“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Traditional approaches to Jiu Jitsu classes have been very didactic: instructors explain and demonstrate a series of specific steps, then the students work on repeating those exact steps with a training partner. That’s how we began. But after over 20 years of training, competing, teaching, and exploring different learning concepts, we believe there is a better way.

Our methodology.

There is no short-cutting the hard work and determination that is required to become proficient at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The single most important factor for improvement is consistent, intentional training. That means showing up as frequently as possible, being engaged, and having your own specific short and long-terms goals to work on.

In addition, it is critical to create a learning environment where students are actively engaged in problem-solving and decision-making. Through positional sparring and specific training, we aim to get students to think critically about a problem, and then find how to implement an effective response that leads to a better position or submission. While some concepts and techniques are demonstrated more explicitly, we find that the least effective and least enjoyable way to learn is to be given the answers directly. The process of skill acquisition through problem-solving, while extremely challenging, is more meaningful and exciting, and one that will best "stick" in the long-term.