Is Overall Level Of Jiu Jitsu Players Improving or Decreasing?

[Chris Herzog]

You DO have an actual approach to coaching, it's just that you've developed it over years of teaching and learning from other excellent teachers instead of going out and getting a degree in education theory. The fact that your experiential teaching conforms so well to social learning theory may be accidental or not entirely on purpose, but the end result is still high-quality instruction -- and that's what seems to be missing elsewhere from what I hear around the interwebs.

It was a joke brotha

Countless hours in coaching courses, hundreds of books in my library, and of course excellent coaches over the years as well, nothing is accidental.

[Jason Hyatt]

It was a joke brotha

Countless hours in coaching courses, hundreds of books in my library, and of course excellent coaches over the years as well, nothing is accidental.

See, I shoulda known better. You even tap me on the forums... damn...

I really think you have a great niche in the train-the-trainer market. There are a lot of guys who can play jiu jitsu but not nearly as many who can teach it. I would suspect that some of the new moon instructors or folks new to coaching would be interested in a coaching and curriculum development seminar. I seem to remember one of the earliest posts on the old forum was a call for an instructors conference or something to that effect. Did anything ever come of that?

[Chris Herzog]

See, I shoulda known better. You even tap me on the forums... damn...

I really think you have a great niche in the train-the-trainer market. There are a lot of guys who can play jiu jitsu but not nearly as many who can teach it. I would suspect that some of the new moon instructors or folks new to coaching would be interested in a coaching and curriculum development seminar. I seem to remember one of the earliest posts on the old forum was a call for an instructors conference or something to that effect. Did anything ever come of that?

I'm assuming the 10th Planet Cruise is going to replace that.

[Jason Hyatt]

That cruise is gonna be sick. I gotta start saving now...

[Chris Herzog]

That cruise is gonna be sick. I gotta start saving now...

Do it! Me, Kathy, Urabnski and Jen are all ready planning on it, gunna try and get Scott and a few others as well to go.

[John Roderick]

I think in ways, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques are decreasing in quality as more schools open up (which sounds a little hypocritical of me). I see more guys claiming to be "High Level" black of brown belts, and all you can verify is that they were blue or purple in Brazil (if they came from there), or they rise VERY quickly with minimal competition (which used to be virtually mandatory) experience to brown or black. OR, the hypocritical promotion for MMA and no-gi competition when they say you can only get promoted with the gi/the gi is "real" jiu jitsu. Now, I do admit to being a little aggravated and possibly over-sensitive, mainly because I'm sick of people falsifying credentials to snow the public and make a buck. In addition to that, some think that if they are from Brazil, they are the ONLY ones to know grappling or Jiu Jitsu. That bothers me.
I think a quick buck, and lack of discipline and dedication are leading to a decline. I was brought up in martial arts VERY strict. You had to EARN a promotion. If you didn't compete, and even if you did-you literally had to fight for and show you were ready. I agree some promotions are too easy. I saw a case on TUF last night where a Brown Belt, got RNC'd by a guy who clearly had minimal JJ. Over the weekend (last saturday) I saw a kid who was supposed to be a HIGH level blue/purple under a brazilian guy out here be unable to completely control or submit a kid who only had 5 weeks of grappling training (with me. He came to me on the recommendation of one of my MMA students to get some help for this fight). While he didn't win, he stymied the BJJ guy pretty well.
Ah, sorry for the rant. Anyone I promote to blue belt has to have at least 8-12 months steady with me, or some combination of good knowledge of technique and competition experience. For example: if you're with me 6 months or more, and have won your division 2 or 3 times, that's almost a no-brainer for blue. If you've been with me a year, have good knowledge, roll hard and well, and don't compete, then I'll formally test you. It's all relative, but I'm pretty strict as a rule.

[Joshua Jarboe]

if you're with me 6 months or more, and have won your division 2 or 3 times, that's almost a no-brainer for blue.

Ohhhh, that makes so much sense. If you're dominating at your skill level, then it's time to move up a skill level. If not, then more training is required. I think if more people followed this, we wouldn't see "belt inflation" where your belt is 'worth less' or it 'means less' as time goes on.

Super cool.

[Jason Hyatt]

John, I really like the combination of subjective and objective evaluation in your promotion process. There are so many intangibles in the martial arts the subjective opinion of a highly qualified instructor matters. But I also like using measurable goals and objective qualifications to maintain a standard. Very nice to see as an educator.

[John Roderick]

I try. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have NEVER asked to be an instructor or be promoted by any of the QUALITY instructors I have. I was ASKED to test and be a rep. I've also had to test for all of them. Whether by sparring/doing an actual test, or demonstrating my knowledge. Plus, I've competed in MMA when there were no regulations or rules, and it was literally "hush-hush" as well as Muay Thai and grappling events. I don't win every time, but I've always tried to test myself. Listen, the proof is in the pudding. When your students start getting your philosophy and understand why you do things, coupled with seeing their own individual success, you know you're doing it right. There needs to be a standard, but also an accounting for individual circumstance. Not everyone wants to compete-so you need to accommodate that. Not everyone tests well or rolls in class well, but may be a monster on the mat or in the cage, so you need to have something for that. You need a curriculum outline, you need a mix of quantifiable and empirical standards to go by. And most of all, you need instincts. You know when someone is ready, even if they don't.

[MWTheory]

Dude, it's like the wild wild west out where I live. Every Kenpo school around slaps an MMA sign on their school and buys an American JuJitsu membership. Many regional MMA fighters are just loaded with poor video techniques and no fundamentals.

I noticed that when I was down in New Orleans a few weeks ago, the poor techniques and fundamentals. Granted, I'm not anyone...but the guards on these so called "Jiu-Jitsu Fighters" were horrid. And some of these guys came out of the biggest "well known" school in that area.