BTG 126 - How I Teach a Seminar

Welcome to another episode of Breaking the Guard. I got back this week from Miami after spending a week over there and teaching at my gym at the Freestyle Fighting Academy. And the past two episodes I was talking about coaching and teaching classes, the approach that I have, critiquing uh the ecological approach and I got the chance to teach at uh my home gym and I ran this more in a seminar style which I'll explain the the differences which is that when I do seminar style teaching I'm generally fire hosing people where I'm showing lots of technique. Although it's going to be a lot of very similar technique so that even if they only learned one of the techniques, they have the keys to learn all the other ones because I'm teaching the same principles, same mechanics. We're just applying it in different situations. For example, on this trip, the focus for me uh uh for my Miami guys was Backbound Escapes. So, if you guys are members, you probably have seen the new courses that we put out, the one that I I filmed with uh another member of the the website. Uh we were covering, you know, turtle top and bottom, escaping the back mount, getting back up to your feet, uh breaking back body locks. So we covered that curriculum as well focusing on back mount escapes then reversals and then finally uh standing up from the turtle position. But each class I again these were 75minut classes. I followed my same formula that I usually do about five minutes of a warm-up. Then I go into technique instruction. This goes a little longer because again, as I'm telling you, I'm running this more seminar style. So, I'm trying to give them essentially a month's worth of technique and three classes, right? It's a it's a lot of uh information, but I think the important part is that each class I created my lesson plan and all the techniques are very similar. They're all very related to each other. For example, the first class was backbound escapes. So, I covered uh defending on the underhook side, defending on the the choking side, uh very switching from the choking side to the underhook side, and then untangling the body triangle. Right? So that's all uh four techniques in one class. Similar format, five to 10 minutes uh per technique. Gave the guys plenty of time to work. And then we finished off by doing live rounds. And the the variant that I was doing was shark bait. But rather than uh having the guy backmounted be the the bait and staying in and going with uh his three other partners. I had it reversed where the guy that was shark bait big which actually the guy starting from the back mount. And I did this so that it made it easier for the guys to escape, right? because now the guy with the back control is going to be a bit more fatigued as he gets into the later uh shark bait rounds, giving more chances for the fresh guys to be able to work their escapes. And this is something you should consider as well when you're structuring uh shark bait rounds. It's not always it doesn't always behoove you to put them in the worst possible position. For example, if I would have done it, which I think most people would do, which is the guy that you're trying to work their escapes, have them start as the shark bait, they're generally going to do worse and worse each round, right? Because as they get more tired, their fatigue is building, technique starts going out the window, and they're just going to get destroyed. And I see this a lot where you do shark bait rounds and the guy who shark bait does okay in the first round and then second round he's starting to struggle. Third round he's really having a hard time. Fourth round he's just getting obliterated. While that might build some toughness, it doesn't build good technique. And when we're trying to focus on learning new skills, I want to have the focus on building technique. So that's why I set this up in reverse where I put the person that was being the debate as the guy controlling the back, right? So that person is going to be staying in for four rounds, whereas fresh people will be the ones on the bottom of back mount working their escapes. So the first round will be pretty even. Second round guy has an upper hand. third round guy has a has a bigger upper hand and the fourth round guy has the biggest upper hand, right? Or I guess first, second, third, right? Um, and that's giving them more chances to be able to work their escapes. And just by simple observation, that's generally what happened. I saw people getting lots of escapes in, doing it clean, whereas the the control guy in the back, he was starting to suffer uh towards the end of the round, making it easier for the escapes to work. Now, of course, at some point you're going to reverse this trend and once they've mastered the technique, but I think when we're introducing a new skill, it's always good to actually give a handicap uh if you will to the person that's going to be working the new techniques, right? So there's a time to focus on building toughness and I think that's when somebody has mastered a particular skill and now what we're trying to master is you know building endurance and building that mental resilience to keep pushing forward and work past fatigue. But when you first learn a skill let's make it focused on learning the skill itself. Right? So that's uh what we did. And when you do a shark bait like that, you're you're getting the benefit of also that you're not just working uh technique and sparring. You're also working conditioning. So the back mount guy is getting fatigued, you know, because he's trying to hold that back. He's trying to get his chokes. Uh so he's getting a good conditioning routine as well. So you're really getting good bang for your buck with those type of rotations, especially when you have bigger classes like in this case. Uh one of the classes there was I think like 40 people. I I can't supervise uh that many you know essentially 20 matches going on at the same time and the mat space didn't really provide for that much without people just colliding into each other. So that's another use of uh doing rounds where you have teams of four or teams of three or sometimes if a lot of people teams of five uh you can give people adequate rest and utilize the same mat space. Whereas if you were just doing classic, you know, pairs, I would basically have to sit sit out half the class, right? uh and have them wait, you know, however long the round is. If it's a three minute round, four minute round, five minute round versus like this in this case when I'm doing this type of shark bait, it's one minute goes and same person stays in uh this group was four people. So, we had a one, two, three basically. So, the guy that was in stays in for three rounds. He goes once with each person and then we rotate. New person stays in. Uh, so all in all, there's three * 4 12. If you're running this like really tight, you're probably going to do it like in 14 minutes to get through everybody with some breaks in between uh calling the rounds, right? And that would give you uh a good amount of action there, right? Again, if you had more people, you can do five people rotations. If you had less, you could do three people rotations, right? Uh but this is a good way of getting that those situational rounds, getting a lot of technique focus and also building conditioning. But I the thing I I just want to emphasize is just keep in mind who you're going to put as a guy staying in, right? Because if you're trying to focus on technique, have it the fresh person being in this situation where the new technique is going to be used. If you're trying to focus on conditioning or toughness, then have it as uh the person that is going to be doing the technique once again will be the it person. Anyhow, just giving you some insight as far as how I was teaching more on a seminar basis, right? Where I am focusing more on dispersing more technique rather than getting a lot of sparring in or getting a lot of conditioning in. And in my opinion, that gives them the most bang for the buck, right? Because I feel that if you're only going to see me once, like if I'm doing a one day seminar from across the country, I'm going to teach once. If I just show you like two techniques and I really like drill in on all the details over three hours, I'm not doing you a lot of service, right? Like tattoo techniques is not a lot of technique. Uh, I mean, if you covered a lot of concepts and stuff, that's great. I mean I the way I teach I'm teaching a lot of concepts and mechanics anyways but I feel if I'm going to a seminar personally I want to be blasted with lots of techniques and I'm going to filter through the stuff that I like the stuff that I feel that's immediately applicable to my game and then some stuff where I'm like it's not really my cup of tea but I'll just jot it down. In any case, I'm taking notes regardless. And that was something that I liked. There was actually a couple students that weren't able to compete or rather train the class. One of them uh had just gone through uh a surgery that went well and he was going to be out for like a week and uh he was on the sidelines taking notes for all the classes. I also made sure as an instructor to pass by him, ask him any questions that he had, which he he did, which is a good sign that someone's paying attention, right? uh and that as an aside that is something that I would tell you as somebody who's not able to train whether you're injured whether one of the uh the students actually had a a ringorm and he wasn't the person that was bit in the zombie movie that tried to sneak it away right he said no I got ringorm I can't train but I want to take notes beautiful right that's the way it should be right and you he'll be out for like a week, maybe two at most, and then he'll be back in rather than, you know, getting everybody, you know, stuck with ringorm and having to close the gym down, right? So, uh, I thought those are two great examples. Uh, and I'm happy to see that at my home gym, right? My brother's obviously doing a really good job of instilling good cultures and good values to the students where people recognize that if they're hurt, it doesn't mean that they can't train. they can show up and learn just by watching and taking notes. And uh if you are sick and have some type of communicable disease like ring worm for example, doesn't mean that you have to stay home. You can still show up to the gym, take notes, right? I feel that's a a very good way of one not breaking the habit. One of the harder things for especially if you're a casual student and a professional fighter or whatnot is that you set aside a certain amount of time every week to go to train to the gym. And it the hardest part about starting something new is creating that habit because when you first start training martial arts and let's say you're coming in twice a week for 60 minutes for an hourong class, let's say 6:00 to 7, right? Tuesday, Thursdays before you did martial arts, you were doing something else on those days at from 6:00 to 7. So we have to swap whatever you were doing at those times. Now with martial arts and maybe you were quote unquote doing nothing by just watching TV or you know uh doing whatever you were doing that still counts. That was still something that you were doing, right? So, it's tricky to kind of rewire yourself and that's like the hard part getting those the new time slots set up for martial arts. And what happens when you get injured now is you might go weeks or maybe even months with a serious injury where you don't return. So, that time that you have saved for martial arts now becomes time for something else. And when you want to try to get back in, you have that inertia that's very difficult to overcome, which is I got to swap again. But if you still show up even though you're not training, it's very easy and you're going to be more eager honestly to train because I know I've done it where I show up to the gym but I can't train. I'm just watching and I'm like the back of my head like, man, I can't wait to get back in here. I really can't wait to get back in here and I'm taking notes or or whatnot. I find that the people who do that tend to recover much quicker and versus the people that kind of stay at home and I know obviously not everybody can do it if you're but when you can make it happen. I think it's better for your recovery and you'll get back on track sooner. That I can almost guarantee. In any case, like I was saying, kind of sidetracked there, but those two students really reminded me of uh good practices as a student, but uh in the seminar format, what I was talking about is that as a student, if I'm seeing somebody like I'm only going to see once in a blue moon, I want to try to get as much out of them as I can. And uh that's why I personally when if you ever done one of my seminars I always say it is like a fire hose. Now I tend to teach a lot of similar content right for example the most popular seminar that I do is the Kimmor trap system obviously because it's the one of my creations that has you know infiltrated everything in the martial arts uh which I'm very happy with and the beauty of that seminar is that since it all revolves around one grip the kimora it makes the whole seminar pretty simple even when I'm fire hosing it Because as long as you learn the first few techniques, like I tell people, the very first technique I'm showing you is the most important one because I teach a basic kimora from side control, which now is an 11point kimora, right? So when you learn that now all the other techniques are going to start from there and add something to it, right? So I might be doing a kimora to step over arm bar or kimoa to head scissors or kimora to back, right? But if you remember the first technique, all the other techniques are coming back into play, right? And that's what I think makes my style of teaching very effective is because I have my lesson plans created. I know that one technique connects to the second technique connects to the third technique connects to the fourth technique. So they're all in sequence. I'm not teaching you a triangle choke and then a question mark kick and then a double leg takedown. Right? These are three different techniques. They have no relation to each other. there's not really complimentary skills. So, it's harder to like connect your class. But if you know I showed you like I said a kimora for side control, step over kimora, step over kimor to arm bar, they all have a common theme. Same starting position, same initial grip, different ways of finishing. And uh I find like just going more into like how I teach that's generally how I'm going to structure a class where I'm keeping everything on the same vein. So even when I'm teaching you know four techniques which for an hour long or you know an hour and 15 minute class that's about as much as I could really throw at you um without in my opinion without throwing too much. It's still very cohesive because you're seeing the same thing just in slightly different formats. So even if you didn't get the first uh technique super great on the second technique you're going to see elements of the first technique and then things will click because I'll say it in a slightly different way. I'll show it in a slightly different way and usually light bulbs will start to flicker as people start to see now. Oh, okay. Now I'm starting to get it. And that's something as an instructor that we have to be able to work on, which is being able to show the same technique in multiple ways because everybody has a different way of learning. Some people are very gifted and they can see me do a demonstration once and then instantly they download it and they they have it. But most people are going to have to see it multiple times and sometimes have to see it from different angles or they have to see it from different situations. Sometimes they have to do it themselves in order to feel it. Other times they have to feel it done to them. And I notice especially when people have trouble because obviously when I teach I'm first demonstrating the technique then I'm breaking it down going over the common mistakes and then having them split up and practice. So you've already seen multiple angles. You've saw the mechanics and the breakdown. And if you're practicing it and you're not getting it, usually to me, then I'm going to have to I'm going to usually try to show it on you cuz I don't want you to feel it because I find in that case when you feel the technique now you understand it better because you're like, "Oh, oh, oh, that's what I'm that's what he's doing there. I can understand that more versus me showing it again on somebody else like their partner." Sometimes that helps them uh but other times they are still kind of stuck. So again another way I can try to reach people is simply by doing it to them. So especially people who are very tactile and they need to feel they they will need to feel that uh themselves and even though you know they're not seeing it by feeling how it feels like they have a better understanding of what is supposed to happen and of course explaining it in different ways is also very useful. The I tend to use a lot of metaphors when I'm teaching and I'll swap them out. You know, I I usually find some of them that click with me personally. I'm like, and those are the ones I tend to use the most. But when somebody's struggling to understand, I'll start swapping out the metaphors and explanations until I find one that works better for that person. And I try to keep a mental note of it. Like when I explain something in a new way that clicks, I'm like, "Okay, I should have that as a backup uh explanation." So when I show that a second time, I'm going to say it this way instead of the way I'm saying it the first time. So you know, when you're teaching, you got to be versatile as far as how many ways can you teach the same thing, right? It's like if I'm trying to teach people how to tie their shoes, I might do the the the way I've always learned it, which is, you know, the the bunny ears, but then I might do it just by lacing it, right? And if I can show the same thing multiple ways, it it gives me a better odds of reaching the whole audience, right? And being able for them to execute that technique cleanly. So, uh again, just different approaches to teaching in what I would call like a seminar style format, right? And uh once again, just to beat that horse dead, I'm trying to show as much technique as I can while keeping retention really high. When possible, if I can incorporate situational rounds, I'm definitely going to do that because that's going to help with the retention dramatically. If I'm only doing one session, like I'm doing one a lot of times when people book me for seminars, it'll be one two hour session or one three-hour session. I might not do any sparring because I'm just trying to get as much technique out there as I can, right? Uh to me, people can spar on their own, right? So, if I if I spent 30 minutes of a seminar doing sparring, while it might be a better class as far as like, oh, you're getting a workout and you're getting do some live, but you're losing 30 minutes of learning from somebody that you might never ever see again. So, from my viewpoint, I rather have more matt time. And of course, people can just spar later without me there or the coach can set up sparring without me there. Uh but situational sparring can help. And normally I do a lot of that when I have camps, right? So like for example, when I was in Miami, since I was there for 3 days, I'm doing situational sparring rounds so that we since I'm teaching a lot more techniques that they're going to be able to retain more information, right? And uh most of the time now when that's the way I'll structure the camps where we you know quick warm up, a good chunk of technique, then going into situational sparring and uh when possible when I'm feeling great and like healthy, I'll try to get in there and spar with everybody as well just to try to get different looks. Like I know when I was doing my camps in Costa Rica, I made it a point to be able to spar with each camp member so that at least everybody got one look at me, right? Uh you know, because obviously they're making the big trip to to come down there and to train with me, which I feel is a great privilege. So I'm going to do my best to attend everybody. But in a one-day seminar, I generally don't do that because uh I'm teaching a lot more. Like I said, I don't usually spar as much. And also I don't know a lot of these people and I've had situations in seminars where I have been hurt by people like uh I got a a guy who was really hungry to prove something and he ended up elbowing me in the face in a grappling match and split me open you know which not fun right I ended up I armored him immediately afterwards but I'm like h you know and I'm like this is why some people one spar in a seminar. I feel it's different in the camps uh because since we're spending a lot more time together, people are not as anxious, right? And I also let everybody know up front, I'm going to get rounds with everybody, so you'll get your chance. I and I I also set the expectations as well like this is not the mun or the, you know, the finals of ADCC. We're just here to have fun. So in the sparring, don't take it too seriously. Just try to learn and enjoy yourself. You get caught, you tap. You know, uh if you have a submission, don't try to break anything. You know, if you think your partner is being a knucklehead, just let them go. And these type of things help to lower people's defenses a bit and not worry so much about their ego, right? And when I'm doing camps and whatnot, I want to make sure that the student can finish all five days, right? or the week or however long the camp is. I know I've done camps where we were doing two sessions a day, like two hour training sessions, I think the first couple camps, and I noticed that people were just not surviving right there because they were going so hard that they were just getting worn out and they would end up, you know, sitting out the last few sessions and just like taking notes. So that's when I personally started like trying to set those expectations for people and and mind you my goal for them is to learn as much as possible. And if you're going balls to the wall on day one, you you might not have the tank to survive until day five, right? So like I'm like like pace yourself because the goal in my opinion of doing any type of seminar training camp or whatnot is to learn as much as possible. So you could always get sparring at home and you can you know if you need more new looks you can always go to a competition. So really in my opinion if I'm going somewhere to to train is because I'm trying to learn as much as I can. Uh, so I I try to set up people for success that way. And that's why, like I was talking about how I found it admirable that my students were taking notes when they were injured or they were sick, right? And that's something I do regardless as the teacher. Like I told you, I write lesson plans, so I'm taking notes as is. There's also something to be said that when I teach and like I I was mentioning when I do find that I've made a breakthrough which happens from time to time where I'm teaching something and I'm forced to teach something in a new way and it creates conscious awareness of a new detail, a new aspect of the technique that makes it superior to what I was doing before. I write it down, take notes. That's how my kimora, you know, went from a fivepoint kimora to a six, seven, eight, nine, 10, right? Like every time I I was forced to explain something that the student didn't capture when I was demonstrating it and in my initial explanation, I was forced to pull another technique, a detail out that was unconscious knowledge that became conscious knowledge. And then boom. Okay. Let's add that in. So, even as the instructor, you should be taking notes on your classes as far as like, did I learn anything new by teaching this technique today? Likewise, as a student, since your goal is to learn as much as you can, you should be taking notes. Now, all the classes that I did in Miami, they're online. Well, I guess they're going to be coming online. So I I think I I there'll be in the following weeks if you're a subscriber or a member you'll be getting access to all of them. But if even again the students at my gym in Miami have access to all those videos as well through FFA coach. But even if you have video so I can just go back to it later. You should still be taking notes yourself because you want to get the ideas and concepts that stuck with you, right? Otherwise, by having to watch the video again, you're going to have to try to recapture the initial details that you picked up. So, it's better for you, in my opinion, even when you can video it, write down what you remember that stood out to you the most. And these would be called what I would call like the anchoring aspects of this technique that you're able to come back to. And when you go to reproduce the move later, hopefully you did it well, but if not, then I can rewatch video or take another class and try to retain some more of that information. All right. So, uh just some observations there that I was thinking about after coming back and teaching at my home gym. It was always great being back at the Free Stop Academy again. Anybody in the South Florida Miami area definitely check it out. We offer 30-day free trials, right? So, if you haven't ever trained there before, you can go there 30 days free. No commitments or anything. Uh I'm always uh amazed at how well the gym is doing even though I'm not there all the time. Like I visit three, four times a year, but my brother has done a phenomenal job and the the culture there. I really really like it and it seems to get better every time I go there. So I have to thank my brother and all the other coaches like Edgar and Jose for the great job that they're doing with the with the students. And just being back at home in Miami is always really nice because obviously all my family's there with my my brother, his kids, and my mom and dad. You got to spend a lot of time with them as well. Uh there are things you can't take for granted, you know. You you forget that my brother actually has his thing, which is pretty dark, but uh it keeps him honest. in his house. He has like a it's like a calendar of sorts and it has a bunch of dots or like lines rather that represent weeks and he strikes off one for every week of his life that he's lived. And as a result, I forget the number he has because he's a year older than me. He's 44, going to be 45 this year. And uh he knows like I you know his estimation he's halfway through. So half his thing is blocked out. So for him is a good reminder of like living uh thoroughly every day of his life, spending time the way he feels is most judicious uh with his family, with his kids, you know, with work. And while, like I said, a little dark because I could see for some people that might be depressing, for other people it can just be the kick in the butt you need to like, okay, I need to get my ass in gear, make sure I'm not wasting time, right? Cuz the the hourglass is draining slowly and you know, when you're middle-aged, you're past the the halfway point. But um in any case, always good to see uh the family in Miami. Although I'm I'm happy to be back home now and back on my training routine. I I took a week off lifting and just started back in today. And if you saw my social, my lifts all went good. Back on schedule. Uh so I I've really found a lot of benefit on using recovery time more judiciously. Whereas in the past if I let myself rest an extra day or two, I thought I was being lazy and I would try to force myself to train earlier. whereas now I understand it's not being lazy, it's being smart and uh it's going to allow me to be able to lift longer and more effectively. Anyhow, that's all I have for you guys uh today. Hopefully that keen in and good time and you found value in this. If you're an instructor, I think uh obviously and you've teach seminars or whatnot, this might come in handy and just perhaps just getting an understanding of a little bit more of my approach and the differences in how I would teach a regular class versus a seminar. I think as a student also just understanding uh what goals you're going to have when you're doing a seminar and what you should be doing as far as like in retention I think can be helpful for just about anybody. And I it just reminds me from time to time like sometimes I forget to take notes when I do a class. Um, I'm like, "Ah, I should have taken notes." Because I will inevitably forget something that was taught that was well uh that was good because there's so many techniques that are coming out in martial arts and particularly with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, there's so much movements that if you're not writing things down, they're going to fall out, you know. And even the things I do know, like uh my friend Alvin and I talk about all the time, there's like techniques that I'm I am really good at and I forget about it because the game is so big. I can only do so many techniques at the same time, right? So it's like, okay, what part of my game am I focusing on? But you might move away from something for so long that you just totally forget about using it. And then like I I see someone doing this in a competition. I'm like, man, I've had this in my arsenal forever and I was good at it, but I just got so good at it. I'm like, okay, I can put this aside and start focusing on something else instead, right? Uh so having things written down helps keeps uh your things fresh. I think something now that just by telling you this that I want to do for myself and maybe I'll share it on another post is cataloging your techniques and categorizing them in a way where I have my A set moves, B set moves, C set moves, right? Where I might say A set moves are moves that work 100%. I'm really good at them. I'm either mastered them or very close to mastered them, but I would use these in the competition. A B set move is a move that I've developed proficiency with, but I still have some work to do. I might use it in a competition. If it was like a do or die type of situation with nothing to lose, uh, these are probably techniques I still need to build up on. And then my C-class moves would be moves that I'm just starting to get my feet wet on. I am not going to use this in the competition. I need to experiment with it more. I need to work with it more. And uh I can tell you just by saying these right now, I know I have moves all over the place here. And uh I think it would be good as a personal exercise. So, I'll make a post about this later, just cataloging this process and then how I would utilize this in drilling, in sparring, and in training.