Teaching is a learned skill just like armbars. If you are an aspiring teacher, whether through choice or happenstance, please realize that failure is part of the process; for both the teacher and the student. Seek to improve yourself, your character, your leadership and your pedagogical process. Prepare for your lessons, give your best, and most importantly, reflect on the process. The Kids Professor is simply a resource for teachers to help in this endeavour. There are lesson plans, modified gameplay for BJJ, videos and supporting documents to assist in this process.
These resources work collectively but do not depend on each other. Feel free to interact with the material and experiment in your role as an educator. While I have laid out an order to the lessons this is only a suggestion. The lessons should fit the needs of the students, not the other way around.
The last piece of advice that I will leave you with is this:
During the earliest stages of learning it is important to realize that a student who is new to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has not built the perception of what “correct” or “good” feels like. This is built over time, with feedback and reflection. For this reason it is important to select a good training partner and encourage students to be helpful while assisting someone who is learning a move for the first time. Listed below are some basic guidelines to reinforce good training dynamics between students
A good training partner is compliant and non-resistant. One of the greatest things about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the frequency of live resistance training. Remind students that while in practice they are trying to help their training partners succeed in the movement. It is our natural inclination to resist submissions and body controls, but this needs to be overcome to build a sense of what doing the technique correctly feels like. There will be plenty of failure even with a helpful partner.
Break it Down- If the movement requires the training partner to have any timing, or a transition in timing, it may be necessary to break the movement down into smaller chunks. It is ok to teach the entry separately from the finish to allow the training partner an opportunity to work on the transition as well. After all, there are two people practicing and we should not lose sight of the fact that being a good training partner often takes an understanding of space and movement.
Make sure when giving instruction that you talk about what a “good training partner” does. This includes proper starting position, hand position, weight distribution and any transitions that you wish the student to make. While demonstrating the technique I feel like many instructors only focus on what they are doing and forget that newer students may not have proper responses and/or movements. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not intuitive and by giving proper instructions to both students you will find that the whole lesson goes smoother.
Explain the Why—Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not intuitive and sometimes keeping up with what you’re supposed to be doing is difficult. By building a better understanding of WHY a training partner is doing something will often lead to a greater understanding of the technique. Better understanding = better practice.
Provide feedback to the training partners as often as you do the practicing student. Children work off positive reinforcement and often I see all of that feedback given to the child who is practicing the movement. Praising a child that is being a good training partner is an important aspect of motivation for proper practice, even when it’s not their turn.
Encourage students to assist their partner with the same enthusiasm that they practice the movement. Feeling the development and execution has a lot of value when it comes to defensive grappling.
Tap. a quick light blow, or the sound of such a blow
The term “Tap” is used in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to communicate the need or desire to stop. While the dictionary definition included above gives a literal explanation of the word tap, it does not give a good understanding of the term in the context of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
While literally tapping your hand to the floor, your own body, or your partner's body is an acceptable way to communicate the need to stop, there are some instances where it is not feasible, or possible, to use your hands . In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we refer to “tapping” as the communication of the desire to stop rather than the physical tapping itself.
Understanding that “tapping” is the communication of the desire to stop, increases your options to communicate. You can say stop, you can yell, loudly groan, tap with your hand, tap with your foot or any other means necessary to let your partner know that you want/need them to halt their movements, attacks or pressure.
Now that we understand that tapping is a communication of desire to stop we should talk about when it’s ok to tap.The answer is simple. Any time. For any reason. Including inability to breath, pain, exhaustion, fear or ignorance.
This is a difficult question, much of the answer is dependent on having an intimate understanding of what is happening to you, what your personal body is capable of withstanding, and your ability to deal with being uncomfortable.
For many people Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the most physical thing they will ever do. It teaches you a lot about yourself mentally, emotionally and physically. As you progress through your training you’re going to build a better understanding of what you are personally capable of, and cultivate a level of fortitude that allows you to withstand a higher grade of discomfort.
Some students need a definitive answer to this question. While I believe it is difficult to describe, there are some general guidelines that I would use.
If your foot, finger or any other body part is caught in a part of the kimono, belt or in the matting you can tap.
I handle this situation totally differently between adults and children. Each academy, each instructor and each environment is going to have a different answer to this question. In my academy I go by this principle
Do not let your training partner’s ignorance fuel your ego.
Some of the most intense arguments I’ve seen in a training environment is two people arguing over if someone should have tapped or not. I would never condone hurting someone to prove them wrong, and while learning the limits of your body, mind and spirit are an ongoing process; a student should not have to pay with permanent injuries to learn the lesson.
What this means is you should use the fishermen motto “catch and release”.
While it is important for a student to develop an understanding of when their body is in danger, it is not another student’s job to teach the lesson. Allow the instructor to become part of the learning process as it will be an easier lesson to hear from the teacher.
Teaching children is different,
If you are an adult in a teaching role observing children sparring, it is also ok to stop and start the action by tapping for the child. This can remove the connection between tapping as losing and reinforce good training principles. After all, the movements in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu are not intuitive and as an observer you may have a better view, or understanding of a situation and child safety is more important than everything else.As an instructor there will absolutely be times where you tap for a child and they are upset. This can be due to the fact that they were about to escape, (whether perceived or legitimate) and you should encourage a restart of the action, from a neutral position. If they continue to object, reinforce you are there as an advocate for their health, and ask if they would like to continue to train or take a break.
Again, child safety is paramount.
The Break fall is the single most important technique that you can teach someone. It is far more likely to be used than any other technique as people often fall in non-combat related activities all the time. For that reason it should be included in every curriculum, reviewed often and repped daily.
There are three important Break-Fall variations to learn:
To perform a Breakfall the practicing student will cross their arms across their chest with their fingers touching their shoulders. Then they will make sure their feet are less than shoulder width apart and squat down until their tailbone is close to the floor. As the student is squatting they should touch their chin to their chest to prevent the back of their head from hitting the floor during the breakfall.
To execute the Break-Fall the practicing student will simply allow their lower back to make contact with the floor and continue to roll up their back until they reach their shoulders. As their back is making contact with the floor the practicing student will exhale and extend their arms between their hips and shoulders slapping the mat with their hands in the palm down orientation.
It is ok to allow the legs to come up off of the mat to help maintain the curve of the back and disperse the impact across the entire back and arms rather than back flopping on the mat.
The Side Break-Fall is an important variation as sometimes you cannot control the direction of the fall. This can be practiced by entering the squat as stated above (arms crossed, feet less than shoulder width apart, chin tucked) but altering the fall. The fall can be altered by choosing one side to fall and straightening the corresponding leg across the body. This will effectively remove an essential part of the students base and create space to fall. As the student is falling they should extend their arm, palm down and attempt to touch the floor one moment before the rest of the body makes contact. Just before making contact with the mat the practicing student should remember to forcibly exhale to prevent having the wind knocked out of them.
It is important to understand that this hand is not attempting to catch, brace or prevent the fall, but rather to spread out the practicing student’s mass as much as possible to distribute the force of impact.
The Front Fall is the most difficult of the falls to practice because intuition is to reach your hands out and try to catch yourself. It is also scary to do correctly because it will give the sensation that you are about to smash your face into the floor (and you will if done incorrectly).To practice the Front Fall the student will start on their knees with full posture. There should be as much separation between the student’s heels and buttocks as possible with the knees, thighs, hips and chest making one straight plane.
The student will then lift both arms and make a diamond shape by connecting their pointer fingers and thumbs (Note- The Diamond shape is only a visual cue and it is not necessary to actually touch the fingers). The hands should then be brought up to the nose with the pointer fingers in front of, but not touching the nose.
Before executing the front fall, the student should make sure the elbow, forearm and hands create a flat plane that will make contact with the floor prior to the rest of the body. It is the goal to have the whole forearm, including the hands make contact simultaneously. As the student is falling forward they should turn their face. There will be some give in their arms and if the student doesn't turn their face it is very possible that their face makes contact with the floor.As with the other Breakfalls it is extremely important for the student to exhale forcibly as they are falling to prevent having the wind knocked out of them.
Teaching someone how to get off of the ground safely and efficiently is nearly as important as learning how to fall. It is important in a combative instance to learn the mechanics of the body, how to have the arms, legs and hips working together and dangers associated with attempting to get back to your feet in front of someone. However, it is also important to learn this skill as there are many instances in your life that require getting up off the floor (playing with kids, servicing some appliances, laying on the beach etc).
To perform the Technical Stand Up the student will sit on the floor on their buttocks with the bottoms of their feet touching (very similar to a Butterfly Stretch). The student will then choose one side and place one hand on the floor. The same side leg will then remain on the floor with the knee touching the floor. The other foot will be placed with the foot flat on the floor and the knee pointed towards the ceiling. The same side arm, as the knee towards the ceiling, will place the elbow on the top of the knee in a resting position. This is referred to as the “Watching TV position”. Once in position the student will use the hand that is on the floor, and the opposite foot on the floor to lift their body. This lifting should allow the hips to rock back and forth but may take some practice to hold this position. I typically allow students some practice in lifting their hips a couple of times before I ask them to transition the legs. To transition the legs, the student will lift their hips and slide the non-posted leg under the body until it can be firmly placed behind the posted hand. Once posted the child should be able to comfortably stand into a neutral standing stance.The placement of the foot can be a difficult concept to understand but a new student can build this understanding by placing their resting arm on the floor comfortably next to the posted hand before lifting their hips. This will lock their hips into a set pattern and will allow an easy placement of the non posted foot.Note- The non-posted hand has the job of protecting the face and/or framing in the event an opponent attempts to close the distance while performing the Technical Stand Up. While this is exceptionally important, and should be pointed out, it is ok to alter the hand placement while learning how to raise the hips and place the second foot to alter the hand placement.
Bridging is an essential technique for making space. The Bridge has many applications and is present in many martial arts. It is both diverse and powerful. There are however differences in the application and execution of the Bridge between sports. This is typically based on the rule set. For instance, in wrestling they bridge on their head rather than their neck and shoulders. It is important to practice this daily as it will also be used in every training session. The Bridge is a gross motor movement that engages a lot of the core muscles and is great for part of your school's warm-up sequence.
To practice the Bridge the student will lay on their back with their legs bent and feet on the floor. The heels should be pulled as close to the student’s buttocks as is comfortable with an emphasis on pushing off the balls of their feet. Their hands should be in the Home Alone position with their elbows pressed against their ribs. To execute the Bridge the student will lift their hips towards the ceiling and then angle their body towards one shoulder. This will slightly turn their belly and create a desire to turn over. As the body is lifting the student should extend their arm so that their bicep and shoulder make contact with the jawline and ear (not across the throat). This hand should continue to reach throughout the entirety of the bridge with the desire to touch the pointer finger to the floor at the highest point of the bridge. Once the finger makes contact with the floor the student will allow their hips to lower while retracting their arm into the Home Alone position as their body reaches the starting position (back flat, heels close to the Buttocks). Then the student should practice the Bridge to the opposite side.
There are various applications for the Bridge and many ways to practice. Make sure the student not only understands the power of lifting the hips, but also the range of motion of the hips, the reaching arm and how to maneuver their own legs to transition directly into the Turtle Position.
This movement is equally important as the previous two but mostly has combative implications and so it is listed third. Strong and diverse hip movement is essential to being able to grapple, and while there are different ranges for hips movements, the shrimp is arguably the most important. In every class, in every training situation, and with almost every partner, there will be a need to shrimp to create space. For that reason it is important for students to develop a deep understanding of how the shrimp works, how to apply the shrimp, and revisit the movement regularly.
To practice the shrimp the student will lay with their back with their legs bent and feet flat on the floor. The initial movement will be a very slight bridge to relieve some of the friction on the lower back and hips. The bridge should be initiated from the toes with an emphasis on one shoulder. As the hips are lifting the practicing student will push off their toes while simultaneously crunching their nose towards their toes. Emphasize hip movement as the crucial part of the shrimp. For students that struggle it is ok to stand over the practicing student with your feet planted on either side of the practicing student’s hips. Encourage the student to crunch their body over the shin and use their arms and feet together to slide their buttocks, hips and lower back out and away from your legs. Then, once they have cleared the legs they will return back flat and you can progress to standing over their hips again. Being able to use the arms to push on the shin is helpful in understanding the progression of the body, but also having the other shin limiting the space behind the student also reinforces a good pathway for the hips while performing the shrimp.
Lastly, if a student’s feet are slipping while performing the shrimp, it is because they are pushing off of their heels and/or the flat part of their foot. Have them emphasize pushing off the balls of their feet before performing the shrimp.