How Our BJJ Curriculum Works

From Beginner to Black Belt, which class does what at Kyuzo?

Teaching Jiu Jitsu used to be so simple for me. 23 years ago I only had about 4 students, so I'd just work with each one individually to try to make them better. I was really inexperienced back then, so we would basically see what worked, fail a few times, then go back and try something new. This haphazard approach worked because all of the original Jiu Jitsu guys had a sort of pioneer attitude. They were all really dedicated and willing to put up wiith a lot of experimentation to get to their goals. Jiu Jitsu coaching also wasn't at a very evolved stage either. Most people just taught the way they learned, which might not have had a great deal of coaching science behind it.

Not ideal, but a lot of fun, and it sort of worked at the time. Over time as our experience and education grew, we became better and better. Luckily, I'm more knowledgable now as a coach and as a black belt, so I can draw on those decades of experience. And we also have far more students, well into the hundreds here, so that throws up new challenges too. How do we get that same personalised experience from when there was 10 of us? How do we scale it up for older adults, women, people with less athletic ability? How do we add in the levels for Beginners, Improvers, people returning from a long break?

It means careful planning, readjustment, regular meetings with coaches, and basically the ins and outs of running a large sports club (which I won't bore you with here). Our curriculum and class format is based on the levels we see on the mat, and on the experience of bringing total beginners into the club. We also base a great deal of it in the field of sports science and the science of skill acquisition, but also on pure enjoyment. Sometimes what you might need isn't very enjoyable, so it can be the case that we might not always do what is optimal, and instead focus on things like community and the pure fun of grappling.

Fundamental Jiu Jitsu

A Beginner Level class for complete novices.

Fundamentals is your first contact with Jiu Jitsu. If you've never trained before, aren't fit, or maybe don't even have a clue what Jiu Jitsu is, this is the session for you. This class assumes you have zero (ZERO!) knowledge of martial arts. We explain every position and movement in clear detail, and get you started with some grappling games.

This class runs on a 4 week rotating Curriculum, with 8 distinct classes designed to show you the 8 Fundamental positions of Jiu Jitsu. You can rotate through this curriculum as many times as you want to.

Core Jiu Jitsu

Our base level class for all levels.

Core is designed to be excellent training, teaching our Core Curriculum of modern Jiu Jitsu techniques, and as a class that can be trained by anyone at anytime. The Curriculum itself is made up of 25 sessions, each teaching a position and technique. It operates on a cycle, meaning that if you miss a session or even a few weeks, you will experience that position when we come around to it again.

It's beginner suitable, so you can slot straight into these sessions from your very first day, and you can train in it as an Advanced Athlete, although we restrict more Advanced trainers as to their intensity in a Core Class. They need to look after the other members in other words.

There's also the fact that where you fit in can change over time. You might be a very experienced grappler, maybe a competitor, but then with work, family, age or injury, you need to take a step back. There should be a level for you to do so. You also want to be able to train when you can- early mornings and afternoons. Maybe weekends. Not everyone can makethe 6.15pm evening standard slots. We need the classes that are at off-peak hours ot be real classes, not just add-ons to suit a few.

So that's what the Core Curriculum is all about- a central underpinning format that is made to be adapatable for every level and every time schedule. You can train from White Belt Beginner until you are a Black Belt in this class.

Women's Class

Training and working together in a female-led session.

As we've grown, we've identified that the mixed level format doesn't always lend itself to female only training. We've always considered ourselves a unisex space, but the truth is that Jiu Jitsu is in general, male dominated. We think this is a sort of Chicken and egg scenario. It's male dominated so it attracts less women, and then there's less women so it remains male dominated and so on. So recently, with the growth of new female members in the club, we've decided to expand our female programme into a Women Only class.

The idea underpinning this is to create a female class that isn't an "add-on" or special event. So far, it's really working, with a regular cohort training hard together, and more female members being added each week. We want to see women's Jiu Jitsu grow, and the only way to do that is to have a place in our schedule dedicated to it!

Our women also train in the regular mixed sessions, and having this session in our schedule will never mean that we have a "men only" space in other classes.

Applied Jiu Jitsu

More advanced, autonomous training for Competitors and Advanced Skill Levels.

As you advance, technique based curriculums become less significant. From Purple belt level and upwards, taking control of your own training is encouraged. With advice and guidance from coaches, you begin to build your own arsenal of skills. Applied is about using your coaches and other resources to build your skills for competition. It's also about identifying holes in your game, which might be technical, conditioning, or even mental and preparation elements.

This isn't for everyone, and there's no requirement to join this project. There's no restricted class for just Applied athletes. Instead, Applied athletes work with coaches within the regular schedule to maximise their competition game.

Sparring

Your chance to just roll!

Sparring classes are opportunities to train in a more freestyle environment. Sparring is not fighting, instead we consider it a live training format. You can test yourself against other people and try your new techniques.

It's also great craic to just get on the mat and roll sometimes! Switch off the day and just get a sweat on with the guys and girls. Some use it for practice, others for fitness, others for just stress relief and the pure buzz of training. Whatever floats your boat!

A lot of thought goes into how we teach and train, and how we maintain the levels in the academy. As we've grown, we've put intense focus into how we improve everyone.

It's also a living project- it changes and adapts to what we need, and to what our members need. So expect changes. We don't always have all of the answers, and sometimes even the question changes!

See you on the mat!

Barry