A black belt asked me for advice on how to become a teacher. He mentioned that thru his busy schedule traveling around the world, he often finds himself visiting several places to keep his training going. Yet, in many of those places, especially abroad, he is constantly sought out for advice and asked to share his knowledge. He said he loves to teach and help out other students, from inexperienced to high level, indiscriminately. He, point blank, came to me and inquired what it takes or how to go about in terms of being an instructor. My immediate answer was to “reverse engineer”, teach the end and go backwards on a skill set. That, for me, gives immediate perspective to a student on what the end in sight is, and helps him connect the dots more easily as a technique is broken down. During that same conversation, I was showing two beginners how to finish an arm bar, pretty much at the very last stage, on the grip breaking part prior to extending the joint into submission. Then I told them to stay from the top mount position and showed them the setup. They did not miss a beat. As the prospect instructor black belt was watching, he suddenly had a spark in his eyes. He said he figured what the deal was in becoming an instructor, you cause people to feel how it is to complete a move, then teach them how to connect the dots from beginning to end. That it was not a matter of seeing or understanding, but feeling then realizing what it was all about. He said he always left with a smile every time he learned how to put a move together. Even if he did not succeed all the way but almost made it happen, it gave him a sense of accomplishment, of competence. He understood jiu jitsu was a game of thresholds. We all make it count, not just every time we cross the finish line, but also when we get a few steps away from it. One more inch today is considered a victory. A small adjustment becomes a eureka moment. The biggest realizations in jiu jitsu happen in very subtle ways, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but not to the person in the midst of the battle, figuring out a detail that can make all the difference. The black belt said that that aspect of jiu jitsu is what made him stick with it for many decades and still keep going. It is the fact that no matter how much he has learned, every time he comes across a small detail that makes a big difference, it acts like a domino effect on everything else that he does. A better choke somehow impacts his ability to do arm bars and vice versa. The body literally makes connections between muscles and nerves, and we find ourselves making moves in ways different than we had ever done in the past. In the end, jiu jitsu never ceases to amaze, to transform itself, and to become more and more intriguing. Start with the end in sight, and surely you will see things differently, and more importantly, make better connections with your moves, faster and better! Now, go do some training, the mat is waiting for you!
