Whether you’re looking at starting in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and are looking for the qualities that build a good instructor, or whether you’re thinking of becoming a teacher yourself – there are several key factors that build the profile of being a successful instructor. Generally, these include patience, technique, listening, explaining and good people skills.
If you can find these in a BJJ instructor then the likelihood is that they’re good. Even if they have only a few of these qualities then it may be ok. However, if they lack many of these skills then you may want to look elsewhere. By the same token, if you’re thinking about starting teaching – you should look out for these qualities too and try to build them into your teaching philosophy. We shall analyze these concepts in greater detail below.
Table of Contents
Patience
A true test of your patience is when teaching the kids class. This is the battleground to test your mettle and if you pass then you will be easily patient enough to teach adults. In this sense, the kid’s classes are similar to teaching at school. Here you can expect dumb questions, lack of interest and general misbehavior and noise.
If you’re not patient then you may snap at these children which is unfair. Let’s be real as well, some of these kids may genuinely not want to be there and be forced into training through their parents. Because of this, it’s good to be patient with kids. Remember, they are naturally curious, playful and loud. There’s nothing wrong with this at this age and you should try to embrace these traits.
Similarly, when teaching adults you should have patience for different issues. Generally, adults will be passionate and less wild, but may pick up things slowly. You should get annoying if an unathletic, middle-aged beginner doesn’t know the movement to hit an armbar from closed guard. This isn’t a failure on behalf of your teaching either. Instead, you just have to be patient and remember some people are slow learners. The worst thing you can do is lose your temper or passion for teaching and become cynical. Instead, have an open mind and remember BJJ can be very difficult for newbies.
Technique
This point is a given, but when teaching you will need to be skilled enough to know what you’re talking about. For example, you wouldn’t want a white belt teaching classes. Ideally, the teacher should be a black belt but in rare circumstances, you can find talented instructors at purple belt and even blue belt level at times.
That’s not to sound snobby but as a general rule, black belts will have been around long enough to know answers to most moves. Not only this but by black belt, your mind should have fully absorbed the art to where you can understand concepts easier. Of course, this can apply to lower belts but is typically less common.
Due to this, you shouldn’t really be teaching if you lack knowledge. For instance, it may be ok to teach a newcomer how to roughly attack a triangle choke. However, you may struggle to improve more experienced grapplers if you don’t know beyond the basics. Often the best teachers understand the intricate details which is why their stuff translates so well.
Sometimes BJJ is a game of inches, so learning the detailed stuff can really aid more seasoned practitioners. With this said, there’s nothing more embarrassing than getting asked a question about a broad topic that you genuinely don’t know the answer to. This means you should only teach if you have enough experience and knowledge. Similarly, when looking at teachers the same logic should apply.
Listening
This ties in with the idea of patience. Sometimes you may get a teacher who rushes through things and doesn’t really listen to students. For example, if someone is asking about a question but the technique is too rushed or maybe the teacher is too arrogant to answer. Basically, you should listen to pupils and learn from them yourself. It pays to be open minded and sometimes people think differently.
This means a student may ask a question with a different approach to your own. This is fine but remember to listen to their question with intense detail. Especially if it’s a niche question, it may require a niche answer. This means you should always pay attention and not just with your ears. You can also listen with your eyes and visually see what is going on.
Perhaps a more broad term for this is to be attentive. Make sure students are actually drilling moves, go round and check each individual pair. Again, from the perspective of a student, if your teacher doesn’t do this then it shows they lack interest. If your instructor sits on the side checking his phone instead of doing his job, it means they don’t care which is a red flag.
Explaining
It’s one thing to be great at a technique yourself, but it’s another thing completely to be able to translate it when teaching. Basically, you may have a competitor who thinks about BJJ robotically. They may be able to do their own moves and think about them internally. However, explaining these moves so others can understand them is a different skill altogether.
In short, you should really try and master the art of explaining. This isn’t just verbally, but also physically. Instead of showing a move, also explain why it works and the mechanics behind it. If you think about John Danaher, he is a master of this which is why he’s a great teacher.
The idea of explaining isn’t to produce robots who can statically hit moves. Instead, it’s good to get people thinking about BJJ conceptually and in a fluid motion. This will yield greater results when improving the minds of students as they grow and develop.
With this in mind, you could be the best at BJJ ever, but if you can’t teach correctly then you won’t make a good instructor. Some people are naturally drawn towards teaching more than others whereas some make better competitors. There’s nothing wrong with either side of the argument but generally most people are somewhere in the middle.
Good people skills
Too often, you will hear about people leaving gyms due to arguing with their instructor. Again, it doesn’t matter how good the other qualities are on this list, if the teacher is rude and confrontational then it’s all irrelevant. Sadly, this does happen in BJJ where a teacher has a bad ego and takes it out on their students. Contrary to popular belief, BJJ isn’t always an ego killer and can give bad people a position of status and power within the world of martial arts.
As a student, this should be a massive dealbreaker. Don’t try and fool yourself that the other qualities of teaching are worth it, you will probably end up miserable if your teacher makes your life hell. Remember, the idea of training is usually for fun, self-defense or competition. All three of these will suffer from a grumpy teacher.
However, this isn’t the only form of personal skills worth noting. Sometimes, ego may swing the other way and affect you in different ways. For example, if the instructor is too unconfident and shy then this can also harm the quality of teaching. For instance, if they are unwilling to expand on ideas then this will restrict learning.
Similarly, if you see someone bullying another whilst sparring, it’s your job to step in and make sure their behavior is rectified. With this said, you need a degree of assertiveness to teach and set standards. It’s sad, but sometimes a lack of people skills can really hold back some people who would otherwise make great teachers.
Final Thoughts
As outlined above, most of these are the main issues where being a good BJJ instructor is concerned. The good news for aspiring teachers is that you can always work on these skills. If you lack confidence or communication skills, then these can be worked on and improve with time. It’s only natural to feel nervous or not worthy when you start teaching.
By the same token, if you’re a student then you should also look for these qualities in a teacher. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that a teacher who is constantly late is not professional. Oppositely, if the teacher seems genuinely engaged and goes out of their way to teach – then you are on to a winner.
