The role of BJJ resources

I've just been thinking about this lately since I purchased some myself. But what do you think of the role of resources other than material directly taught during class? I'm talking about things such as books, DVDs and online content.

Obviously resources without proper in-person instruction, especially for a beginner is not a good thing. But in a lot of cases, including around MAP you see extra curricular material often derided and accompanied by comments along the lines of 'just spend more time in class'.

Yet I am seeing more and more BJJ learning resources becoming available. More books and DVDs are being published as well as online coaching courses. According to my emails Rafael Lovato Jr. has just started his own online coaching course in addition to others already around.

So in your opinion what is the role of these resources?
At what point or in what situation would you recommend someone getting access to them?
Do you think they have helped you progress?
Have you observed them hinder progress of students?

Or just in general discuss.

 

When I started I was on Youtube looking up stuff all the time. Now I rarely do so. If I want to learn something though, it's normally already on the internet.

 

As an online coaching course, the old argument is...that it will never be as good as having a live person training with you and correcting you every step of the way.

As a person who is already well versed or at least have a very good idea of some grappling, then something like youtube can help with ideas/reminders..

But as a complete newbie I don't think it'll work. I doubt I can start FMA and be proficient in it by just online learning.

 

It takes sufficient time in the game to understand the basics, and what is actually being shown. Frankly I see no difference between learning from a video and learning in class whatsoever providing you are working through it with a training partner for realism.

It has been 4 years since I was last corrected in BJJ on either the technique or drilling aspect of the my training by the coach, though my training partners offer advice as frequently as I am willing to accept it.

 

Some materials are only good as a reference, but some of my favorites are very in-depth. When you have guys like Ryan Hall, Saulo Ribeiro, etc. going over the nuances of technique, it can be VERY helpful. If you have a reliable training partner and want to work on something outside of class, they can be great to get you up to a certain level.

Now useful the material is will depend on a lot of factors, among them your learning style and the quality of instruction. From my experience, books are better for understanding principles while videos are better for seeing the technique in motion. I've also found that having the author/instructor explain WHY he's doing something really helps me get it. Obviously you need to try the techniques out in rolling to really refine using them under pressure, but that's the final ingredient; instruction and repetitive drilling come first, and to a degree, such resources are good for that. There are parts of my game that I've had very little formal instruction in, and have developed thanks to said instructional material.

 

Tutorials are like homework, they don't replace going to class.

Class time is for learning solid fundamentals, resources are for problem solving on your own when you can't ask anyone else.

 

I've heard john is famous for his sink or swim teaching methodology, how do complete beginners cope in his classes?

 

You'll get exactly the techniques on the tape.

Without the intuition, conditioning, and understanding of movement you get from mat-time, that doesn't amount to much. Hell, without those, you won't even be able to tell good techniques from poor ones.

Books and videos, just like seminars, present ideas which you may not have seen before. That's all. Actually getting to any level of real proficiency is done elsewhere. I find those ideas extremely valuable and I highly recommend the study of instructional material and competition footage, but without the mat time to understand and implement what you see, it's worthless.

Being that the point is usually made in response to an "I can't afford to go to the boxing gym but I can afford RVD's entire video training course" type post, I can see why people would just respond with, "Don't bother, go train."

 

Complete beginners are not allowed in this class. You are allowed access from your Third stripe which, depending on ability takes between 9 months and 2 years.

The peer system helps support them, for example I typically help explain things to the fresh faces (and visitors) when we are training, not only within the technique if they aren't understanding it but also as to how things will go in the rolling since we have a unique approach to that, such as match duration, starting from standing and only the Kanibasami and jumping guard disallowed. Many people, even of high rank are not comfortable with the leg side of things, so advising them that the HH are coming is, IMO a comfort.

The residents are friendly. Also, due to the structure of the class (there are are 2 beginner classes prior to this class, it is most common to see these people join since they have schedule flexibility) most of the complete newbies are known by face at least to us so it is easier to go up to them and chat.

 

Cheers man, that makes a lot of sense.