Themes of the Month

For our BJJ program, we have started doing monthlong blocks. What does this mean? Well, February has been (and continues to be, for another six days) half guard month. Why? It helps students and teachers alike get a little deeper into the meat of the art and I think, more importantly, it helps us all connect the dots a little more efficiently.

One of the tricky parts of BJJ (and indeed, any martial art) is the vast depth of techniques, positions, and strategies. This difficulty transfers to the communication of the art. How do you teach/learn such a deep thing? Do you focus on the basics? Do you expose students to a wide variety? Do you construct small games that center around core concepts? If the goal is to develop functional understanding, the answer to the dilemma must be: teach what helps people get better faster.

The themes seem to be helping people get better faster. Does this mean we have found the silver bullet? Heck no, because there is no silver bullet. We have found something that happens to work at this moment, for our gym. Undoubtedly, things will change. If they didn’t, I’d be worried.

For now though, I’m enjoying the half guard deep dive and hope everyone else is too. They at least say they’re enjoying it.