How does your school teach new material?

[Punisher]

I train at two different schools, one kenpo, one bjj. On top of the obvious differences in the material they teach, the two schools also approach teaching in drastically different ways. I'd like to hear from other members about how their schools teach their material. Here's the situation I'm going through right now.

At my kenpo school there is a set curriculum. Everyone basically works on the same set of material for a two month time period, then the school moves on the next set. Students generally show up with a basic idea of what they will be working on that day, each class building on the next until the end of the two-month cycle.

At my bjj school, the material presented for a given class is basically up to whatever the instructor feels like doing that day. Each class is independent from the next. We might spend a whole class on learning a couple of guard passes, but then not do them again for months.

Being that I have a lot more experience with my kenpo school's format, I find it difficult to learn in the relatively unstructured approach of my bjj school. I often tell people that my bjj training has given me a lot of dots, but I'm having trouble connecting them to get a complete picture.

My kenpo school offers private lessons for people that want to work on stuff outside of that session’s curriculum, and I was hoping to get some privates to add some structure and fill in the gaps of my bjj training. I was really surprised when an instructor at my bjj school discouraged me from doing this, telling me private lessons were best used to refine specific parts of your game (i.e. I'm having problems with this sub from side control, show me what I'm doing wrong), not to teach large portions of new material (i.e. I'm a newb, show me the guard and what I can do from it).

I get the serious feeling that my bjj school's format is designed to cater to their core students, guys that have already developed some degree of skill, but isn't very kind to beginners. My kenpo school's black belt classes are run like my bjj classes, but everyone there already has an understanding of the proper technique, mechanics, and strategy. In affect we are working improving stuff we already know, not learning new things. The bjj class I typically get the most out of is the Saturday morning self-defense class, where there are enough similarities to my kenpo for me to learn the new techniques and integrate them into my overall game easily.

[Red Elvis]

Just curious... How long have you been doing BJJ and how often do you go per week?

It has been my experience that most BJJ instructors teach this way. The techniques are random on different days but over time begin to fill in the gaps. I imagine it would be difficult to spend alot of time on only one aspect as there are so many positions and moves however for beginners there should be some core priciples and positions that are drilled repeatedly.

Of the five instructors I've had over the years only one drilled core technique over and over while introducing new techniques as well. This was the best approach in my opinion as it does get somewhat convoluted to learn a **** load of stuff over a short period of time. However, that approach did work as well.

On the other hand I would hate the two month on only certain techniques more. Each has its pros and cons.

[Punisher]

I've been going to my bjj school about six months now. My work situation and the school being across town make it hard for me to go more than once a week.

My goal is to make class two times a week this month to see if it makes any noticable difference.

[Simon McNeil]

Back at NBDMA in Canada Master Chau would just show up with new stuff once in a while and say "OK tonight we are going to do this".

Or one of the senior students at the kwoon would show up from their travels and have picked up something new they wanted to share and he'd give them some time to do it.

Over here it's more likely trading techniques... Things like: "So that's how Xingyi does it eh? Ok, but what if... this happens..."

I've picked up some decent stuff in the last couple days since I've finally met up with a few decent martial artists... Xingyi power generation and footwork has some good stuff in it. :karated:

[jnp]

What Red Elvis is saying is that you just need some more mat time. It takes the average person about 6 months, training at least 2 times a week to become semi-competent on the mat. Chaining together moves in a competent manner is a skill that typically takes over a year.

Some people learn faster, some slower. I trained 5x a week for two years. I improved considerably faster during this time than the other students who started around the same time I did but came 3x or less a week. No surprise there.

Write down the techniques you learn and drill them often. Drilling is a good tool many American Bjj schools do not stress enough. Pay special attention if your instructor teaches you a series of interconnected moves, drill the series. This is especially helpful for beginners, as it teaches you proper transitions if performed using good technique.

If you can't make it to class two or more times a week find a person, outside of class, to help you drill the moves you have learned. Drill the move(s) in a slow manner initially, paying attention to all the details.

Finally there are drills for putting moves together. Ask your instructor to show you the four points drill. There are armbar, omoplata and triangle drills as well. If you want to get better faster you're going to have to put in the work.

[Punisher]

I know I need to put more time in, but I'm also looking for ways to make my time more productive.

What I can't really understand is them turning me down when I offered them more money to spend a half-hour or so a week to show me the basics, so I at least have an idea of what I'm trying to accomplish when rolling. Maybe if I approach them again and ask them to show me some drills I can do to practice outside of class, I'll get a different answer.

[jnp]

Sparring is still the best tool for learning Bjj. I'm just recommending some supplemental training.

[Punisher]

I assume you mean sparring with people that actually know what they're doing.

I assume rolling around on the floor with my kenpo buddies isn't going to get me where I want to be. I have a training group that has bunch of guys from various backgrounds, including a guy training mma, but his bjj isn't much better than mine.

There is a bjj school that just opened up near my house. I like where I train now, but I'll probably end up switching if I can't find a way to make it to class more.

[jnp]

I assume you mean sparring with people that actually know what they're doing.

Yes. The higher the rank, and the more helpful your sparring partner is, the faster you will improve. The best students/teachers to learn from will often stop you during or after a sparring session and point out the mistakes you made.

Use your Kenpo buddies for drills.

[Punisher]

Anyway, the point of me starting this thread was to get people to share how their school does things, .

How set is the curriculm? How structured are classes? How often do you test, if at all? That sort of thing.