straight to the gym. early enough to do other things as well.
my monday classes are packed, tuesdays suck, wed and thursday are busy again, fridays...no one comes. they always wanna party i guess.
sat classes for me end up having only the dedicated students...my best times for that are 1-3pm.
ive changed around my schedule to fit my guys and gals. that seems to be the best for me.
all my classes are no-gi. and i do combatives and womans self defense classes as they are requested. usually once ever week or two.
hope this helps buddy! take care