I was reading the New York Times and ran across the above image of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman.  In BJJ, every coach I ever had could easily destroy me on the mat so it struck me that Mr. Bowman is not likely to be able to outswim Michael Phelps.  In fact, I am sure that at no time in his entire life was he even remotely close the the ability shown by his prodigy.  If you look up Bob Bowman in wikipedia you'll see he did some college swimming himself, but no major accolades like world champion, national champion, olympic medalist, etc.  He was just a swimmer who loved to coach, and a damn good coach he is.

Martial arts and particularly bjj are obsessed with performance.  Even people past their prime, black belts are expected to hang on to some magical ability, defying aging.  Imagine if in a few years a young, athletic brown belt tapped Rickson out.  That day is going to come, if it hasn't already.  Imagine yourself if you tapped your black belt coach out legitimally.  Would that change anything for you?  At some point, the teacher can indeed become the student. One of the weirdest days for me was actually beating my father in tennis when I was in high school.  Something I had worked hard to do had happened and the happiness I thought I would feel was simply not there.  The joy was in pursuit, not in winning.  In fact, winning represented an end of an era - the destruction of a mental icon.  It was not a celebration, it was a wake.

So what makes a good coach?  Is it the fact that they can best you on the mat?  Is the only personal trainer worth hiring the one that can bench press 500 pounds?  Of course not.

What makes a great coach is not a simple formula, but I have found a few things in common with the great coaches I have found.

• Genuine desire to help others.
• Willingness to share all that they know.
• Deep, experienced understanding of the subject matter.
• Excellent observational and communication skills.
• Interpersonal skills - knowing when to push or let you grow on your own (coaching should be tailored)

Can someone be a good coach, but not be a black belt?  Yep. 

Can someone be a black belt (or even world champion!) and not a good coach?  Yep.  Seen that too!

If you look at the list above you will realize that a coaching relationship is just that, a relationship.  Since most of us pay an instructor for bjj lessons, it is easy to miss that point and see it as a transaction.  The acquisition of insight for a monthly payment.  This misses the point.  You must treat it as personal and take responsibility for its success.

As a student you should put in some time with that coach.  That may be attending classes consistently or even doing private lessons.  The most important thing is to actually demonstrate committment to the art and the other person.  Your coach or instructor should do the same.  They should teach the classes or ensure you are in very capable hands.  They should treat you with respect and help you when you have problems.  They should never blame you for shortcomings in your game or tell you what you should be getting from the art.  We all have our own reasons for doing what we do.  For some it is self defense, others camraderie, others a workout, and still others to be the UFC champ.  To each their own.

In the end, like all relationships, it comes down to feel.  Relationships take time and energy.  You don't eat at every restaurant in your neighborhood, you aren't friends with everyone you ever met, and you absolutely won't want to be coached by some bjj players.  However, if you check out a few schools you'll see very quickly where you want to be.  You'll find the place that you feel at home.  When you find that, consider yourself lucky and have fun.

See you on the mat!

Paul

 

Over the last two years we have covered a lot of ground in our club, from the variety of material to the class times, to class formats, and even the occasional in house seminars.  We have done some things right and others wrong.  The key is keep evaluating, keep testing, and keep improving.  In that effort, I have decided to make some changes in how we operate our training sessions.  These changes are the accumulation of what I have seen work in our club and some important lessons learned from watching successful coaches run their gyms. 

Positional Focus

Every SBGi location has a focus on fundamentals that is driven from the top down.  We have been the same since our beginning, and will continue as such, but with renewed vigor.  It is easy to get lost in working attacks and I want to be sure that we all spend more time in the coming months on solid, fundamental escapes.  This means that you can expect a higher percentage of drilling and a much stronger emphasis on positional work than submission work.  A strong ability to hold a position and to escape that same position is something I want us all to feel very comfortable with from everywhere (mount, side control, head and arm, etc).    I was reminded of how important positional escapes and positional dominance was in watching how Matt tested Collin for his blue.  Matt was clearly looking at those skills (as opposed to say,  subs).  A good emphasis for everyone at every level, but especially for us given our stage in development.

Only Two or Three Moves Per Class
Looking back on all of the classes we have held over the past several years, sometimes I have found the content (ex. number of techniques) to be too much for the group.  Conversely, I have rarely found too little content.  When our group was new I tended to show more information than was probably best.  This made sure I filled the class time with information.  Upon reflection, I probably did this out of my own personal fear of not having enough to cover or some insecurity about my depth in technical knowledge.  Through the course of experience, it has become very clear that more than 2 or 3 techniques in a single class is just too much for anyone to remember, or learn effectively in an hour class.  I made this adjustment a while back now, but I wanted to call it out as a clear and conscious decision.  I should also note that no one has ever come up and asked for more information, but people have said that less was better for their retention.  More evidence that the change is right.

Two Week Cycles
In my experience, covering a single topic, say side control, each week is just too abrupt.  It really only gives two classes in our current format to cover the topic (ex. escaping side control).  Jumping around each class or even each week just seemed a little cursory, resulting in people becoming lost in techniques without being able to really put the position together.  On the flip side, I find that three weeks is too long and people become anxious, wanting to move onto other areas.  This is why we will go with a two week lesson plan.   Each two weeks we'll cover a new area like guard passing, mount escapes, etc.  I already have a list of topics that I have pulled together from various sources (principally Matt T) that represents a solid curriculum, and we'll work through that material two weeks at a time.

The beauty of this is also that people can know what they missed should they skip a class.  Personally speaking, it allows me to go deeper into a position and find where my knowledge gaps really are.  By finding that edge, it will help push me to learn and force me to reach out to my coaches for answers to continue to evolve our understanding of the game.

Postures First, Techniques Second
One of the challenges with BJJ is the sheer volume of positions and material to understand.  This is overwhelming for everyone, but especially for people new to the art.  In order to address this, we are going to spend most of our time on postures and pressures.  Only once these are understood mentally and physically, then will we move to "moves".  I have seen some of my favorite teachers like Matt Thornton and Dave Camarillo move in this direction more and more over the years. 

For example, rather than show 3 techniques for passing half guard, we will spend a lot of time on the proper posture in that position from top and bottom.  Making sure we drill it so it becomes automatic.  Of course once we have the postures down, we will move to techniques, but without a base of posture, techniques become meaningless and difficult to connect.  I find that when I roll with high level belts, it is their posture that beats me, not a specific technique.  We want the same emphasis in our club.

Focus of the Month (optional)
Each month we will pick one thing to focus on for 30 days.   This can be a single submission like the triangle or kimura or it could be a theoretical concept like relaxation (sagging your body) or controlling your breathing.  The idea is that each month we will have something to focus on for our rolls.  This is completely optional, but I have heard from several black belts that this type of focus helps their game.  If you want to pay attention to the monthly focus it's pretty simple.  Every time you roll that month, just remind yourself quietly of the focus.  If it is breathing, really try to pay attention to your breath throughout the roll.  It's that simple.

I am confident these changes will improve the quality of our training sessions and increase the pace of learning for everyone. 

What do you think.  Are these good changes?  Are there other changes you'd like to see?

One of the main things that attracted me to SBGi a few years ago was the idea of isolation training.  I firmly believe that the “i method” used at all SBG gyms is the most effective way to learn any sport, particularly bjj.  We use it every class and it is not only effective, but fun.

Anyone interested in coaching others (and we are all coaches), should read this great article by Matt on the i-method and his perspective on drills and coaching.  Very insightful.

Posted to MMA.tv to rave reviews! 

Posted to JJGear Forum as well.