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Dealing with younger opponents in jiu-jitsu

Dealing with younger opponents in jiu-jitsu is one of the hardest things for older BJJ practitioners to overcome. Father time catches up with all of us at some point. We become less athletic, are dealing with more injuries and don’t have to strength or endurance we used to. Older practitioners can’t deal with the physical attriubutes of their younger opponents like flexibilty, endurance and their speed and athleticism.

What do I do?  

Do not try to keep up with their speed or athelticism. That is where they are comforatble. That the match into your realm. SLOW THINGS DOWN. Use your positions wisely. If on bottom, play guards that slow the actions down like closed guard. Attack the neck. Remain calm. Slowing down the pace of the match is essential for you to have the advantage and take away their strengths.

Other options

If you are playing the top game, using pressure passing will bring you the same benfits as a closed guard from the bottom. Pressure passing can be slow and methodical  and will forces your opponent into mistakes. Futhermore, taking them out of their comfort zone will cause them to lose some of their technique. Get yourself into positions where you can use your best submissions.

Antoher thing to learn to combat the younger opponet is stopping inverted guards. We suggest learning Estima locks to make them wary of putting that foot they need in your hip to go inverted.

Finally, these are just some simple tips to help our older pracitioners based on questions I receive the most. We need to keep our elder teammates up to speed. Like the old saying goes “Beware of the old guy in a sport where the majority of young guys quit in the first 6 months of training”

The Roles of a Youth Martial Arts Instructor

Instructor

First and foremost, of all of the roles of a youth martial arts instructor, this is the most important… They are there to teach your child martial arts. The parents enrolled their child to learn an art, and the instructor must be allowed to teach them. Many hours have gone in to developing the programs and system that are in effect at the academy/dojo. Instructors are there to guide children through these programs.  Straying from this will only be detrimental to the progress of the children.

Role Model/ Mentor

Now comes the second most important of all of the roles of a youth martial arts instructor. They are a role model and mentor to the children of the academy. The instructor who is usual an upper belt, must portray themselves in a professional manner. They must have neat and clean uniforms.  The children will learn what is like to have respect for themselves and for others by following the examples of the instructors. Also, the instructor sets the tone for having a solid work ethic and no excuse approach to all walks of life.

Instills discipline

You may be surprised,  but this role of a youth martial arts instructor is probably the one that gets misconstrued the most. They are here to instill a disciplined mentality in the children, not to discipline the children. Many times you see parents bring their child in and say that they are lacking discipline, when really they need to have a stricter disciplinarian in their lives. The youth instructor is not a Drill Sargent. He or she is not in the position they are in to fill that role. The instructor is there to teach the children how to discipline themselves. There is a difference, and when the line blurs, the children will start to dread going to class.

Positive reinforcement of all walks of life.

In conclusion, the roles of a youth martial arts instructor is not restricted to the inside wall of the academy. Kids love to tell their instructors about outside accomplishments. This is a great thing. It means they are filling the role of mentor the right way. The instructor must reinforce the accomplishment. Small gestures such as announcing in front of the whole class what the child has succeeded in goes far. The child will absolutely appreciate them doing this as should the parent.

 

 

 

If you are a parent of a martial arts student, here is a great article to read as well. Teaching your child how to lose.

Savarese BJJ year end message

As we bid farewell to another year, I wanted to talk about the last year and the success we had as a team. Individually, some of you guys and ladies had tremendous, productive, just awesome years. Shout out to our bluebelts who just killed it. All the upperbelts can take a lesson from the dedication, hard and ego-less work the bluebelts put in this year, testing themselves and growing. Our competition team won 4 TEAM titles this year! That is amazing and each of you should be proud of yourselves. We placed in 2 more. For those that are following our program, congrats and thank you for being a part of the team. Being your instructor has been a blessing in many ways, I learned a lot from you as well this year.

Growth

2016 was about growth for Savarese BJJ. ALL OF US. So many of you grew, on and off the mats, becoming more mentally strong and confident in yourselves. Keeping the motto “The only person you should be in competition with is the person you were yesterday” is vital. Focus on not who you started with but who you were yesterday and be better than that person. We grew as a team, as training partners and I can tell you I grew as an instructor. Some of the pitfalls of this year made me grow and I feel I am twice the instructor I was at the beginning of the year. Also, this was the first year I reached my goal of focusing on the people training and not the people staying home. Keeping that goal going forward is something I hope to accomplish. Professor Sean also grew as an instructor, taking the kids program to new heights. Savarese BJJ’s kids program in not just one of the best in the state but the best in the country. Every student of Savarese BJJ owes a debt of gratitude to Professor Sean. Because we would not be in this great facility without the growth of the kids program.

Goals

Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. The great Napoleon Hill once said “A goal is a dream w/ a deadline.” First of all, setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation . In addition, they help you focus, both in acquiring knowledge and organizing your time.  Being disciplined enough to stay in a “no excuses” mentally will help you on and off the mats, holding yourself accountable for everything you do. Doing homework will also get you further along as a faster rate. There are numerous sites out there now to do film study with Flograppling.com being the best IMO. (Even though I hated it in the beginning, it is an awesome site and worth the yearly fee). Finally, take advantage of the great instructors we have in for seminars every year. Besides Studio 540 in CA, I don’t believe any other school in the country brings in the talent to teach that our Academy does. Please don’t be spoiled by this. Don’t miss these great opportunities to learn from and ask questions after.

2017

Besides growth, it was also was a year of progress and maturity. The Academy has grown for the 6th straight year sticking by my life mantras of “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way, if not, you’ll find an excuse†and “No excusesâ€. Another blackbelt joined our ranks as did another “Professor”. We added an all women’s class which I am extremely proud of and hope continues in 2017. While everyone’s goals are different, improved technique, fitness, camaraderie, and mutual respect were common elements to everyone. Although I yell sometimes in order to push you to your goals, please understand that I am very, very proud of our accomplishments as individuals and as a team and Academy. Like I said during speeches in class, our curriculum has proven to be good and if followed, you will reach your goals. With the right attitude I believe the sky is the limit for us as a school. I will grow more in 2017 (personally and professionally) and become better than ever in 2017. Stand w/ us or stand behind us, we will accomplish all our goals in this year and grow even further in 2017.

Happy New Year!

see you on the mats!

The last guy in the room.

Every school has one student who is the last guy in the room at the end of the night. Either they are drilling, still training, or writing down and reviewing notes from the nights class. The important thing to take away from the last guy in the room’s actions are as follows:

The 3 D’s; Discipline Drive and determination.

First of all, the last guy in the room displays an incredible about of discipline, they are still working hard well after the class has ended and normally exhaustion is starting to set in. Also, they are showing everyone else in the room the drive they have to improve. They are pushing themselves to where they want to be. Last of the 3D’s is Determination. The last guy in the room is the one who is most determined to be better today than they were yesterday.

Adhering to the program and setting the right example.

Most Instructors respect hard work the most. They do not care about excuses and only want to see you improve. The last guy in the room at the end of the night is doing just that, working hard and following the program set forth by their instructor. Therefore, they are setting one of the best peer examples in the academy. Too often, students rush to be off of the mats at the end of the night, and miss out on seeing this example.

Bringing up the level of the room.

Lastly, when the last guy in the room is training at the end of the night, usually they have someone with them. It is hard to train by yourself. Hence, they are improving the skills of their training partner. The person that is staying late with them is unknowingly developing the same training habits as the person who asked them to train late. By doing this, the last guy in the room has given back to their academy and improved their training partners.

In conclusion, one of the best ways to improve in BJJ is through extra training. The time you spend working when the class has ended and the instruction is over. Take this as a bit of advice. The harder you work the better you get.

Being better than you were yesterday is the goal

Being better than you were yesterday is the goal you should have through your journey through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That applies at every single belt from white through black. There are 2 motivational quotes that I love about the beginning stages of BJJ. The first is Confucius’ “It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.” Earl Nightingale’s “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” is the other. Giving deep thought to these 2 quotes can put you in the right state of mind to succeed.

“It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.”

The first 6 months to a year of BJJ can be a tough road. There are dozen of new techniques to master and at times, it feels like you are never going to get it. Then the physical part comes right after that. You lose, then lose some more, and even more after that. Then you see others that started around the same time as you getting promoted quicker than you. It can be a serious blow to one’s ego. Many new BJJ practitioners quit in the first 6 months. They make every excuse in the book why they failed but the honest truth is, they stopped coming. The great Renzo Gracie coined the phrase “A blackbelt is a whitebelt who never quit.” It’s so true. If you continue plugging along, you will get better. I explain to my students every day, it’s like a totem pole, right now you are on the bottom of it. As new students enroll, you move up and practice on them. which leads us to…

Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”

I have a student named Jenn who was recently promoted to bluebelt. Since she joined our Academy, she has been by far the smallest person in the room every night. But she is a fighter. It took Jenn almost 2 years to reach bluebelt. Belts are not given away at our Academy. Many, many people would have given up. Jenn did not. Her journey has been frustrating at times and awesome at others. She won her first tournament recently at the NJBJJF. She has learned a lot in the past year, especially that you cannot be perfect in BJJ, it is a process, one that is difficult at times. Congrats Jenn, this promotion was one of my favorite in the 10 years of the school. And judging by the sheer happiness of so many in the room that day, others felt that way as well. The journey continues….