If Your Coach Does These Things... He Sucks.

[@hard2hurt]

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[@Robin_Is]

Ok.

[@creach34]

You should have added A overall training goal. It is hard to explain; I am a BJJ guy. A lot of "coaches/professors" train whatever comes into their heads. It does not have a connection to the last class and or training more than one or two techniques in a single class. So you end up learning things halfway or do not have the time to dial it in, at best, or not remembering how to perform the techniques at all. It would be the same as teaching a boxer an uppercut but not a jab. Then a weak hand cross and not a perry or shield. You need that overarching goal that connects to the last thing in the block you are working on to be a competent fighter or for self-defense. You need A to B to C to build off of. You need to learn the jab, cross, and uppercut before learning how to put them together. It is more important in BJJ in my eyes. You will not be a successful practitioner in BJJ if you do not have some guard retention and or a top game with the ability to put your game plan together. Having an incomplete game will prevent you from getting good or mastery. But this still applies to almost all martial arts. Training with a goal of working from point A to B is the only way to be competent. Most of the time this comes with a lesson plan. If your gym does not do this try to find a new one. 😁

[@feral107]

hey mike, what's your take on LEP flashlights vs traditional beams for self defense?

[@someonethatisachristian]

in much of europe, people use HDR50 (pepperball-launcher/paintballguns with a bit more power) with ammunition like aluminium or steel balls etc since pepperballs are illegal, this is catching on in the US too. Would be great with a review on this here, if you think its practical for home defence mainly from some very competent people! dont be crazy and test it on yourself, but just what you guys think!

[@unsecured222]

Hey Mike, just a heads up on the gluten free part. Contains barley (green), so probably not going to be safe for those with Celiac.

[@GuelermeDias]

What you mentioned regarding "no white belts teaching white belts" is basically an application of Vygotsky's scaffolding theory for group work - you have a more skilled student work with a less skilled student to provide the latter instruction while allowing the former to practice and hone their skills. If you pair up a beginner with someone who's too advanced, someone will be overwhelmed, bored, or both, so it's good to do it with people that are just past that zone of development. tl;dr: tiny bald shouty guy has good head for teaching

[@vangay5740]

If you can't simplify what someone is teaching you then you have not learned it I would say that would be the best test of that if you cannot simplify something to a new student then you were not taught well to begin with

[@Geo-FaFa]

@@vangay5740 When you reach "unconscious competence" in any skill, you just won't be able to simplify the task anymore. It's because you cannot empathize with being new at the task anymore.

[@hariman7727]

It depends on what's being taught. One fellow white belt I worked with in Karate couldn't teach me shit about the style we were both learning, but already had 30+ years of martial arts/fencing experience, so had a wealth of knowledge to teach me on learning martial arts and other aspects of martial arts beyond the style itself, including mentality things and mistakes in training and such. But actually learning things in the specific style I'm learning from fellow white belts hasn't happened, because the white belts don't know enough to teach and are learning the same things.

[@jc-kj8yc]

My old Hapkido coach used to say: "teaching means that you show and explain something to someone in a way that they can also show and explain it." If a whitebelt can teach another whitebelt, you did your job as a coach correctly!

[@hariman7727]

That's really rare though.

[@jc-kj8yc]

@@hariman7727 not really. If you do your job as a coach properly and create a good feedback culture in your classes, it's really common. Tbf we're not talking about whitebelts who are here for the 3rd lesson, but who are here for about 2-3 months

[@hariman7727]

@@jc-kj8yc I don't agree. Not with what I've been taught and how I've learned. Especially considering that white belts typically don't have full understanding or mastery of the techniques.

[@Hayhurstb]

A white belt who can teach his belt level techniques correctly should be promoted. Being able to teach the techniques you know shows a much higher level of understanding. Where I train you do not advance without being able to teach the techniques below your current level.

[@jamesonweston]

My coach has never had us "warm up". In his words when he trained at the Gracie Academy, he asked Rorion "why don't we warm up?" Rorion responded "I teach you jiu jitsu, I don't teach gym. You want warm up, show up early, run around the academy." That's how my coach John Crouch teaches.

[@ParkourEh]

Especially considering some classes are as short as an hour long and 20 minutes are spent warming up. Wasted time.

[@SKBROOSE]

Aaaaaye JCBJJ!

[@Usuwus-n5g]

@@ParkourEhmy wrestling classes are 1hour and 30 mins and the warm ups are usually short

[@maciekpokrywex4089]

Its not wasted time, u can do in every warm up - mobility, dynamic stretching and intervals it will make good cardio and endurance for sparings ​@@ParkourEh

[@dero5466]

@@ParkourEh i agree. warm up on your own time.

[@MoodersInit]

as the guy who was there for 8 months and got paired with all the new people i can confirm, being somewhat new you can relate to the new person and show them what a short period of training can teach you as well as make them feel welcome and not overwhelmed.

[@TheCrazyN]

I came here to say this

[@danielmulholland5869]

If you can't do that as an experienced athlete it's not because of your experience, it's because you can't teach. People that have been in a gym for 8 months can also be bad at teaching due the nature of who they simply are, and not as a result of the abundance or lack of experience. The idea that a talented athlete shouldn't go with a new guy and the reason why is "cuz your dumb if you think they should!" is just silly. Other than that last point though the video was pretty good

[@kyle52245]

@@danielmulholland5869 I don't think he was saying that experienced students shouldn't help new students, but in his example, both of his experienced students we fighters, one getting ready for a fight, and one newer fighter who is crushing all his opponents. If one of the options was an experienced fighter who retired due to an old injury, but still enjoys training.. they would be a good option for sure!

[@CaPnBaLlBaG]

@@danielmulholland5869 I think it’s less the experience and more the nature of their training that makes the fighters bad choices. We all have different reasons for training: fun, getting in shape, self defense, competition, etc. Serious competitors training with the brand new guy is bad for both of them. The competitors want to train to compete and the new guy doesn’t wanna get beat down to the point of being demoralized on day one.

[@mishael1339]

@@danielmulholland5869 I agree 100%. The example lacked crucial information about whether the amature fighter likes and is good at teaching, what is the intensity of training and hence whether they had time to spare, is the 8 month dude any good, even when coming to every class some people progress pretty slowly or are bad at instructing. Size? Matching a new guy with someone of roughly equal size can be good. Maybe the mom or her daughter are ok. Is the new guy a she? If so she might be more comfortable working with them, given you trust them with instructing. Etc etc. Too many missing variables left for the viewer to assume.

[@maddinkn]

I just remembered back in highschool we had a Karate Teacher come by and as a warm up he said "try to touch your partner on either their shoulder or quad" first to get 5 points wins. I don't remember anything else but it was fun. Kids started circling around each other, parry and go into different "stances" so to say. My partner was alot taller than me. Still fun

[@hard2hurt]

That's a pretty good one

[@tuerkefechi]

We do similar warmup games, which already have to Do with „Fighting“ 👍🏼

[@julianbrochu4147]

i am stealing this one

[@lihchong2267]

We've been doing this the last month or so, but only after the running around the room.

[@damianson56]

Shoulder and knee taps are a great warmup

[@The31st]

lol I've definitely made people run to buy time to think of something better to do

[@blockmasterscott]

You and me both. You’re not alone lol!

[@hard2hurt]

I've definitely done it. I've had coaches say out loud "start jogging while i think of what i want to do" and I was embarrassed for them. If people are trusting us and/or paying us... they deserve better.

[@kaizenproductions00]

My high school wrestling coaches definitely did that sometimes!

[@legin777]

I have always wondered why they have us do that instead of drilling armbars/triangles, or just shadow box for a couple minutes to warm up instead.

[@NoForGayJesus]

Pretty straight forward coming from a boxing perspective, jump rope, shadowbox, bag drills, running a mile, pushups, sit ups. Nothing wrong w the basics

[@nickbarbas9296]

I have been doing karate for 20 years, boxing for 8 and BJJ for some time in between, I am also a strength and conditioning coach and this is now my absolute favorite video on KZbin. Well said.

[@BiggityBoggity8095]

I’ve done Muay Thai for 5 years, BJJ for about 1 year, and now I’m in a boxing club. I have to say… I’ve never been satisfied with any gym I’ve ever been to. Every single time I think: “I could run this class better somehow.” And that’s no lie, I really think if I were in charge of my own martial arts gym, I’d be the best in town. But people have black belt syndrome. No one is going to join your gym if you don’t have a fight record and you’re not of a high ranking within your martial art.

[@hard2hurt]

It's a long, uphill battle for sure.

[@KelpWolf]

@@BiggityBoggity8095 it's also easier to think of things to do better when you're not in the hot seat with the responsibility and pressure on you. Keep at it, you'll get there

[@BiggityBoggity8095]

@Pa Mu absolutely. I want to run my own gym one day because I want to provide for others what I feel like I’m never gonna have.

[@fullmerfitmindandbody]

@@BiggityBoggity8095 buddy this resonates with me. I'm an instructor at an mma/self defense gym. I hold no jiujitsu rank, although I've trained grappling arts for many years, same with boxing and kickboxing. I have a couple amateur boxing fights and some kickboxing smoker fights with other gyms, but no mma record...no bjj belt. My classes, both standup and grappling, are always well received and productive, we spar and we spar often, but our gym gets no love because we're not "affiliated" with some kind of bjj lineage. Yet, our students go to grappling competitions and kill it. When visiting competitive fighters come by to spar, they are shocked by the talent in there. But to everyone else, the gym is "not legit" because of the lack of black belts. I love training jiujitsu, but they have definitely made a gatekeeping culture in the martial arts world.

[@mikebuvoltzbushcraftandmar6384]

Completely agree with the warm-up thing. I broke away from the running, bodyweight warm-ups with my students some time ago. I would tell them "You're here to learn things you don't know. If you're not running and doing pushups on your own time, that's on you." Not to mention, I found that exhausting a beginners body before trying to teach them techniques was very counter-productive.

[@sylascole5254]

Your athletes are super fortunate to have you, you've really nailed so many important points here!

[@frisodenijs]

I remember my first kick-boxing class. First sparring session I got someone who was prepping for a fight... I had to sit out the rest of the sparring because I couldn't stand properly anymore. Almost made me decide not to continue

[@kiarce3]

he was just a dickhead, good u didnt quit

[@hard2hurt]

Yikes. Sorry that happened. That's what happens when there is no logic or reasoning for how sparring is run... or worse... when there was and you were intentionally used as target practice.

[@13buthead]

What an asshole partner. Idk if I would blame the couch.

[@ninjascoob]

I’m a TKD instructor of close to 10 years and I will hold my hands up and say I’ve learned something from this. I’ve been moving away from running warmups over the last 2 years instead doing shadow boxing with a partner but I will hold my hands up and admit I still do running on occasions. It’s what I did when I first started training. I have also realised over the last 12 months my TKD training has suffered over the years so have started training more regularly with my students. I’ve been training regularly though in Kali. And I was intrigued by the student you would stick with the beginner as my go to has always been the most senior student so I will definitely have a rethink on that.

[@fochiqui]

I do the warm ups to target muscles that will be utilized and get the body nice and limber ….I do it quickly and pretty decent intensity to prevent injury… I don’t take more that 5-8 min… I love this vid but don’t agree fully with this… If it’s random condition they can do on their own as the actual training, then that’s an issue

[@siegethompson3194]

When I first started Muay Thai, my coach stuck me on the mat with actual fighters. I thought I was hot shit and it humbled me. Plus, I couldn’t hurt them and they wouldn’t hurt me. It was actually a good idea in this instance tho, bc once I was allowed to spar with everyone else, I was in the upper middle of the pack in just a few weeks, honestly. Pumped my ego back up some. I needed that humbling first or I might have become retarded.

[@odiogoponto]

I don't think the issue is with the neniority. The soccer mom and her teen daughter are problably way to casual to teatch the new guy and and the fighters are in a completely diferent game and mindset. On the other hand, the dude that goes every day for 8 months clearly shows intrest in his teachings and have been paying atention long enough to intructo someone on the basics and understand mos of his dificulties.

[@iankelley9704]

I think running can be good, depending on the students you have and your objectives. I have had adult students that didn’t know how to shuffle side to side or bounce on their toes. If you are teaching running techniques or have agility drills pertinent to the class, or just teaching coordination to people who don't have it, I think it's golden. I get what he's saying in the video and I get that I'm kind of arguing a different point.

[@tuerkefechi]

I do running sometimes, because most of the people training with me never run in their own in private time 😂 neither do I 😂 so some jogging is good for usually. But I combine this with various exercises, jumping, shadow boxing, relaxing your wrists, running sideways, backwards and so on. I see it as a possibility to get back som school sports into the training session, because most of is regular joes do move too little during the rest of the week. So one way to getting a bit of this „childhood fitness“ back 😂

[@sanjeezy8016]

This video 100% facts. Just left my gym cause of how useless and monotonous the classes were. My last month I just skipped the classes and went to sparring, but even still I’m not improving as much as I should if I had proper instruction. The way you run your classes are amazing, wish I had a coach like you!

[@mahdi7d1rostami]

This is so true. When I was in middle school I participated in a self defence class (looking back on it now I don't even understand what self defence was supposed to mean) and every session we would spend half the time of that session doing weird things starting with running and continuing with stupid moves like hopping forward while being in push up position. But the point is ordinary people that don't work out are weak af. Maybe doing these crazy moves was their way of forcing participants to workout because if left to themselves no one would've trained their endurance.

[@tanyuwei1995]

yeah, that is why i quit my MT class. 90 minutes session but we spend 45 mins doing running and other cardio stuff. by the time we got to shadow boxing drills and sparring everyone was half dead gassed and i dont really learn much from it. Could've done my own cardio at home. When i come to class I wanna actually spar or at least learn something.

[@vocartagmailcom]

There are excercises that look stupid but have their purpose, like they teach coordination with both legs and hands or strenghten your whole body. So I would not judge, maybe there was a purpose like some students needed this kind of excercises. Or maybe even you;)

[@tanyuwei1995]

@vocart I agree. All I'm saying is I could've done those on my own. Would be nice if class sessions could be more specific giving the limited time.

[@percivalconcord9209]

@@tanyuwei1995 It could be deliberate. I've heard its a thing they do so that when it comes time to spar fighters are too tired if there are those that wanna go all out.

[@nagyzoli]

"But the point is ordinary people that don't work out are weak af. Maybe doing these crazy moves was their way of forcing participants to workout because if left to themselves no one would've trained their endurance" You nailed it. That is exactly that. Real world people treat martial arts as a hobby and sports. Your class IS there weakly sport, they do not go out and train separately. So warm up is very essential to avoid injury and to develop cardio. I did martial arts for 14 years like this. 1/3 of the time is physical training 1/3 is theoretical drilling (learning the move itself) 1/3 is sparring

[@henryc7548]

I love you pulling apart the no white belts teaching white belts. If you have a good gym with a balance of instruction and experimentation, especially if the art is has a huge lexicon of moves it’s always great to have everything sharing two cents. I do think it becomes a problem if you have a long time white belt who talks more than the coach

[@hard2hurt]

Yeah... that's a good example of when it actually is a problem.

[@crimsonchaos2137]

I like how you say “ your stupid if you do this “ then don’t explain why it’s a bad thing very good teaching on your part

[@hard2hurt]

Sarcasm, for the most part, is an extremely poor method of communication in general... but it is even less effective when used in text. People can't interpret your tone and this is compounded when the target audience has no clue who you are and no existing relationship. If you are not in a leadership or supervisory position and have not established any expertise in the field, nobody knows whether you are trying to make a humorous observation or you are genuinely an idiot. Sarcasm as criticism really only has a place when you have an established level of expertise, a clear relationship to the audience AND the audience itself is aware or could be easily made aware of the error you are pointing out. So I taught you that your use of sarcasm is at best ineffective.

[@gymvideos4579]

Your videos used to make me mad that schools like this exist and I couldn't find one. But you caused me to restructure my training so I get everything I need. I hired a private boxing coach and train w several other ppl outside the gym. Thanks for the info and motivation.

[@Idkwtmmythandle2024]

Just started leading a jiu jitsu class, and have been trying to figure out how to structure class and what not. This is really helpful! Thanks Mike

[@TheLike_Button]

Hey mate, I’ve been running BJJ classes the last 4 years and what I do depends on the class’ skill level. Beginners: standard line drills, technique, positional rolls (attack/defend) Intermediate: line drills or flow/light rolling, technique, a few positional rolls, live rolls Competition team: light/flow rolls, in-depth takedown (work 1 takedown for a few weeks with the most common counters), in depth technique (work a position/submission with 2-3 possible reactions/transitions), live rolls, EBI Overtime for the last 3 rounds Hope this helps

[@cgsec2275]

I have been to one single BJJ(I know it is different style) class (few days ago). So I am not an expert. But it was for all levels. We did 3 or 4 drills with the same partner, teacher demonstrates and explains drill for a few minutes then we drill with partner for maybe 10-15 minutes (guessing as time was a bit of a blur), instructor shows next drill, and so on. And then sparring at the end of class with different various partners. During the drills, me and the partner would decide who practices the technique and who resists and how often we would switch. And the teacher would come around and give everyone tips. It was fairly relaxed but also felt well structured. We all felt comfortable and could take a pause to catch our breathe whenever we wanted to, but at the same time it was pretty intense because we all wanted to train hard. So since it was my first class I was a white belt and I drilled with a blue belt who was great. We did not do any warm ups in the class. Several of us including myself actually got there early and did stretching and warm ups. As it was my first time I was a bit worried about getting injured so I wanted to do this. But I felt very safe, the ones I drilled and sparred with were really nice and used a lot of strength and skill, but when I tapped they stopped immediately. I did feel a bit bad for them like maybe they were not learning as much from me (I was certainly learning a lot from them), but I was a toy they could play around with so maybe that was useful for them. Obviously in the sparring I got destroyed but it was great. So that was the structure and how I felt as a first timer. Very friendly and safe atmosphere, no egos, but also intense, these were the most important things for me. Will definitely go back.

[@vadimbobov4051]

As a southpaw who has visited a good number of gyms the ones where the coach tailors the technique taught to open stance constructively are easily ones where I have learnt the most.

[@hard2hurt]

I love the puzzle of figuring out what your version of the lesson is supposed to be. I have a video coming out for you soon.

[@Tamales21]

@@hard2hurt hey Mike I am sorry but I must be a dumb dumb. Can you explain slowly and is short words why the two more seasoned fighters were the wrong choice? I am guessing because they might be self absorbed a-holes and the 8 months guy would just be more level headed but my first instinct was the seasoned fighters because the fighters at my old gym were all cool headed guys.

[@nagyzoli]

I love training with actual geniune southpaws/left handers because of how it changes your brain totally. I have been doing martial arts for 14 years (hobby of course) and got my rear kicked by southpaw simply by being southpaw. It is a short circuit to the brain, like seeing a physical imposibility. I have actual multiple year champ friend who looked like he fought first time in his life when he sparred with a left hander :D

[@vadimbobov4051]

@@nagyzoli it can definitely but confusing initially , you should see when two southpaws meet for the first time absolute confusion first especially if they both enjoy counter striking 😂. It is a matter of exposure though some gyms have a quite a few so everyone’s adapted others have none and look at you like a different species.

[@formoney5255]

I started my MT journey learning from a somewhat famous, former professional kickboxer. He always started his classes with meditation. As far as sparring, his classes were always fairly small, and so over the course of the class, everyone who he thought was competent enough to safely spar would spar essentially every other person in the class at least once; with the expectation that in cases of large skill gaps that better fighters would essentially be there to help the newer fighters. He also did a good job of mainting the thai principle where if you went hard enough that you are too sore the next day to train, you went to hard. the first day I walked in for a trial class, he partnered me with himself, witch at the time seemed reasonable. My only real complaint about his class was that he never did just dedicated sparring or dedicated anything days; every day involved circuit training, and teh stations were several types of bags, a shadowboxing station (where he would generally step in sometimes and show you new stuff or how you were fucking up something), and a sparring station. I may be crazy, but it kinda seemed like some days for just sparring or just new techniques would have been a good idea.

[@Tom_Framnes]

In my utmost humble opinion. “ Nothing more rewarding than getting ones thesis validated by those who exceeds oneself in excellence” “ Wisdom equates to correct comprehended knowledge appropriately applied” “ Emancipation through application” A honor to be able to observe and learn from such fellow peer as yourself. Sincere regards. Fellow Martial Artist. Tom Framnes. Norway.

[@AqueleGamer]

Hey coach, thanks for this video. This is IMPORTANT. I was an amateur fighter in the local scene from 18 to 21. I learned a lot of proper form, technique, my conditioning was great, I was an excellent instructor to new people... But my actual fighting experinece was limited. While I was in the loop, I never really thought much about it, I just thought that most of the fight prep was the physical conditioning and the sparring was something eventual you did in order to get better nearer fights. That is not the case at all, you NEED the actual movement, resistance on the other side, proper drills to do while sparring... I became an incredibly better fighter when one of the OTHER fighters noticed how I was simply lagging behind and he helped me personally to focus on the thing I was struggling the most, which was focusing while I fought. It was a particular difficulty of mine to have a clear mind while on the ring, and he made sure I was drilled well in that. The coach never understood the way I fought, and literally every time I was sparring he would criticize my style as reckless, while ALL of the other fighters recognized me as much, much better due to having deviated from his teachings. It was freeing, I felt like I actually knew how to fight now, I won my next 2 amateur fights by TKO by being MUCH more aggressive than what I was being taught. I've been out of Muay Thai for a while now, been keeping myself fit in other ways, but whenever I've come back to fight there, I've actually gotten better than before. Imagine that, I'm BETTER at fighting after LEAVING a fucking FIGHTING gym. That's how bad shitty coaching can fuck you up. If you get a good enough base, which at least that place gave me, you can really go out on your own and learn much more than being guided by a troglodyte of a coach.

[@BenjaminDaniel-v2k]

I had exactly the same experience, from 14-18 I was at a MT gym and began to compete amateur after just 6 months (learned fast and seemingly was a natural) and by 16 went semi, trained in Thailand a few times etc, won quite a few fights and lost just 1 or 2, by the time I was 18 nearly 19 I began training casually just once a week at another gym which was owned by the ex-student of the head coach of my current gym (who head coach hated), and within a single session I broke through the plateau that I'd been at for the previous 2 years. The head coach found out I was training there, and even after I explained that I'm still fighting under his gym I just want to branch out and experiment spar with new people etc, he instantly gave me an ultimatum... Us or them. Of course I went with the new gym and within 3 months they had me win a regional full contact title. Another 15 years later (after a solid 8 years off), I've been running my own classes for the last 3 years and evolving almost daily as a coach and with my own practise, and it boggles my mind how I even won a single fight under the first trashcan if a gym I trained at. I stalked a little to see what they're doing now and not a thing has changed in 20 years since I first began.

[@bob67497]

As someone who's learned a ton about TEACHING in his life from having to get all kinds of people to learn all kinds of things, rather than being a martial arts instructor or whatever- nail, meet head. People don't HOLD coaches accountable much, and you should ALWAYS after EVERY teaching session be looking for ways to make your lessons easier to digest and get use from, more ways to specialize your teaching to the students you have, et cetera. Big thumbs up here.

[@hard2hurt]

Many teachers place all the burden on the student... i love the idea of accountability for teachers.

[@bob67497]

@@hard2hurt I used to play at a LARP, and as one of the more experienced fighters in that group, I would teach newbies shit, but when I learned I was doing something wrong, or could tighten it up, I'd teach the others too, because I didn't want to be teaching them my mistakes and then not correct them along with me, you know? I think that attitude is important for instructors to have.

[@Valiant600]

I left my ITF Tkd/Kickboxing Dojang/Gym because it was transforming into a mcdojo, but the instructor was a "killer". Training with us, hard sparring, still going to events even in his 50+ years. I mean I can say a lot about how he was giving away belts for money but he was actively training as well. I do not regret staying there for 12 years because initially it was one tough gym with serious training going on but money got the best of him.

[@Bonbon-C]

That's sad =(

[@bunnyofdoom4501]

I'm pretty sure Icy Mike and I share the same brain, lol. Agreed 100% with this vid and the one where he talked about "pro moves = beginner mistakes on purpose...." cuz I say the same things!

[@matheusalves5160]

As a southpaw, that's relatable. On the Muay Thai gym I've trained, most of people didn't knew how to deal with a left-handed, and the coach just didn't gave a shit about it, so I was constantly forced to chance my stance or just try to adjust myself on the better way for the orthodox guy. It was one of the main reasons that made me quit and just stick with my good old boxing.

[@fawazahmed4978]

i go muay thai atm (once-twice a week for the last 5 or so months so still very inexperienced) and my mate i go with is southpaw, we occasionally buddy up and it’s incredibly awkward. based on your experience any tips on how to make either of our lives easier? right now we switch stances per drill, we both go orthodox for a bit then switch to southpaw and repeat - would it be better to just drill things southpaw v orthodox?

[@matheusalves5160]

@@fawazahmed4978 actually yes, if you guys drill just orthodox v southpow will make easier for everyone else. Just keep in mind the advantages against a southpow and use it, it'll be better for you, if he do the same thing, boom. Not as easy as orthodox v orthodox, but just to think like you're in a actual fight, making strategies against each other, will improve the experience and abilities of both

[@fawazahmed4978]

@@matheusalves5160 thank you bro appreciate it

[@matheusalves5160]

@@fawazahmed4978 You're welcome, fren

[@ashtar3876]

My coach has actually been experimenting with warmups and a few weeks of specific training a lot. Lately we've been doing light sparring on the bag and slipping punches and head kicks

[@hard2hurt]

While he's experimenting, make sure you tell him what you enjoyed about each thing. Most of the time we don't get much in the way of meaningful verbal feedback. It's not the only way to measure our performance... but it's something.

[@theadmiral5425]

For me at 62 I don't mind a 3 min warmup or a 3 min stretch at the end. I can only attend the morning classes on M/W/F but I do remember at one of my belt tests I had to do a butterfly kick, which was never shown in the morning classes only in the evening. I tried to imitate some of the others that could do it but it wasn't pretty. From that point I can relate to what this video's about.

[@CoASoFi]

Excellent video Mike. The guy who has been there every day for 8 months totally is it. Not only should he know enough to be able to teach stuff but it’s great for him to see it from the other side. Mutually beneficial for sure.

[@Chris-uo3rj]

I've been training martial arts for about 19 years now. I'll say the biggest thing I've ever seen in the martial arts community is that instructors don't actually give a shit about your personal goals. They don't care about teaching you the martial art, or getting you better etc. The only thing they care about is making sure you give them their money every month. In my experience, any gym that has a belt or rank type system that determines what skill level you are allowed to have, and what level of respect you are to be treated with socially, or any gym where instead of a personal trainer/ coach type leader has a "master" or a "sensei" or some kind of God like archetype is a fake gym. Its a cult designed to control your perception of reality and whatever you went into that building to try and accomplish you will never accomplish while you are there. If they ever say anything along the lines of "when you've been training as long as me" etc, run. You are paying somebody to degrade you and treat you like an idiot who has no intention at all of teaching you anything. You can realistically learn all the requirements of most martial arts school from white belt to black belt in a week off youtube which is all youll really learn at any school that doesnt train fighters. Except theyll take that week long process and stretch it out over a few years because in a 1 hour session twice a week you spend 30 mins warmup/stretch 15 minutes learning a martial art and 15 minutes getting fed a motivational psyop about perserverance (returning to class every month). I train at a place that trains fighters and even there the gym is essentially a place where you go to sparr and test theories, martial arts is an individual skill that you have to teach yourself, a coach can help somewhat but not really. The only thing a coach really provides is sparring partners everything else you would be better just doing at home. If their goal isn't to get you as good as they can in a short a time as possible then they are intentionally wasting your time/ manipulating you. Why grown Men and women give money to some guy to larp as master ken is beyond me, you shouldn't give a dam about how good this guy thinks he is, you're there to get good not worship some moron who couldn't find a real job. There is no reason why a gym cant take an absolute beginner who is in decent shape and make him a decent pro fighter in 6 months. That is done routinely at any place that isnt a gimmick

[@abelbraulioritenour2300]

Ive been that guy of 8 months training that has taken care of the newbies. It's actually pretty rewarding for both of us and not that imbalanced. I wanted and liked to spar with the black belts, because i felt great, but i agree with you

[@IainPurdie]

I've been working one-on-one or in a small (3-4 person group) with a left-hander, and it's been really useful for me as a righty. I let him remain lefty which means I'm having to do my own techniques on my weak side, and does open my eyes to the way that movement etc. has to be different for both of us! Every day a learning day :)

[@VegaH_]

I've had F.O.M.O for leaving my last mma gym because the instructor made me switch stances and even got angry over it. I listened to him because I thought he knew better. as I look back I can see he doesn't what made me actually quit was him knowingly allowing corona-infected fighters to train at the peak of everything. I got infected, I have asthma, and I am overweight, at the time I was scared because no one knew anything about the virus yet. I was out for a month. this helped to really validate my decision. Thanks

[@stevenshar1233]

Expanding on the last point, it would be like going to tutoring sessions in community colleges. The person helping you isn't the professor(most of the time), it's the student that past the class with an A last semester.

[@Dive-Deeper]

I really appreciate the honesty in what Mike says. It's why I keep watching his videos, and why I subscribed.

[@CriticallyGnart]

That running bit resonated super hard. Used to do krav and they made us do a bunch of innane physical exercise that was unrelated to the task at hand. Decent exercises, but not what we were there for.

[@hard2hurt]

Padding time... lazy and uninformed coaching.

[@cerberuscombatmma]

I 100% agree with everything on this list. I’ve been Coaching for so many years, and this is SO ACCURATE! Thanks for educating people.

[@MoonlightSocial]

I like doing a quick warmup consisting of jogging/pushups/situps/low and wide or whatever. Even when it's just a few minutes, it grounds everybody and always feels like a good transition into the activity. There's a reason all sports (or even music) involve a warmup of universal, basic movement, and it's not just "because my father's father's father did it, too." Like, I get starting with this hot take. Good way to get people into the video. Pretty much all the good KZbin videos do it. Almost like the KZbin version of jogging around the room, so-to-speak ; ) But most of these seem on the nose and full of common sense. Especially the one about pairing up a trial student with a committed person who has some experience in class but isn't "an expert." I think new people resonate with that a lot more than suddenly being paired up with a professional for an hour. It's more fun for both the 8-month student and the trial student.

[@VintageTeak]

When you warm up for guitar, do you jog and do push ups or do you do warm ups specific to improving your skills as a guitar player? He's not saying don't warm up, he's saying do drills that will actually help students learn to fight or improve upon the knowledge that they have. Doing push ups and running doesn't.

[@simonyu8838]

Ooof. I agree with these points and have certainly experienced these as a student. I've seen a number of coaches shift around on these topics at times based on what they realized wasn't working or if we got an influx of new students and things had to be changed up. A number of longer term students at my gym will do multiple classes a night and thankfully our later coaches will cut down on warmups that are general conditioning not specific to the art if they see that everyone just did a bunch of Muay Thai sparring rounds the hour beforehand. Our coaches do generally listen to feedback thankfully but aren't always able to make the right adjustments right away. They still do try though. On pairing the really new people, I do agree with using the veteran novices. Having been in that role several times though, I'll say that it's also important to make sure that the veteran novice isn't only doing that throughout the week though. I've had weeks where I didn't feel like I spent time training with either people who helped push me or that knew enough to let me experiment and play around with concepts during padwork/drills so it felt a bit like I was paying to be an intern. I do genuinely enjoy helping the newer folks learn but it wasn't all I wanted to do during the week

[@anonymousotter6455]

I wish I could train under you. Alas, I live like a couple thousand miles away. Thank you for this video. I'm going to use this "checklist" when I eventually observe(if they let me) the muay thai gym I've been thinking of going to.

[@hard2hurt]

Stop waiting. Don't go observe. Go try a class.

[@KcGil4300]

Not to brag, I’m just very pleased to hear that my coach has completely passed every part of this video. I’m very relieved cuz he’s been amazing. I love watching your videos cuz it reminds me of the gym.

[@liamcage7208]

Excellent video. Kudos for incorporating light sparring and training videos with the sponsor's spot... it prevents people from skipping ahead. I've used the "white belts teaching white belts" phrase but usually when I'm standing right there ready to instruct and an extravert student feels the need to show the new person how much they know. I have had some southpaws in the class of course. Not one of them ever told me at the beginning that they were southpaw. They integrated into class using orthodox stance and never said a thing until I found out myself later. What a waste. I asked the one student why he didn't tell me and his answer was that his whole life he just complied with the masses and did things right handed. What a waste.

[@serpentinefire921]

Totally skipped ahead

[@johannparedes8359]

As a formally educated teacher... You are right . Everybody should be able to teach, and as a teacher it's important to "learn how to learn" and "teach how to teach". No matter the subject or age

[@christophervelez1561]

I’m an aspiring idiot! I’m starting my first gym in July/August. I can’t wait to watch this!

[@christophervelez1561]

Ok this is something I’ve struggled with in bjj. In wrestling we talk 20/50/80% effort. How do you teach your students when doing the grappling person to be a good training partner in controlled sparring. I can get the guys to do it in wrestling/judo takedowns. Every time I try this with bjj on the ground I get one of two responses. The first is the guy who flops over every time someone puts any pressure on a sweep the other is the guy who can’t let off the gas pedal. Any advice on this particular zone of sparring?

[@IHateHandleNames]

Please, for the love of God, come up with semi resistance drills for submissions, passing, sweeps, etc. And make sure they're actually drills and not just repeating a move on a completely compliant opponent. I boxed for many years and got the crap beaten out of me, but went back because I could see a path to improvement. I did jiujitsu for like a year, got a 2 stripe white belt. Didn't really get hurt as much (I'm a big dude, so I'd either get completely handled by experienced guys or I'd sandbag on newer ones). I left because I saw no logical progression. I was largely teaching myself jiujitsu and using the group as test dummy's. Don't get me wrong, I really liked my coach and think he's a great dude, but I didn't know what to practice or work on. It was basically just get on the mat until you get good. I would have killed for some semi resistance submission drills, like I get halfway into an armbar and fight to get out while the opponent fights to get it. I could never spend time working on the stuff I wanted to work on because there was no drilling. It was live rolling or 5 minute practice sessions with a limp opponent.

[@IHateHandleNames]

@@christophervelez1561 in boxing what you'd do is have a guy hit a bag as hard as you can, then establish that's 100%, then have him back off a bit, back off a bit, back off a bit, until you found an acceptable intensity. Do it with sweeps or subs. Show the guy the defense, and have him defend it perfectly, call that 100%. Then slow it down a bit while you go the same speed. And reduce his speed until you find a suitable resistance.

[@christophervelez1561]

@@IHateHandleNames that sounds awesome!

[@simoncurran6184]

A year or so ago. In a video you put out. I think it was some seminar footage. You talked about senior grades giving back to the junior grades. Because when the experienced fighters were new. Somebody gave up their time for them to practice. (You said it waay better) When I first heard that I considered myself as new. Now we have newer guys in the gym. I love giving back. It's a great mentality to have. Thank you

[@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935]

I'm not an official coach/instructor, but I've had instructors let me lead a class once in a while. It's not just the combat techniques, but people show up for the fitness part, and the jogging is part of that. Most people, including myself, would never run outside of the gym unless it was absolutely necessary. But I do prefer lateral running over circles, cuz I think it allows for better results. I have been the guy that tries to help my classmates. When they struggle to understand a movement, but I mentally understand it, I'll try to help them through it, even if my body struggles to do it too. I'm also not afraid to clarify with the coach on the what and why. I have also been that 8month guy that gets paired with the new/newer people. I think many of my coaches realized I was that training partner that has the control and trains safely to be paired with. There was a new girl once in jujitsu, and the coach had me work with her, and they even said outloud that I was a good training partner. I have even intentionally partnered with a newbie to help them. While still getting my training done.

[@badbabybear1]

Awesome insight, as always. I gradually learned these red flags the hard way as a student and have had coaches who did all these things. I now know what to look out for. Thanks! I already picked the 8-month student over the most experienced person with a fight coming up before you said that. Sometimes people who legit fight and are training for one are too in that aggressive and focused mindset to display the proper level of safety and teaching. You need someone who has some experience AND is not actively training for competition to level with a brand new beginner.

[@staysafemartialarts]

Guilty of a lot of these but like you, i have made changes. I think warm ups is a big one i see often. My grapplers for instance always start with grip fighting and then we add elements such as working towards a single leg, sweeps, snap downs etc. never do line drills or shit anymore

[@hard2hurt]

Yeah. I think for grappling that grip/hand fighting is just such an obvious layup... like why are you doing cartwheels lol?

[@staysafemartialarts]

@@hard2hurt exactly!! But surprise!! Cartwheels because that is the superior method of passing

[@Kennedysports90s]

Not trying to be a dick, but what is your background? You don't seem to understand the reason behind basic warmups, and drills. I'm guessing that you never wrestled, because if you did then you would understand why cartwheel's, tumbles, etc. are important exercises. Were you ever trained in boxing? Nothing more important than footwork and muscle memory, punch goes out it comes back. That comes through technique drills. @@hard2hurt

[@gwidao123]

Awesome video as always, i've been teaching for almost 10 years now and i feel validated watching this, mostly because i think any coach is gonna go through many or all of these and come to these conclusions naturally because everyone's gotta start somewhere, and partly because its always refreshing to hear things with an open mind and just accept that maybe you're not doing the best job, and that comes in by just being a coach and clicking this video with this title. I dont totally agree with the "running in a circle is bad" thing but i get it. Running in a circle has its place though in my opinion, you're gonna be literally teaching people how to walk sometimes from zero if you think about it, and running sideways, backwards and changing pace ina circle totally relates to that skill, shouldn't be the only workout, but totally valid as part of it. I'd also add that a coach who never answers the student's questions probably doesnt know squat. Not all coaches can perform and do show and tell amazingly and i dont think its necessary if the guy has that history and time under his belt, but any coach that just seems like he can't give you any good reason for anything he's telling you to do or is just deflecting all the time is bad news. Best thing i ever did when starting out was getting my first couple of students know i'm new at this and there'd be some learning as we're going forward and i might not be the best at showing what i'm trying to teach yet, and those students are absolutely the ones that are still with me to this day. Trusting your instructor is the most important part of this and building that trust honestly is a necessary skill.

[@pranakhan]

Great video man. We all have to consider how to challenge the patterns and models we have inherited, student and teacher alike.

[@hard2hurt]

Well said.

[@blakium1]

My guy, this is definitely one of my favorite videos on this channel. AMAZING observations! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@waxarn333]

I agree wholeheartedly and I would love to hear Mikes take on compromises when it comes to instructing and teaching martial arts. For example: if you are not getting paid to coach since the club is a non-profit, there is a very limited amount of coaches, how would you deal with constructing drills, sessions and planning training periodization (which take a lot of time)? Or dealing with classes where not a single student is aiming to become a fighter, but they think this is the most fun form of training for them: do you lean towards their health training benefits (like cardio and strength) OR their competition fighter ability? Numbered lists and absolutes are fun and really useful for people who never given the subject any real thought, but the fringe cases are where the juicy stuff and generally useful concepts gets discussed ;)

[@hard2hurt]

Sounds like you're trying to make me work harder here... the coach in me recognizes your slick move... the lazybones in me resents you, sir.

[@waxarn333]

@@hard2hurt haha, ill take that as a compliment and I feel ya there.... Thanks for the 🤘 content sir (and now I look forward to that deep dive eh)

[@wayneweibel8970]

Bravo sir! I think these are the (paraphrased) six: 1. Jogging as a warm up 2. Not constructing drills 3. Forcing southpaws to orthodox 4. Not using structured sparring 5. Managing fights 6. Not having students teaching students

[@KelpWolf]

Totally love your last two points: after this, now it's going to be your fault, and you should definitely pair the new guy with the guy who's been there 8 months. I dropped in on a jiu jitsu class one time, and they paired me with a guy who had been there about 4 months. In retrospect, I think it was the right call.

[@brokeboytactical4397]

I used to be a career criminal. I've been on the straight-and-narrow for 13 years. My local police department here in Central Texas allows me to volunteer as a guest speaker in self-defense seminars that they hold for anybody who wants to come, totally free. I tell people red flags to look for, whether it be human behavior, spotting the warning signs of a home invasion before entering your house, Mugging tactics. Advice on what self-defense tools are most effective. I've been sprayed, tazed, shot and stabbed. Basically just anything that can go down before your are attacked and what to watch out for. Along with advice on how to avoid these situations all together. Tell people what we look for, how we picked victims ect... It started out as community service but I actually enjoyed helping people and now I just go every week even though I don't have to anymore. I'm one of the luckiest individuals in the world because my charges were deferred I completed my probation all of my charges were expunged from my record so I was able to get all of my rights back and start a new life. I've dedicated my life to helping people instead of hurting people and using my life experience as a tool for good. Have to say it feels great

[@DStructureOfficial]

Besides martial arts I teach people in the gym for a long time. Still developing myself when it comes to fighting skills. I was glad to note that for the most of it I don't suck (even though not gonna claim being even near great). The last one I would put that person with myself, and if I have an even number, I would join the person that I match him/her with. But in general...when someone joins, I've met them before that moment. So I could get an idea of who to match them with. All that being said, I like how you closed the vid :).

[@Rance-lb1in]

Im a former Kickboxing instructor under the PKA, and i fully support your method of teaching, the age old running around the gym in a circle, weve all been there right. i like and support how your training is focussed on progression in stages only moving on when ready, great stuff keep up the great content 👊

[@the_striking_viking652]

Excellent video, thanks Mike! Does any of your advice change in beginners only classes?

[@magioc903]

I started doing mma when I got to college, learned from the upperclassmen who started the club and really enjoyed it. Then Covid hit in the end of Sophomore year, and next thing I knew I was almost a senior and in charge of the whole thing 😳 I’ve tried really hard to make sure that the way I’m training is intentional, but it’s hard because I’m mostly self taught myself, and was always better at doing than explaining. This video really reassure that I’ve been doing right by my students, bcuz I’ve learned from these mistakes the second I made them, and I learned so much from you and Sensei Seth along the way 🥊💪🏿

[@puqilistique3847]

The moment you spoke about coaches making their students run around, i knew right away that this is gonna be great. Thanks as always Coach!

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Haha

[@seanreynolds7369]

Something on the warmups, a lot of people do not know how to stretch properly. Doing a full body stretch will help a lot especially when you're starting, helps you get more mentally into the session, you can forget the stuff that happened throughout the day, etc etc. Like on my own, before class, at home I have a 20 min stretch program I can go through (and am always working on) and a full hour of yoga at least once a week. Do stretches properly. Helps with ROM and helps prevent injury, but so many people don't know how and why to stretch

[@jurv10]

These videos are always extremely helpful. I’m a title boxing trainer (I’m sure you’re familiar with that) and always try to improve my own training. Thanks for making these!

[@terryturner1689]

Great advice, I've seen this too and your advice is invaluable. We try and warm-up using what we train, to do better. As for new students, your so right. To use students that have been there for a while to help the new guys is so good for them as they think about the training from a different aspect. Teaching is when the learning / understanding of the training really kicks in. I have been an instructor in Hapkido for close to 20 years, and after a few gradings when I started, was asked to to assist the new students from time to time. I found this to be when I learned to really understand the techniques. Dynamic warm-ups, drills and free sparring is what we use, as this works the whole body, legs, arms and the head space (most important).

[@wearblackclothes]

Wow this is word for word my experience when i joined a kickboxing gym my friend started. Especially that sparing thing. I found a gym i like now but i was struggling to find a gym that i enjoyed going to and felt like i was progressing. And you just put into words why i didn't like those gyms but like my current gym/ instructor. I'd compliment him but then it'll be weird. Mike if you read this. How would you feel if students just complimented you?

[@hard2hurt]

Sometimes people do. I think that people mostly just take for granted that the leader of any group knows he's doing a good job, but it still feels really nice when your people tell you, "great class, coach" or "thank you for explaining that to me..." I have a few that do. It was definitely weird the first few times... and I still don't always accept it gracefully. The truth is... if your coach is honest with himself... he isn't always 100% sure that he's on the right track, so compliment away. It may feel weird, but it's real and it's how you feel, so do it.

[@KMaserati]

Maaaaaan that southpaw thing is so real. I recently moved and I boxed and fight southpaw. I competed as an amateur and in the army as a southpaw. I found a gym that teaches kickboxing and Muay Thai. First wk there the coach tried to make me change from southpaw to conventional and anytime I’d switch back out of habit and nature he’d yell for me to switch back. He also tried to force me to change my guard as well. He literally does everything in this video. Regular classes are an hr long and you spend the first 10-15 min running or jumping rope. He doesn’t like other students correcting other students even if they 100% know what they’re talking about. Hell always say something like “don’t listen to him/her he doesn’t know anything” but if you ask him a question about a skill/technique he’ll give you a smart ass answer, make a joke and embarrass you in front of the whole class, or just not even really answer the question at all. He’s also the booker for our fight team members. He won’t book you for strictly stand up events/tournaments like boxing, kickboxing or MT but he’ll book you for grappling or mma. If you don’t want to do train grappling he’ll ridicule you and won’t book you for anything. I have trained in BJJ(blue)and Judo(orange) over the years but I really don’t like grappling and I prefer standing arts like boxing, kickboxing and mt and those are the styles I prefer to train and compete in. However, I’m unable to focus on and compete in what I actually love and have a passion for without ridicule or stagnation because I can’t compete or he prefers to train and focus more on grappling even though the school offers the same amount of striking classes as grappling. 😡😡😡

[@jc-kj8yc]

The running/warm up part is something I'm so torn about. My old coach came from a Judo/Sambo base and his warm ups are HELL! 20 minutes of running, push ups, burpies, Jack Knife sit ups, tumbling, jump squatting, hard shadow boxing etc. You get the idea. On the one hand this is really unproductive and stupid. You get super tired, you can't fully focus on technique after and the next day you're dead! BUT I trained there for years and after 6 months I absolutely rocked this warm up and could easily focus on class afterwards. I got stronger, faster and - most important - tougher. His idea is to break you in the beginning to teach you from day one to bite down on your mouth piece and make it to the end. And it worked. At least for me. The problem remains, if you're a normie and do 1-3 classes like these per week, your technical and strategic progression is way slower, because so much time is spent on strength and conditioning. As a coach you must decide if you want to use the entire class to build up skills or if you want to sacrifice skills for athleticism. If you're coaching professionals/advanced amateurs, the answer is easy. They can do strength and conditioning in a separate class or at home. They know what to do. Use the time to teach them martial arts. But if your clientel are people with a full time job, parents, young teenagers, i.e. hobbyists and casuals, imo you're justified if you let them do strength and conditioning, which includes running, during class.

[@Kennedysports90s]

It's very productive. Thats how you build core strength, muscle memory and stamina.

[@xolboh6463]

I agree that AGI always produces the most gifted martial arts instructors like Mr. Andre Herbert and Mr. Ryan Hoover

[@BorninPurple]

God, this is the story of my life. Why is it that every other activity adapts apart from martial arts? Just look at military training, they go through basics for a limit period and from then on it's about developing skills and making sure to use your initiative. This is even the philosophy for doing a job. Here are the list of things that really annoy me about coaching: - Same stuff all the time: if you're still doing basic combo strikes for 5 years and aren't doing any strategy or initiative training. I don't want to have to learn about the same thing I did day one with no development. - Pad work: it creates bad habits and people don't hold them well. The amount of times I've gone from kicking in sparring to having to do bad kicks on pad-work, because the pads are held wrong, is staggering. - Running sparring like a fight: take out the people who cause issues. If the thais can spar light because they have to fight every two weeks, you can as well. - Trying to run a place for people to be tough: I'd rather play martial arts smart than play it tough. Don't stand there like an idiot and take damage, actually do something; dodge, parry, bob, weave, block; do whatever you need to do. - Not training fighters to be independent. You need your fighters to be thinking human beings who can actually plan and strategise. - Simplifying the curriculum and making people conform: if a fighter has their own way of doing things, don't stick a round peg in a square. Why is it that kids can use their initiative better than adults? It's like everything else has room for development but we dumb down martial arts from scratch for people who end up doing the same thing as everyone else. I'm convinced no one else who taught combat in the past did this (due to this stupid period of time in the 20th century where there was vitrually no real sparring in martial arts apart from boxing). Your fighters are assets, treat them like assets.

[@jaywaup]

You hit a lot of points on this video, coach. Appreciate the honesty!

[@willowelizabethryder4141]

This is one of my favorite videos you've done. Especially since I'm southpaw and I'm also that 8-months-in student (and I love teaching new students!)

[@jpl7693]

Warmups and conditioning work is stupid. Allow the students to arrive early and warm up themselves then start the class. If that's not an option keep it minimal at the start of the class. As far as conditioning goes just offer a written conditioning program for students to follow at home. I don't need to pay someone 20 bucks an hour to tell me to do some jumping jacks, pushups and situps circuits.

[@Tutorp]

Warm-up is *not* stupid. A proper warm-up can help a lot in avoiding injuries. It has to be a proper warm-up, though, set up for what you're doing, not just anything that gets the heart pumping a little. Running around in circles isn't it...

[@fullsendit292]

@@Tutorp shadow boxing is sufficient for warm up

[@jpl7693]

@@Tutorp warm up isn't stupid but spending valuable class time on warming up is. I want my class to be as efficient as possible so I get good value. Explain to newcomers the importance of warming up and then allow them to do it on their own going forward before class begins. As the other commentor said, shadow boxing typically is enough.

[@webherring]

You can't warm-up all the joints and muscles just by shadow boxing. If you have a class of casuals who come only once or twice a week, your class could be the only exercise that they get. Right or wrong they count on it for fitness too. I don't know if there's an easy answer.

[@CADClicker]

@@webherring It's unfair to give the rest of the students less value out of a class because a few people are using it primarily for fitness. You have those people come in early to get that cardio in, or you market the course as fitness focused.

[@trollslayer2116]

One thing that got me was more experienced fighters acting pissed that they were paired up with a lower belt. I was sparing a black belt once that was back from an injury and he went all out to prove he was better. I only did 4 different kicks just mixed it up and got past all his advanced crap because he forgot the basics. He then started to interrogate me after not believing that I was new. After a while I went to a new school and they let me got to all the classes if I wanted to. Loved it because it let me build up without progressing and then forgetting what I learned before.

[@052rahulkashyap4]

Beautiful bald man 😍😍💣

[@chrissharkman610]

damn no more running to warm people up. awesome vid. we have a small amount of students and the head sensei/coach is busy as so i have been running a lot of classes a lot teaching is the hardest thing i've done. super tough. took a lot out of your video. i am the 8 month guy who now running the madhouse.

[@davidgibson121]

You make a great point about Southpaws. I myself am left-handed and previously trained in Kung fu, Wing Chun, and Wrestling. Before that, I dabbled a little in boxing and Karate. But I noticed the problem with pretty much all of these when it came to using a southpaw stance or technique. I was often asked to switch to Orthodox and they would often question why I would switch back to Southpaw. Because I am left-handed so that's more natural to me. If I have to defend myself or even compete then obviously I am going to use what feels natural. But so many coaches have difficulty grasping that concept

[@benjaminpujols1914]

LOL it sounds like you're speaking of gym coaches from phys-ed or PE which I remember running laps is always a sing either as a warm-up or a punishment

[@willydoesfighting]

I actively teach Wing Chun (yea yea it doesn't work I've heard it all before) and recently I've been heavily changing my teaching methods to ensure I'm actually teaching what they came to my school for, "how to fight". It's so easy to stray away from that goal, especially in traditional marital arts. No more "paddy cake" drills, useless "chi sao 'fighting' ", and standing around doing forms pretending like they are making you a better fighter (spoiler alert to all the Wing Chun guys, the forms are completely optional and don't make you better at the martial art). I'm glad I was able to watch this video. Your answered some questions I was unsure about and even feel dumb for not knowing how to handle lol. This was very helpful. I like how honest and direct you are about your experience and what you think is best.

[@Kal-El-Last-Son]

I appreciate this. A few I was proud to say I figured out with my school, and a few I fully know need some tweaking. Just today during kickboxing I pointed out our warm ups should work with our focused topic, same for jiu jitsu. But I will be the first to say I’ve done some of these, and for the reason you described. Someone taught me it. I always appreciate you being straight forward. Makes us all better.

[@abreujiujitsu]

Definitely making this a must watch video to all my coaches and staff. You're spot on all my views and process. Thanks

[@institches2750]

Mike, you are a damn good coach. It's good yo know they're out there, and extra kudos to you for using your platform to make other coaches better.

[@thatonesaiyan6309]

my biggest thing is how seriously they take safety. it should be a given, but its not always the case. i once narrowly avoided a serious neck injury because of some guy who either thought winning a sparring match was more important than safety or just wasnt ever taught about what is or isnt safe. accidents do happen, but its the instructors job to make that risk as low as humanly possible and to keep a close eye, especially on the new students, to make sure nobody is a risk to themselves or the people around them.

[@notusingmyname4791]

Definitely gonna watch this a few more times when coming up with a curriculum for when I start coaching

[@jcfan1979]

When my students come in and put their stuff down they are to get any bathroom needs out of the way and have a set of exercises or warm-ups they are instructed to do to get loose so we can hit the ground running when class time starts. The beginning of class may have a few stretches if some showed up a little late to help avoid injuries and occasionally a skill building game (not play time) but we go immediately in to drills and then new material for practice at home. All your points are great. I remember spending 20 minutes exercising or running barefoot down a very rocky paved road in my early training back in the 80's. Also, having students teach each other helps them grow. I've learned more explaining techniques and from teaching than just being coached. It forces them to really think about the motivation, technique, and application of the movement that they may not automatically grasp from coaching and practice.

[@jamesscarfe]

Hi I'm from Ireland I'm a 3rd degree black belt in TAE KWON DO. I THINK YOUR VIDEOS ARE SO HELPFUL THANK YOU

[@acd-combatives]

Brother! You nailed it. Running 🏃‍♂️ in circles. Hate that. I’m also a lefty. I’ve quite schools that have pulled that crap 💩

[@BMO_Creative]

Manage stuff, lead people. Coaching, mentoring, teaching are all skills that need a lot of practice and study. cool video!

[@brinnnomatterwhat]

I have been subscribed for a while, mostly because of the creators passion because I have never really liked or agreed with his ideas, however, this is The. First. Video. that I agree with! Glad to know I have never sucked! It is also nice to see that people are finally getting these concepts, after having been ridiculed for decades preaching them myself.

[@BobBob-il2ku]

keenan cornelius just did a video about how you should never help someone unless you’re the coach & he is just wrong. Your 100% right if I’ve been there for years & can’t help a new person that’s a reflection of the coach

[@themartialartway]

Man you speaking the truth about mental health and fighting.

[@woopercaddell]

i’m not a coach, i’ve been doing muay thai for about a year and did boxing and jiu jitsu for a couple years before. this vid definitely confirmed to me that i have a phenomenal coach. it’s amazing, some of the stuff i didn’t even think about but yeah, he checks off everything

[@mizukarate]

As a former Karate Instructor I have some comments on what your spoke on in the video. I generally don't disagree with you Icey Mike this is just my views as a Karate Instructor. 1. If you jog or do other similar warming up exercises add skills in. Examples: Roll Outs, Break Falls, Jumping Over Objects and Hitting a Bag As You Pass 2. In many Karate Dojos there is some from of the Sempai/Kyohai system. Basically more experienced students help, teach, and assist less experienced students. 3. As far as competitive fights are concerned I would encourage additional training or even consider a fight manager. I would say get involved in a MMA specific situation. The karate I learned and taught was primarily for self-defense and health. 4. As far as the instructors training is concerned he/she should put in a much effort as possible. This should include train and study(school,reading,videos, etc.). 5. Watch Icey Mike on KZbin.

[@L7SProductions]

thanks for talking about southpaw, i tried a gym once and i was coming back from long hiatus, i wanted to try out this gym my friend was going to. and as i was ready to do the session/drills. when i squared up with my partner and the teacher saw i was southpaw. no BS he told me to switch to orthodox. i told him right then and there are you serious! and said nah im good. ill watch thanks, i felt frustrated when he asked me to change my stance. If it was a practice drill or something i would understand. but it wasn't, he just didn't want to train a southpaw. so again thanks for pointing this out, i felt recognize.

[@truejohnsolo]

My coach is a truly great coach who has none of these problems.. I'm not sure how much/if he trains outside of gym hours, but he is an examplary teacher and coach and he takes care of every student who walks through our doors

[@ryanweiss1721]

1000% agree with everything said in this video! I have left schools because the head instructor, coach, etc did these things. I have 1 additional rule. I believe it's completely normal for a coach to have unofficial assistant instructors if it is a small school. One thing that many people dont understand is that the coaches/instructors don't have to be the best fighters. I train with wildly talented people but some of them are terrible teachers. It takes a special set of skills to be able analyze behaviors and break down concepts in such a way to make the student better. I almost quit my current school about 6 months ago because the assistant instructor was a great BJJ practitioner but still not great at teaching. It was aggravating but a few things changed and I decided to stay.

[@BigPannunz]

All of the things you have listed has happened to me at previous gyms. You definitely know what you are talking about

[@PayneVisuals]

My father is a double black belt in taekwondo. He has been teaching myself since I was younger. He has been trying to teach my kids within the last 6 months. My kids (13,11,8 year old boys) told me they do not want to go back. I asked them why not and they said it hurts. I tried to tell my father the way he taught me is not the way. He loves to teach new students, where you feel the hits. Sparring without pads is not the way to teach new young students. I know he means well but guess I will be their teacher for now.

[@justinAclark2075]

So many good points, I can't just pick one to talk about. I'll definitely be avoiding gyms where I see any of this

[@jedidoesjiujitsu3177]

Holding pads for southpaws hurts my brain

[@hard2hurt]

I do have a slight advantage in regards to southpaws... as my first three full time clients were all southpaws, so I essentially learned how to coach on southpaws. I'm gonna do a video on them soon.

[@Rig0p]

Great video . I am teaching HEMA for 3 years now and it very hard to get some real good teaching advises in martial arts (nobody run in circle in my course)

[@quirkywendy]

Like the intro change to hard2hear for this video. I recently started doing JuiJitsu and this is a great list. Love your channel - education with humour and a little hard2hear info thrown in on a regular basis.