Learning To Teach (Part 6): Teaching Perpetual Improvement

I've been nerding out lately with the idea of perpetual motion. Perpetual motion is continuous movement that last forever without an energy source. Being someone that always seeks for improvement in all areas of life, I figured I would try a new approach to teaching using the idea of perpetual motion as the source. Let me explain what I mean. 

Similarly in the movie "Inception" the whole plot is based around the power of thought and how infectious an idea can become. Taking the idea itself as the perpetual motion machine, we can use it as a way to increase the desire to learn and increase the level of productivity in doing so. Think back to reading books as a kid that gave you the power to make your own choices and shape the outcome of the story yourself. It was a very empowering tool as a child to be able to make our own choices; it was the power of freedom within constraints. Learning will thrive if you give and adult that same opportunity.

 As adults, we still want and need that freedom to make our own choices because we want to feel in control. Taking the time to carefully prepare options ahead of time creates the comfort of someone making their own choices, but in a specific direction of the teacher/coach. This narrows the focus to what the topic is so improvements can be made by the students and reinforced by the students wanting to learn specific material. It is common for individuals to plateau throughout their journeys due to lack of stimulation or direction and asking someone to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror can be difficult for them to do on their own. By constructing these paths for our students to take on their own, they continue their own journeys of improvement because they want to, not because you told them to. 

I recently came across a method of teaching that has improved the ability for students to want to learn things that aren't as exciting to practice, but are an extremely important function of growth. Trying to get individuals to practice escaping from positions and submissions can sometimes feel like pulling teeth. Of course we need to know this material, but not a lot of people want to spend the time on escaping until they are in a deep submission and the clock is ticking. We have been taking five separate positions/submissions per class to work escaping from for a pre-determined time limit for the past month. Based off the performances the students evaluate their own weaknesses, then I give the opportunity for people to speak up on what they feel they need to work on. So far there are usually two to three of the topics that drives the focus of the remainder of the class. 

Hook, line and sinker.

The students generated their own learning path based off what they realized for themselves. A process that builds itself based off of an idea. Now this is not perpetual motion and the reason being that there is something external creating this process each time. However in time, the empowered learner repeating this process gains the confidence to take those hard looks at their jiu jitsu and make those improvements. by themselves. Only then has perpetual motion has been successfully achieved. A self-driven class on a constant state of improvement. 

Another big find on the teaching side of the house was the development of one-on-one training. When I first started holding private lessons I found difficulty gaging the amount of material to cram or spread across the allotted timeframe. It was never not enough information, but sometimes too much to comprehend in the long run. Seeing this as a quantity not quality problem, I began to try to focus on what the student needed more based off how they would react in certain positions and situations. A fully customized session of training based off the individual. Allowing the lesson to build itself around a generalized structure has proved itself very beneficial. I can now see what is needed in real time and we can adjust the direction to dial in on those weaknesses. 

Once the weaknesses are addressed, it is important to drill them into muscle memory through sequences. For example, the difficulty is escaping from side control, so once there are a couple solid options that are working for the student, we can drill it as they lose the guard pass, get stuck in side control, escape to guard and sweep to the top then submit. This gets them used to multiple things happening around the movement itself since jiu jitsu is never an isolated movement; it is continuous. Their reaction time tends to lead them into escaping during the transition rather then waiting on the pass to be completed to the position. In the end they end up not only being stuck in the position less often, but also more apt to avoiding the position altogether (within reason).

  Formatting the classes and private lessons this way has really shined light on how quickly someone can progress when they realize and accept their weaknesses and choose to improve them. It can be difficult for someone to point out a troublesome area in your game, especially if it seemed to come out of the blue. As much as we love to say jiu jitsu deflates the ego, the ego still exists and has a way of taking things to heart at times. 

By taking the time to design a class/lesson as a self-sustaining environment of growth, we start to foster the idea of perpetual motion. Little by little, the student becomes more willing to learn and the plateau of progress starts to take off again. You are no longer giving someone a quick fix because they start to discover the skill of immediate self-reflection, which leads to knowing exactly what they need to improve on. This leads to a longer lasting solution that begins to fuel itself and keep our students in a state of continuous improvement.

The Pebble In the Shoe Effect

One of the biggest aspects of jiu jitsu is controlling your opponent by proper body alignment to put them in an isolated position. Through this control we focus on managing our space between ourselves and the opponent. If too much space is created and improperly maintained, the opponent has the ability to escape. By immobilizing the person’s core power, we can reduce the possibility of them being able to create space.

Typically we do things such as flattening out the individual onto their back or prevent the hips from being able to bridge, but all of that is easier said than done. Against a bigger and stronger opponent, it is going to take some serious effort to successful immobilized their key points of power. No matter how large or small an opponent is, the pebble in the shoe effect creates the perfect opportunity to stay in control of your opponent.

You are walking through the woods or down the street when you come across an area that’s heavily riddled with pebbles. Some time goes by and you realize there is some sort of pain on the bottom of your foot. You stop and take off your shoe to find the smallest of the stones has worked its way to the bottom of your foot. Such a tiny object, but it creates a large impact.

Think of the pebble in the shoe as your fist that you hold under their shoulder blades generating enough pressure and control to take the mount from side control or the old school style pass that forces your opponent’s arm behind their back creating enough pressure for your to open and pass their guard. This object acting as a wedge creates that flattening of the back or the immobilizing of the hips without fully holding the shoulders/hips flat on the ground. It becomes an angular force that pierces through the comfortability factor of your opponent’s typical stalling period. Turning in or away as the normal way to generate space becomes impractical due to the obstacle in the way of movement.

Using this same method, one can amplify the amount of pressure they can produce on a resisting opponent from all your typical top positions. Through the timing of your opponent’s breathing patterns, you can begin to not only cause a soul crushing pressure, but reduce their breathing capacity. This can be the ultimate secret in wearing your opponent down faster and more efficiently. It has been a battle-tested method one of my coaches used to use all the time and it can be used not only as a diaphragm attack, but a key component to controlling a transition.

Moving between positions doesn’t have to always be a scramble. If you can successfully control the individual and lock them in a position where they cannot follow your movements, the transition becomes funneled into your own game. A similar idea of this is keeping your opponent’s upper half facing the opposite direction than the direction of their lower half. This creates a misalignment of their spine which reduces their ability to move. In a recent blog post I had mentioned something similar about re-directing their head for the same effect. Where the head goes, the body wants to follow. So by keeping their body out of alignment, they cannot and will not have proper function in their kinetic chain.

Through consistent training, you start to realize that no matter how an individual uses their body to play the game of jiu jitsu, having a conceptual approach to the roll will offer you the greatest success. Breaking the posture, attacking the base, and managing space will help you to gain control of your opponent. Creating a pebble in the shoe effect will help maintain the control of the individual and create an open through their reaction. Once the opponent reacts wrong, we capitalize on their own movement. This will reduce movement waste and maximize our ability to dominate our opponent.