Just had first BJJ lesson tonight

I would not be happy if anyone felt like that in my class.

I'm not saying there might not be a reason for him doing it, as Fusen and Prizewriter have mentioned, but without clarification of intent I feel that is bad form from an instructor.

 

I'm sure I was a little tense..ok a lot tense as I'm just starting be be able to relax. And believe me I tapped immediately. I didn't get hurt at all but it seemed pretty aggressive. I just thought he would've kind of coached me as to what I was doing wrong. I'm not mad at it, I actually had fun but I'm not sure if I learned anything cus it happened so quick. Oh he just got promoted to black belt last night by Rilion.

 

It is pretty crap and reflects badly on the teacher.

Most clubs are trying to bring up decent competitors and have high turn overs so if you can hack a few tough rolls then cool, if not then you might not be suited to the competitive atmosphere.

its not like that at my current club which is incredibly supportive but it happens

to be honest (i mentioned this a lot before) - i dont think you should be allowed to be an instructor in BJJ just from earning a belt. I think they should come up with a grading system for coaches. most guys reach high belt levels because they compete well but that doesnt mean they teach well :/

 

Wow, I didn't realise there wasn't any kind of coaching qualification/grade.

Surely there's some BJJ schools that have that?

 

There are a few places, like Gracie Barra and the Gracie Academy, BJJ Revolution team etc... that have coaching qualifications.

There is a governing body for BJJ in the UK that has recently been set up that are looking to offer formal coaching qualifications. It's a step in the right direction. A lot of BJJ (and MMA) clubs in the UK and Ireland don't have anyone who has formal coaching training, training in vulnerable persons protection, health and safety, first aid etc....

Although even more established MA can lack that sometimes...there was an ITF TKD class in Northern Ireland in 2007 where a student collapsed and was unconscious, and no one in the class (including the 2 instructors) had any first aid training. Luckily leisure centre staff were trained in first aid and managed to save the guy.

 

Just ask him. After he taps you out, say, "where did I go wrong?". If he's any kind of teacher, he will talk you through some mistakes you are making. Having specific questions helps e.g. " How do I keep getting swept in your guard?"

He could also be beasting you to see if you have a bad attitude... as in he wants to see how you respond to being tapped out a lot. People with bad attitudes normally don't react well to being tapped out so much (they have a tantrum, don't come back to class etc...).

I would imagine though that Rillion Gracie wouldn't give anyone a black belt if he didn't think the guy could teach well. After all the guy is representing Rillion.

I'm not saying your coach is a saint, he may indeed turn out to be an ass, but a lot of what you are saying can be interpreted in different ways.

 

Holy crap, that is awful and unforgivable.

 

Dude you will get tapped a bazillion times in bjj before you get good, sometimes smoothly, sometimes roughly, some you will learn from, some the other guy will learn from, and some just full of bad intentions. As long as your not hurt just suck it up and get on with it.

 

The first bit of advice I would give any one who didn't like/didn't understand something in a class would be speak to the guy running it. More often than not in my experiences the issue can be explained and solved. A good teacher can adapt how they teach but it can be hard if they are used to one method of teaching or prefer a certain style.

He may not be aware how hard he was going, he might have felt rusty and wanted to quickly run through a dozen subs as revision, he may be a penis and have no explaination for his actions, he may have no clue how to teach but without asking him you won't know.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback. If he was trying to see if I would get mad and not come back that would explain a lot. The following week when I came to class he seemed a lot more personable with me. I Wasn't sure if it was that he felt bad for rolling me up so hard or he saw that I didn't let ego get in the way of learning. I'm starting to think it was the latter.

 

Relevant to everything we've said in the thread about it being part of learning:

 

Just to add my 2c worth - the school I am at does beginner only classes twice a week which is what I have been attending. So this means I get to roll with people that are only at white belt level.

We get trained by a couple of different black belts and a brown belt depending on the class, but they all spend their time to explain stuff in very simple terms, and break the 2/3 techniques in that class down into small stages that we get to practice with our partners. The few times I went up against a black belt in the sparring part of the class he was pretty much waiting for you to make your move and then doing his thing - but I never get the sense that he is just trying to prove he is better, he's looking more to push you / challenge you. I have watched a couple of other classes before mine (the more advanced ones) and think they explain a lot less and you get to mix it up with higher belts etc.

Everyone I have paired up with to date has been super supportive, even people with literally few more classes than me are willing to take the time to show you stuff, and point you in the right direction. I learned I get more out of the sparring tapping early once I know I am in a position I can't see anyway out of, saves my energy for the next time, also I found relaxing seems to help - I even closed my eyes the other night - the other guy was asking me if I was ok thought I had passed out or something lol.

Regarding payment / contract - its monthly rolling at one rate and if you commit to a year then you get around 15% discount.

My original comments still stand, I am hooked, I can feel my cardio is getting better, I feel great after class, but still get to points during the class where I just have to sit things out for a few minutes specially after extended rolling periods.

All in all I guess I am lucky so far in finding my club, am dreading moving in the future as explaining to the wife I have to stay in commuting distance from there is going to be tough :evil: might be easier getting a new wife!

 

About the black belt sparring with you, it could also be that he is training a specific technique, and one of the recommendations I just heard was to train it first with the newest smallest white belt, and move up the ladder.

 

About the black belt sparring with you, it could also be that he is training a specific technique, and one of the recommendations I just heard (for new techniques you just learnt) was to train it first with the newest smallest white belt, and move up the ladder.