Syllabus in BJJ - Yea or nay?

interestingly, my black belt test in hapkido was whatever i wanted it to be. probably the one thing i appreciated the most about my hapkido school. the teacher already knew i was ready, he just wanted a show.

it's already arbitrary, no? perform block a, block b, etc. or, you're ready, here's your black belt, now just demo what you can do.

my good friend and i, who was also getting his belt, put on one hell of a show.

 

Gyms that don't use a set syllabus should at least have regular beginner courses wherein students learn the necessary basics: positions, grips, sweeps etc. That would benefit the novice student (they don't feel lost) and the senior student (they don't have to slow down too much).

 

Our syllabus never changes but maybe Im using that word wrong Im useing it to mean all the techniques in our system not the actual lesson plan or training scheduel we use.
Anyway, our lesson plan gets us through the entire system in four months, ususally working everything three or four times, the gym is also open on saturdays so if you need help on something then thats the time.

 

I dont think i could get through the entirety of BJJ in four months.
maybe through basic positions (mount, side, back, guard, bottom, half guard) if i trained everyday but i wouldnt be near proficient and i would be missing out takedowns and specialist tactics like 50/50 or de la riva as well as applications in in self defence and MMA.

 

I get that lols, I wasnt suggesting one could get through the entire Bjj material in four months, at least not in two hours a week anyway. Theres a huge difference in mastering a system and mastering the skills it takes to defendyourself when and if someone tries to hurt you, that being said Im glad I dont do Tma any more it just seemed like there was no way on earth I could retain all that information, I dont know if youve ever seen American Kenpo Karate but its freakin loaded with prearranged technique.

 

Four months is enough to see once or twice the basics,
But not enough to develop skills or even roll enough to start developing your own approach.

 

Wow this has indeed been a good thread, so I see that everyone is approaching the training scheduel format in different ways, some are planning it and some of them are winging/day to day with it.
Im pretty happy with the four month training scheduel, in fact Ive been through it two and a half times now, each time Im a little better and after I take class again I pick up on something else in the individual techniques. Anyway, this is a good thing for me but I dont think it would work for some systems, It seems like BJJ schools do not use a scheduel, I wonder If Tmas like Shotokan schools in japan use a lesson plan.

 

Its not winging it, there are lesson plans but the lessons arent in a set order/ they vary day to day on what people need to work on in many schools.

the large BJJ schools like roger gracies main school has a syllabus and schedule.

maybe ask about shotokan training schedules in the karate forum?

 

I see this same thing at my gym as well a good student will help his mate with difficult techniques or just general pointers, I usually see higher ranking students paired with lower ranking students such as purplr belts with white belts and brown belts with orange belts, this seems to work for the most part until sparring and then most brown belts can chew up an orange pretty easy so its rare to never they spar together.
My guess is that theres just more rolling/sparring in Jujitsu than in the average martial art, Im at a loss there because Ive never done JJ or Bjj. I like the notion that you study a tehnique in a given position then you get out on the matt and have at it but I dont think we could do that in a strikeing MA, I can only take so many rib shots from a hyper active sixteen yearold before I need a break for the night lols.
I guess is that syllabus could work and not haveing a syllabus could work but the later would require a really really good instructor.

 

Better practioners help the less experienced, it's looked down on to beat up on the newbies.


Tenth planet JJ also have a standard foundation syllabus.

 

The gym where I train does something similar. We have a tech focus every week and while each coach stays within that focus they have a lot of freedom where you get to see aspects of each of their game (and personality) when they are teaching.

Personally I like this style of teaching because as a student I get to drill these fundamentals and at the same time be exposed to a wide variety of techniques.

 

My experience in our BJJ gym has been that everyone rolls with everyone regardless of skill level.

I actively seek out trying to roll with higher belts and as long as I'm not a jerk I know they are not just going to smash me. The nice thing about the community is that it is a pretty open one and you regularly see visiting black belts and their students coming to both regular class and for open mat and events.

It's funny because I had this idea of this bunch of meat heads that wanted to kill each other before I started training and what I generally found was the opposite.

I found a welcoming, supportive and gracious community. I know its OT but I was so thrown off my first class when we bowed out and the other students actually came up and hugged me.

I can say had never happened before in my other martial arts experience.

 

Most people in a martial arts class are ok, we have a few meat heads as you say but there are a few in every bunch.

 

I would go back to bjj if i knew it would not be an annoying experience. My brief foray the first time into it left a bad taste. I do not like the randomness of it.

Now id be ok if there was only a rough sketch of a syllabus if they did it like one position a week. That would be nice. Or if maybe bjj was taught like judo teaches to its kyu ranks id like that.

 

The problem here lies in that fact that for every person that feels the way you do there is someone else who loves the randomness of bjj and finds the structure of a syllabus a frustrating experience.

It's just a different route to the same destination, it's probably possible to learn techniques quicker through a syllabus but I think you develop more of an individual style outside of structured learning from a syllabus. For me I love the random, I find I learn best in that environment but then I do have a hint of ADHD so slightly random teaching holds my attention better. That's my prefered learning style but what works for me wouldn't work for everyone.

Luckily there are options for all different types of people and I'm sure there are some bjj clubs somewhere that have a very structured syllabus and teach in a very organised manner (Probably not a large % of bjj though). I have found some TMA clubs that teach things in a massively chaotic order/style but again something of a minority within most TMA styles.

 

the larger schools and kids programs do.

 

http://www.caneprevost.com/2013/05/10/evaluate-a-gym-in-5-minutes-or-less/

I think this is a very valid article -

 

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