New BJJ Coaches, Don’t Make This Progress-Destroying Mistake

Recently I've received a lot of questions from new coaches who are moving into the new phase of their BJJ which requires them to coach and teach others. So with that, I figured I'd do some videos specifically for coaches in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
Today's video is answering the question I've received from new coaches who are curious if there is any 1 mistake that I see new coaches make in BJJ.
So in the video I address the most common mistake I see coaches make in BJJ (new or otherwise).
Hopefully after the video you'll worry less about being impressive and more focused on being effective to the students.
Hope the video helps you!
-Chewy
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[@carlosgranah]

Concepts are really important. Its very important that you know "why" when starting a new guard like DLR or Open Guard position , before learning the actual techniques sweeps and submissions. John Danaher is a such a good teacher.

[@conorsreps5265]

“You don’t want to be impressive, you want to be effective” absolutely love that Chewy 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@justingil27]

Sweet! I’m a blue belt who’s about to start coaching the kids and would love this brotha!

[@GodofLore]

Please keep The Coaches Corner going bro, this is exactly the type of content I've been looking for since recently starting up a gym. Thanks Chewy, you're the man 👊

[@danielbross3448]

As a white belt, I’d say this also happens when coaches are trying to teach really fancy moves. Honestly, I would love a class on just the fundamentals of basic moves. Most of the people in my classes are also white belts so I feel like the squid guard stuff goes over everyone’s head.

[@uddim004]

Yh I don't get the fancy moves. Most of us can't even remember everything. I'd want to learn some concepts which will help my understanding otherwise it feels very random.

[@danielbross3448]

@@uddim004 exactly. Like it’s not really applicable to my game even if it seems impressive.

[@uddim004]

@@danielbross3448 it seems like in a lot of places they teach a bunch of moves and over time u just happen to put it together. Issue with that people will get frustrated and stop coming. And it's not really an efficient way to learn. I once saw a vid of a lesson. The teacher showed a move very vaguely and told them to just try. Then he brang them back in and asked them what issues they faced and then answered the questions, it seems like a great way to learn. I really like John danaher approach. Seems systematic and efficient.

[@todd2324]

If your school doesn't have a fundamentals class, then you should probably find one that does.

[@SKRATCH1988]

I just got my blue belt and I still go to my schools fundamentals class

[@waffensuperninja]

Damn. I started with Chewie as a white belt. Im now a purple belt and a new coach. I am guilty of over teaching too many techniques...im so glad to have seen this video...

[@danielskrivan6921]

Beginners need consistency and repetition over anything else. One of my problems when I did Taekwondo is that upper belts were basically just more stuff to consistently repeat, instead of an expansion and deeper understanding. I'm having the opposite problem as a beginner in BJJ, that it feels like we've skipped over that stage entirely. Within each class we do get lots of reps on one or two techniques, and we will focus on a position for a few weeks before moving on. But as far as I can tell, there's no real consistency in how those blocks are put together.

[@af4396]

If you enjoy that dojo but aren't getting what you need, try to get what you need in your sparring. For example, let's say you want to get better at side control (and by that I mean all side control positions). Ask your partner to work with you and start in one of them and see if you can transition to the others when they start escaping. You can do the same with mount, or guard (closed to sweep, closed to open, closed to submission, open to closed etc. etc. ) You should do your classes, but it's also partially on you to put in some extra time to get good at what your coach is teaching. Some coaches will really be there to drill you and have a path for you, others won't and require you to come to them more with questions.

[@CalebSpears1]

BJJ was best described to me as learning a language. At white belt you’re learning to distinguish the letters of the alphabet. It is hard to see how the blocks become words. At blue belt you learn to string the blocks together to form words. At purple belt you make sentences with those words. At brown and black you learn to write essays with the words

[@todd2324]

@@CalebSpears1 That's deep

[@tededo]

You just made me realize we dont have the most effective coach. We get 7 to 9 steps per techniques being taught since a year. As a 20 year seasoned grappler, I've been through so much better. Last year, this hyper comp high level brown belt taught me (private class), two techs only. It made my game sooooooo much better, that I think I'll switch to his academy very, VERY soon. In this almost toxic school, I've never used my self learned ability so much, we're all relying on our self learned skill. The other school, the brown belt supervises each one of us, then I can observe my level increase. The toxic gym, the instructor loves to impress the audience, as oppose to the brown belt who teaches fundamentals. Thank you for making me see these things with your video.

[@williampriest506]

Chewy this is awesome!! Actually I just started a Jiu Jitsu program at my local school!! I’m a 2 stripe Blue Belt and didn’t know if I was “good enough” to coach yet. My coach gave me his blessing so I feel very confident in teaching these kids the basics!! Drill Drill Drill!!

[@TheBlahblah86]

Thanks for sharing! I noticed this a lot from training in other martial arts too. Some of my favorite teachers will show me just one part of a technique that becomes a major game changer. They're impressing me with how much they know about one technique.

[@theyoungfool.1895]

This is so good, I don’t know how much information there is on coaching for bjj but I know that bjj coaches don’t get a lot of information on how to teach and that general explanations, concepts and systems are still relatively underdeveloped. Mainly because bjj is still new but also coaches often don’t coordinate and share in there area (probably because they have a business to run) so having more of this online content about coaching, explanations and systems they can use to guide and teach as effectively as they can while at home or in the gym in this shorter than seminars videos should give our future coaches quality insurance and students a more qualification insurance. Both students and teachers will get they tools we need to improve together as a martial art.

[@ashdoroshenko6453]

Not a bjj practitioner but I definitely use a lot of these tips and ideas in my own training and my own coaching, especially when it's a class plan I have out together, so thanks for all your wisdom

[@calebschaaf1555]

Watching videos like this is super encouraging. My coach teaches two techniques each class, and we stay in the same conceptual neighborhood for an entire month. This month it’s all about getting to crucifix. When we drill it, he encourages us to play with it and find paths to other dominant positions or subs. But he only does two techniques per class.

[@rohitchaoji]

I just had a seminar with bjj black belt Mike Murrell. He taught us jujigatame and just the jujigatame and we drilled that position and technique for 2 hours.

[@Minx717]

I have definitely been guilty of the trying to be impressive thing. I made a conscious effort a little while back to try to focus on helping people get to the correct positions to make their leverage better. The hardest part for white belts is finding the sweet spot of a move. I am glad to hear I shouldn’t feel bad that I don’t give long presentations and focus on tweaking what the students are doing live during specific/positional training. Thanks for the affirmation!

[@tomsheppard378]

As a white belt sometimes what is frustrating is if the instructor doesnt let us drill a technique. Sometimes my coach starts with one technique then half way through demonstrating changes his mind and does something else and it means what started as a fairly simple technique for us to practise changes to something and the students dont get as much time to drill.

[@Omidion]

I trained at one dojo for year and a half, than had to switch coz of class time, now 9 months later i'm in a different one. In my current dojo sometimes my partner doesn't get a chance to do his drilling coz of how quickly the instructor changes the technique. He shows the technique, says do 5 reps each and since for some it's the first time seeing that it takes a longer time to reproduce the given technique...and BAM ! he goes on to show the next one, were the other person doesn't get the chance. I can't tell you what were were doing two classes ago. Also i know lots of techniques but only SOME by muscle memory. Asked the coach for open mat on Saturday or instead of a class during a week, so we can drill stuff and build community...he became very defensive about it and said "when you start going every day, than we will talk about open mat". I did ask him at the end of the class when he asked if there were any questions, but again i saw that as me asking on behalf of our dojos community, not only for my self. Oh and yeah, he had a dojo in a different city, not sure for how long, he came here 2 years ago and opened his current one, there are 2 blue belts both of whom came to the dojo...so zero of HIS blue belts...and the blue belt is the highest grade we have.

[@kylehowell5610]

@@Omidion does everyone at your gym call it a "dojo"?

[@biggooba6706]

@@Omidion never call it a dojo

[@Omidion]

@@kylehowell5610 No, we talk in out native language and call it a different name. I used dojo since a dojo is a place of learning and is universally known as a place where one goes to train martial arts. We do not train in a "gym" since there are no machines and weights there, that's usually a place for body builders. Gymnasium is a name we use for higher education schools.

[@Omidion]

@@biggooba6706 Why, does someone feel offended by it ? What should i call it ?

[@tigercrush2253]

One of my least favorite things I see in a lot of Jiu Jitsu classes: the "bonus technique." When you do a few fundamental moves for most of class, and then at the very end, you do a fancy bonus move from the same position. And then you go into live or situational rolling, and if you're anything like me, you can only remember the bonus technique and none of the fundamentals to try to execute. I don't mind fun and fancy moves, but I'd rather do a class on them than throw them in at the eleventh hour of a fundamental class. 🤷‍♂️

[@schenksteven1]

Chewy you have put your finger on one of the biggest problems with instructors in any discipline; it's not just BJJ, but other martial arts, coaches in athletics, teachers in the classroom, pastors, leaders, trainers of any kind... most teachers think their job is to teach, when in reality their job is to help students learn. If you measure your success as a coach by how good your technique is, or how much effort you put into it, or any other metric that revolves around yourself as a coach, then you are going to fail; however, if you measure your success as a coach by how many times your students demonstrate new understanding or demonstrate new ability then you will ultimately find the right coaching strategies to help the students grow, and you will ultimately be a successful coach. I am really looking forward to more of your "Coaching Corner" content.

[@dgonzaga17]

My coaches teach 2 to 3 techniques per class tops and they're usually a progression of the same technique or variations. Some times they spend weeks teaching the same kind of techniques. I think it's really effective.

[@danielskrivan6921]

I'm the opposite of these people you recently met. I've been watching you since I was a black belt (in another art), and now I'm watching you as a white belt (in BJJ).

[@jimreily7538]

Awesome advice. Coaches should limit definitely limit each day to 1 or 2 techniques. Then repeat and repeat. Revision is fundamental as well. Repeat those 2 techniques the next day - or, every day, throughout the whole week. Because if you learn a technique then don't repeat it, for at least the next day or 2, you'll forget it. (There's a thing called the Forgetting Curve, or the Memory Curve, that shows you quickly forget a new concept if it's not revised again, shortly after being taught.) I leaned S Mount because we repeated it 9 or 10 times, twice a night over 5 days. But, too often we do 3 or 4 techniques each night, and, one of them is always what the coaches call a fancy, or complicated technique. Getting more repetitions is so important. So is revision.

[@coach.hybrid]

Thsi is what my academy does. learned alot as a complete noob in just a few months.

[@jimreily7538]

@@coach.hybrid Where's it at ? What's it called ?

[@tededo]

Interesting. BJJ coach A: he'll submit each one of us 9 times out of ten, since 2016. Coach B: he'll allow us to put him in bad positions, even to the point of submitting him. Students of school A: Even after 3 to 6 years, white belts, some near blue. Students of school B: better grapplers, promoted to blue and some to purple. School A: the coach drills more for himself than his own students. School B: we all drill for extended times, for even more rounds. Me, 50 yo seasoned nogi, I submit 98% of students from school A, but half of those from school B. I attend both schools but decided to show up more often at school B since last year. My grappling game has made leaps and bounds. As for coach A: my defense is what I improved since he allows me to work on my defense a lot, cause he's highly competitive during rolling. Coach B: my submission game has made huge progress cause he takes time to teach me details for each technique.

[@GaryLiseo]

This is why I’m glad my coaches/sensei will show only a few, related techniques in a given day and have us drill it before rolls

[@VTdarkangel]

This is something that would have made my early days on the mat so much easier. I managed to figure a lot of it out because I was already and experienced martial artist. I was already familiar with the drilling process and the need for muscle memory. However, it was still very frustrating. It would have been much worse for someone who was brand new to martial arts training.

[@Omidion]

I trained at one dojo for year and a half, than had to switch coz of class time, now 9 months later i'm in a different one. In my current dojo sometimes my partner doesn't get a chance to do his drilling coz of how quickly the instructor changes the technique. He shows the technique, says do 5 reps each and since for some it's the first time seeing that it takes a longer time to reproduce the given technique...and BAM ! he goes on to show the next one, were the other person doesn't get the chance. I can't tell you what were were doing two classes ago. Also i know lots of techniques but only SOME by muscle memory. Asked the coach for open mat on Saturday or instead of a class during a week, so we can drill stuff and build community...he became very defensive about it and said "when you start going every day, than we will talk about open mat". I did ask him at the end of the class when he asked if there were any questions, but again i saw that as me asking on behalf of our dojos community, not only for my self. Oh and yeah, he had a dojo in a different city, not sure for how long, he came here 2 years ago and opened his current one, there are 2 blue belts both of whom came to the dojo...so zero of HIS blue belts...and the blue belt is the highest grade we have.

[@Jamijitsu]

Thank you for the video

[@martialartsvocationalschoo3319]

It's not just Jiu.Jitsu. Or sports. Many English teacher colleagues suffocate students with all the topics they "have to" teach. I try to focus on a handful of topics and through repetition try to get students to know enough about at least those. This also gives students a sense of security - they always know my first questions and a lot of them know the answers (some sooner, some later).

[@DozerLab]

There is this one thing I keep seeing when coaches give advanced techniques over the time they should be learning basics.. like giving them a single x sweep while they don't even know how escape or sweep from the close guard in anyway..

[@superdragonsunshine]

At my school, we do progress through a series of maybe 3-4 moves, and what would happen in variations of the same scenario, and get maybe 4-8 reps of the thing each time. That usually takes about 30 minutes, and then we do about 30 minutes of rolling. There is no group conditioning or workout first, maybe occasionally a 5-min warm up that is relevant to what we’re doing for the day.

[@jolantagawdzis4134]

My coaches teach 3 - 4 techniques every training every single day and after a week or 2 i remember maybe 3 - 4, sadly that was every club i trained in

[@samartypants1330]

Chewy, what are some transition moves that can be utilized during a live roll? I.E. I attempt a move, either a pass or submission attempt and it fails? Now what? Why does my mind go blank? Let's say from guard, or even during the first few seconds of the roll?

[@lunarbombRacing]

Man, I'm 48, 3 weeks in and horribly overwhelmed - multiple new techniques coming at me every day. I feel like my only option is to become friends with another white belt and commit to open mat sessions together. Like, can we just break fall for an hour so I can figure out how to hit the ground without seeing stars?😵‍💫🤩

[@MegaKhoi]

Pleas, I would love this.

[@FR-ty5vn]

Not a black belt, but I taught the kids’ class a few times and once made the mistake of teaching what I thought was a simple technique only to realize it seemed simple because I’d been using it for some time - it was too complex for most of the kids - lesson learned….great advice (I probably talked too much also)!!

[@biggooba6706]

what tech?

[@FR-ty5vn]

@@biggooba6706 was just a Gi choke where you use your own jacket from side control, grab it behind the opponent’s neck and circle your body around behind his head - not sure of the name - saw Emily Kwok & Stephan Kesting use it - very effective, but little tricky for kids.

[@AntoineFabri]

@@FR-ty5vn to me after 100 hours on the mat, using the gi for anything other than grip is confusing. I can understand the demo and maybe do the drill ok but it feels so unnatural that my brain just shuts it out and I basically don't use any of it in rolls.

[@FR-ty5vn]

@@AntoineFabri that makes sense - this will change over time - start with the Ezekiel Choke (using your own sleeve), that’s my advice - I’ve probably got over 1000 hours on the mats now and I’ve seen so many ups and downs and plateaus, your understanding changes every 6 months or so…that’s my experience.

[@AntoineFabri]

@@FR-ty5vn thanks I appreciate

[@tyroneshoelaces315]

We have this problem in my gym, how long do you usually let your students drill a technique before you bring the class back together?

[@mcnoodles76]

Lots of valid points here. But unfortunately the biggest problem with coaches is that they have no idea of the science and methodology of learning. Rote drilling, muscle memory all antiquated learning concepts that don't jive with contemporary science.

[@danilecashin4126]

Excellent point with less talking more drilling.

[@johnwayne3491]

I’m a white belt and I feel this. And have no clue what I drilled when I got home.

[@vincentbaehr8336]

Hey Chew. White belt competition question. I'm a 35 year old veteran with some lingering injuries. I started my BJJ journey in September and so far have lost nearly 50 pounds [currently 246 and was 295]. I fell in love with the sport and decided that I want to enter my first comp in May. I'm shooting to lose more weight before May and be in the 210-218 weight class. There doesn't seem to be any age brackets and strictly weight. My question is do you have any tips for an older white belt competing against younger and more athletic talent?

[@bravotoomuch4218]

Most competitions have older age group distinctions. Executive, master, etc. Your tournament should have this type of set up. I'm a 55yo blue belt with 2.5 years in. I'd love to be 35 because my next comp has only 30 and above, I think. I might compete against a guy 25 years younger. That said, gripping a lapel right off the bat is one way I slow younger guys down. This gives them something to think about. Also, reducing space slows folks down. Don't give fast guys room to move, in other words. Hope this helps. Lex Talionis. Cheers from Texas, bro.

[@vincentbaehr8336]

@@bravotoomuch4218 thank you for the tips.

[@bravotoomuch4218]

@@vincentbaehr8336 You're welcome. Stay saved, my friend.

[@natethegreat4314]

I have this problem at my current school. We have a purple belt who is a great competitor that has started teaching classes. The issue is that he shows fancy techniques and only the techniques that he is really good at and that do well for his body type. That is nice and all but I am a 4 stripe white belt that would really like to focus on the basics, not things like de la riva or xguard. There is also not enough drilling. It is essentially showing 3 different techniques, positional sparring (often starting in de la riva/xguard) and then normal rolling. It feels horrible because many whitebelts like myself simply do not have the movement or ability to remember all that stuff. What is wrong with showing easier/basic things like halfguard and full guard? Oh well. Sorry for ranting.

[@veteransowhat5669]

The issues maybe a discipline issues for drilling or keeping students. Because the drilling is to intense..... You videos are informitive. The individuals that your training matters the experience that they have before .....

[@KevinSmith-qt4hz]

This happens in my gym a lot. We're mostly white belts and the coaches show crazy level stuff. We waste half the class going over things I've never seen or used again.

[@attkdriver]

Is it common in BJJ for a purple belt to be leading instruction in a beginners class? Thank you for the input.

[@stephencraig3176]

Yes at least from my limited knowledge that is common. Purple belts are fairly skilled and very knowledge about fundamentals. For white belts, purples belts have so much more depth of knowledge that they should be able to field any and all questions. Purple belts may be missing tiny (but impactful!) details, if it was painting, black belts would be using all the colours, purple belts would be using all the main colours but would be missing the different shades of those colours, and white belts are trying to figure out how to use the paintbrush and stay in the lines who cares what colours they are using yet i have been in a group (was a uni dojo so more like a interest group than a serious improvement based bjj dojo) where it was lead and taught by blue belts. Even blue belts have tons of information they can give to white belts, the core issue though is that blue belts can have bad habits and arent as experienced at recognizing bad habits forming in others, so well they can definitely teach and help the white belts learn lots, it'll also probably end with the white belts developing many bad habits which will take time and be hard to break later

[@stevecolvin1234]

Chewy, where did you get that t-shirt?

[@aririn3]

It's Nikki Sullivan's shirt.

[@annafalls4052]

How do i send a question to chewy?? Just through comments?

[@jackmurak]

Old (experienced) instructors too!

[@SlowDeathTeam]

my coach has us drill 2 techniques lots of times then we situationally roll then roll every class

[@michaelchen3208]

My opinion is, different teaching method for different class. If a class is big and composed of all different level participants, why not teach one or two basics (fundamentals) for lower belt and introduces a few more advanced techniques for advanced belt.

[@pfmez587]

Hey, nice Nikki Sullivan shirt!

[@jonathanhowell561]

I wish we drilled more at my gym tbh

[@todd2324]

Try going to open mat and drilling those techniques you may have had trouble with.

[@garrettpatterson4969]

I got six drills no practice one session 😢 two year white belt

[@curtisclevenger8800]

OSS

[@AtlantiXYL]

My BJJ instructor knows his moves, but socially, it's hard to connect or vibe with him.

[@schenksteven1]

Sounds like Keaunu Reeves from... everything he's ever been in. ;-)

[@701garage]

Kinda like my wrestling coach we would teach 3 takedowns and drill them every day .

[@zeehutt7876]

BJJ coaches are students themselves.

[@christophervelez1561]

I only make progress destroying mistakes haha

[@GuitarJiuJitsuSkateboarding]

There is no muscle memory. Just brain memory.

[@powelldiesel7422]

Too much talking from some coaches. Over explaining. Not allowing students to train and play.

[@jujitsuman9934]

Hey there’s always roids. These days it’s in the sign up packet.

[@MMAengineer]

My gi coach literally can see these fking belts with his fking eyes and 95% of his class is white and blue belts and he still doesnt do basics

[@retro6652]

Your beard is getting pointy... like a garden gnome. Get a cone hat!

[@anderandersson5229]

No. Im not going to put a like to this video. A white belt proffesional ballerina can coach. So does my elite volleyball playing girlfriend. Coaching is what? Having a color on your belt? No. Coaching is about delivering experience and relevant knowledge. Like you do now. Coaching about coaching. About stuff thats been growing in your heart. And mind. The roots of the tree that you are made of, is your parents and friends/colleages, sprouting out grappling.

[@kylem2560]

What lol

[@bravotoomuch4218]

As you can see, we've had our eye on you a long time, Mr. Anderson.

[@thorbjrnbeckmann1018]

Did you even watch the video? Because this comment makes no sense given the context

[@chrisrichards9814]

No. I'm not going to put a like on your comment. You ballerina sprouting grappling volleyball fish banana. No.

[@wanderbread4217]

[@biggooba6706]

lol there is no way for a coach to ruin a students progress. Its all on the student