So I stumbled across the Grappler's Guide because our coach recently took a new job out of state and we were looking for online resources to keep our training going. Our next closest BJJ academy is 3 hours away and not realistic to travel to regularly. We are a small group of white belts (about a year in) and train religiously 3-4 days a week. What do people think about just using the fundamentals course here as our main curriculum until we find a new coach (if we ever do)? We've done it for a few weeks and so far it's working. The videos here are quite well done. It's been a bit challenging sorting through what we can actually transfer to an in-person class and what we can't but we're figuring it out.
We'd like to build our group up to enough people so we can afford to pay a coach to come in to town at least a few times a month but we're not there yet. Anybody have experience with this? Any advice would be welcome.
16 Comments
Maybe an interactive online class once a week and tre times drilling what you learned? Same method with seminars. One member visits a seminar, tapes it and tries to communicate the content to others. Very hard to get good feedback without a good instructor.
crossover, post: 60398, member: 10990
Maybe an interactive online class once a week and tre times drilling what you learned? Same method with seminars. One member visits a seminar, tapes it and tries to communicate the content to others. Very hard to get good feedback without a good instructor.
Yeah, we are really missing the feedback. We plan to reach out to the semi-local coaches to see what we can work out. Even a class over zoom would be something. Our biggest challenge is there are only a few of us so paying enough to make it worth visiting is tough. We zoomed with our old coach for most of our classes and it worked as long as we had some in-person classes for him to fix things we weren't able to fix over zoom. Unfortunately, he is way too busy to keep zooming with us. At least right now.
Do you have a wrestling club or a judo club near by? Maybe you could take one lesson per week from them?
crossover, post: 60404, member: 10990
Do you have a wretling club or a judo club near by? Maybe you could take one lesson per week from them?
No, unfortunately the nearest Judo club is also 3 hours away. We have a Tae Kwon Do school in town who claims to also teach MMA grappling but I know that their level of training is blue belt jiujitsu at best. I know this because they trained under my coach and they are way overselling their skillset.
I don't see a problem with guys getting together and drilling or rolling, and the GG will certainly be a great help. But you'll probably want to supplement that with some coaching. Maybe traveling as often as possible to a reputable place. I believe that is what Firas Zahabi did for years. He'd regularly make the 5 hour trip from Montreal to New York to take classes and privates at Renzo's academy.
Firstly, I think using the online courses the way you are doing is a huge benefit. If delivering/learning BJJ via video wasn’t beneficial then sites like GG and all the content on YouTube etc wouldn’t exist.
I think it is right to work through the courses but also not just work through it and forget about it. By this, I mean it may be worth extracting the relevant lessons that can be used in training from the fundamentals courses and put them in to a training course over a period of 12-16 weeks if possible a couple of times a week. Granted, this may be a huge task due to trying to squeeze in the content but you then would have developed your own fundamentals programme and calendar. This way, any new joiners get to complete the course no matter when they join.
Once you have got down your ongoing fundamentals foundation, you can start to add in the more advanced sections a number of times per week.
With regards to the coach element, have you looked at other avenues (Jason Scully please delete this part if it breaches forum rules) such as Beltchecker and BJJ Globetrotters? Beltchecker you can keep track of your training hours and also make note of the techniques you have been learning. It would then be worth attending a BJJ Globetrotters camp and request to be considered for promotion. Their panel of travelling black belts can assess your skill throughout the camp and also check your Beltchecker training history to ensure you have put in the work over time and then possibly promote you or give feedback on what you need to work on in order to be promoted.
MikeM82, post: 60411, member: 27695
Firstly, I think using the online courses the way you are doing is a huge benefit. If delivering/learning BJJ via video wasn’t beneficial then sites like GG and all the content on YouTube etc wouldn’t exist.I think it is right to work through the courses but also not just work through it and forget about it. By this, I mean it may be worth extracting the relevant lessons that can be used in training from the fundamentals courses and put them in to a training course over a period of 12-16 weeks if possible a couple of times a week. Granted, this may be a huge task due to trying to squeeze in the content but you then would have developed your own fundamentals programme and calendar. This way, any new joiners get to complete the course no matter when they join.
Once you have got down your ongoing fundamentals foundation, you can start to add in the more advanced sections a number of times per week.
With regards to the coach element, have you looked at other avenues (Jason Scully please delete this part if it breaches forum rules) such as Beltchecker and BJJ Globetrotters? Beltchecker you can keep track of your training hours and also make note of the techniques you have been learning. It would then be worth attending a BJJ Globetrotters camp and request to be considered for promotion. Their panel of travelling black belts can assess your skill throughout the camp and also check your Beltchecker training history to ensure you have put in the work over time and then possibly promote you or give feedback on what you need to work on in order to be promoted.
Thanks I didn't know about beltchecker. I'll look into it. Right now our coach is still willing to train with us periodically to assess our skills/promote us. Just not enough for regular feedback. Although I've been looking at BJJ globetrotters camps as well. What you described above is a lot like what we have going with our curriculum. We put together 2-3 related skills, work them all week, and keep a record of what we trained so we can circle back. Sounds like we are at least heading the right direction.
If you can make contact with a coach that could visit semi regularly maybe zoom sesions could be an option? My club has a relationship with Olavo Abreu in Thailand and we've done zoom sessions with him that were super valuable.
My club uses beltchecker to track class attendance as well. I personally find it very useful.
Well, one approach could be to use bjjglobetrotters inaction camp videos? It has a lesson recorded. Still the major down side is that during camp there is a vert good instructor who checks that message is understod. Often on inaction videos you get the general mistakes - the general way that technique is missunderstod and it might work for you too.
My prefered way would be Jason Scullys problem solving system! Use it and use your brain...Here the danger is ofcourse false positives. You can try your moves on a limited number of opponents and somewhere else the reaction to your solution might be different.
sgtbowe, post: 60395, member: 32921
So I stumbled across the Grappler's Guide because our coach recently took a new job out of state and we were looking for online resources to keep our training going. Our next closest BJJ academy is 3 hours away and not realistic to travel to regularly. We are a small group of white belts (about a year in) and train religiously 3-4 days a week. What do people think about just using the fundamentals course here as our main curriculum until we find a new coach (if we ever do)? We've done it for a few weeks and so far it's working. The videos here are quite well done. It's been a bit challenging sorting through what we can actually transfer to an in-person class and what we can't but we're figuring it out.We'd like to build our group up to enough people so we can afford to pay a coach to come in to town at least a few times a month but we're not there yet. Anybody have experience with this? Any advice would be welcome.
That's how a lot of people started out doing bjj in the 1990s/early 2000s. They would rent out early ufc and pride tapes from their local blockbuster or whatever else they can get their hands on and practice it on each other. It's a good temporary solution but eventually you will need some more formal training.
crossover, post: 60459, member: 10990
Here the danger is ofcourse false positives. You can try your moves on a limited number of opponents and somewhere else the reaction to your solution might be different.
The danger of false positives is something to keep in mind. Progressive resistance drilling and chunking techniques helps to alleviate this to some extent.
So you start with a compliant partner, once you feel you understand the technque your partner gives some resisitance, you problem solve what went wrong and so on as you build partner resistance. As you gain deeper understanding of technique you can also start further and further from the finish point. i.e. you might start with a kimura already locked in and just understand finish, then start with the arm isolated and work to lock the position and so on to keep moving a step back at a time. Drilling in reverse so to speak, Priit Mihkelson has a good "in action" video that demonstrates drilling in this way called "how to use underhooks better"
1/3 of my game is from self-learning. The greatest danger is learning something wrong and then having to unlearn it. But a good way to minimalize that is to only learn the simplest techniques and adding small changes and improvements to techniques you already have nailed down. For instance: instead of trying to learn berimbolo with a bunch of other guys who don't know it, learn to work the arm drag from guard. Videotape what you are doing and compare it with the instructionals. The other guys here are spot on in that at some point you will need to take a trip to a real school for an intensive couple of days or do some video because eventually even advanced guys degrade without proper feedback and instruction.
I would say your plan would be much better than doing nothing, and there isn’t any other option around anyways. At minimum you guys will get good at defending against common reactions from untrained to minimally trained people in case you need to use your BJJ in a self-defense situation. Some college wrestling teams will allow you to train with them without being a student with them. Something you might want to look into to supplement your grappling skills.