Am I in danger of becoming a hack instructor ???!one!

[UpaLumpa]

If he gets a brown or purple to come along, they should teach.

[FictionPimp]

I do something similar. I train at a judo club during the week taught by a Rokudan (6th degree black belt). On weekends, my bjj club has a judo class. It really isn't an official judo club, but is taught by a judo blackbelt (shodan) and frequented by most of our bjj blue belts and a few white belts. I think there is 2 or 3 people only there for the judo, but they are not competitors. Because of his job, the instructor has been unable to make it consistently the last few months. So I have been filling in running the class and teaching. I am a Nikyu (2nd brown belt) in judo and a blue belt in bjj. I always stress that I am not perfect and not a black belt. I also make sure to write down any questions I can not answer and bring them to my judo instructor during the week. I also make extra care to point out anything I showed them that was incorrect if I am corrected on it by my judo instructor. I also cover the judo ground work stategies, but I leave the techniques to our black belt instructor (a bjj black belt).

I also run a small unoffical no-gi class after judo. Technically the time is open mat, but we have used the time to drill no-gi drills and work on technique. It is not for beginners and I usually do not teach anything, we just setup stations and run though them. However we do get white belts who show up from time to time, and I cover what needs to be covered to work the drill. My bjj instructor knows about it and thinks it's great we are putting in the extra work.

I think at this point I am a much better coach then a fighter. Some of the guys in the judo class are actually very challenging for me in randori now. I feel I can teach just fine as long as I am under the guidance of a black belt who can keep a watchful eye on me. I would never open my own school or anything like that, but I would teach a beginner class anytime.

[Deadmeat]

To the OP, if you are going to run a session, what's your lesson plan?

What exactly do you intend to cover in the 1-2 hours (or whatever) that you are there?

[Copperpot]

Ugh, I just talked to the karate guy, and he's kind of giving me a bad vibe. He was like, "Yeah, why dont' you come to our class, and then, you know, you could show a few techniques for like 15-20mins or so, blah blah blah".

I don't know if he was meaning, more of just to show some students about BJJ to see if there is interest for a grappling class or what, but I was kind of getting a shitty vibe.

I'll keep you guys posted.

[krazy kaju]

Ugh, I just talked to the karate guy, and he's kind of giving me a bad vibe. He was like, "Yeah, why dont' you come to our class, and then, you know, you could show a few techniques for like 15-20mins or so, blah blah blah".

I don't know if he was meaning, more of just to show some students about BJJ to see if there is interest for a grappling class or what, but I was kind of getting a shitty vibe.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Just do it dude.

If you could teach some people, make money, get a little extra training in, and begin to show people the truth about grappling, why not?

[It is Fake]

Think of the lives you may save. Think of the children.










Seriously, I wish it was like that when I was in my Mcdojo. I would have learned real quick about the BS my instructor was spewing. You know small joints, elbow to the base of the skull, eye gouges, knee to the face, ear rips etc, aren't as easy as strikers claim.

[Zapruder]

You know small joints, elbow to the base of the skull, eye gouges, knee to the face, ear rips etc, aren't as easy as strikers claim.

Pffft you are just doing it wrong.

[It is Fake]

Pffft you are just doing it wrong.

Yes, and it took almost fifteen years to figure I'd never get it right.

[Omega Supreme]

Wow, I think I'm the only one who can't agree with this. If you were a blue belt under me there would be no way I would let you teach without supervision. If you're not teaching already things could go wrong. I've seen it happen.

I have blues through blacks cross train at my gym all the time. Whenever there are blues on the floor I watch carefully and make sure there isn't any misinformation being spread. It does happen.

As a blue you can warm up a class and lead a class under supervision but there are many things you haven't seen yet. Of course I'm jumping to conclusions I really don't now how long you've been a blue and if you're on the cusp then I stand corrected.

(Just playing devils advocate here)

[jdinca]

Wow, I think I'm the only one who can't agree with this. If you were a blue belt under me there would be no way I would let you teach without supervision. If you're not teaching already things could go wrong. I've seen it happen.

I have blues through blacks cross train at my gym all the time. Whenever there are blues on the floor I watch carefully and make sure there isn't any misinformation being spread. It does happen.

As a blue you can warm up a class and lead a class under supervision but there are many things you haven't seen yet. Of course I'm jumping to conclusions I really don't now how long you've been a blue and if you're on the cusp then I stand corrected.

(Just playing devils advocate here)

We're a little different in that you can become an instructor at blue but you won't be teaching anybody above orange. But, in addition to your own belt material, you've also been through several hundred hours of instructor training by that point.

It will be interesting to see what his instructor says and what kind of support and backup he provides.

[Copperpot]

Omega, believe me, I'm with you. That's why I posted about this in the first place. There's no way I want to purport that I am some BJJ master. This guy was just saying that he thought it would be fun to change up the pace for a bit. I really don't think this is going to turn into a class. It really feels like this is going to be a one off thing. I mean, it's a karate school. This guy was a black belt in Kyokushin at one point, and now does some other flavor of karate. I really think this is more of like when you are in grammar school, and the teacher has a policeman come in to talk about staying safe on the playground. The coop just tells a few things about basic stuff, i.e. "Stranger=Danger", and the kids feel like it's a break from schoolwork for a bit. The cop aint teaching the class like he would at the academy. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, like I said, I am looking at this as a one off thing. If he wants to make it a regular thing, I'd be glad to assistant-teach with one of the higher belts.

[v1y]

there aren't any blues at my gym qualified to "teach" at the level of our purples/browns/blacks. that's not to say that they aren't amazing, but there is definitely an expanse in technical level that is very apparent.

[jdinca]

In my association, blues often teach in class and privately. Sometimes it works out ok. Sometimes its an inexcusable train wreck. I think the skill range is too wide to speak in generalities.

Is there a formal training program for instructors? Makes a huge difference. New instructors also need to be mentored/monitored by a higher ranking instructor to avoid the train wrecks.

[pauli]

from my perspective, i don't care how much you know, i don't care what belt you are, i care about whether or not you know how to teach.

if you know how to teach people - really teach - then your instructor can tell you what you know well enough to cover with the nubs, and it'll work out.

if you're no good at teaching, then it doesn't matter how much ass you can kick or how good your technique is, you shouldn't be up at the front at some random school, representing your instructor.

[Copperpot]

OK, Karate School trip report:

Here's what went down. When I got there, there was a "little dragons" class going on. To my surprise, they had padding on and were sparring. It was pretty hilarious to see these little 8 year old hands and feet flying all ofIt's a pretty traditional school, lots of "uhss sensei" and all that. There was some adults stretching out off of the mats, and I just sat there and waited for the head instructor to finish. One guy, this 40 year old black belt would not stop sizing me up. It was hilarious.

Anyway, they finished that class, and the advanced students took the mat. The instructor me come onto the mat too. He lined the blackbelts up on one side, and the others (myself included), lined the other side. We sat traditional style and meditated for 30 secs, then we got up and warmed up by doing laps for a few mins. After that, the instructor introduced me, and said I could instruct from then. The class consisted of about 6 adults (all black belts), 2 teens, and like 6 or 8 ten year olds. lol.

Since we had so many kids in the class, we really didn't do any subs. I just went over a few little throws, like a hip toss, etc, and then I showed them the guard position, and what it is good for, and showed them the hip heist sweep.

At the end, the other blackbelt who was sizing me up, who also happened to be an instructor, wanted to let them do some randori, so I said fine, but with no submissions, and starting from the knees. The randori basically just consisted of some noobs trying to pass each others crappy guards and gain full mount. After everyone rolled for a bit, I left the mats, and then did some kicking exercises.

What it turned out to be, was really just a little something different for the students to try, just to mix it up and keep things fun. The instructor said I could by whenever, but I gotta see what my instructor says first, just to make sure everything is kosher for passover.