Guest Greg Souders, a 3rd-degree black belt under Dave Jacobs, discusses his transition from fighter to coach after an injury. Topics include traditional vs. no-gi Jiu Jitsu training, teaching methods evolution, embracing imperfections, and the art of adaptability in Jiu Jitsu.
Embracing setbacks can lead to positive transformations and coaching success.
Transitioning to focus on no-gi Jiu Jitsu for deeper control and fundamental engagement.
Promoting self-organization in learning, emphasizing fundamental concepts over isolated moves.
Deep dives
Embracing Mistakes and Doubt to Improve
Embracing mistakes as opportunities for growth and success is highlighted. The importance of starting with doubt, progressing towards certainty, and then learning is emphasized in the learning process. Greg Souders' journey from a world championship-focused competitor to a dedicated coach after a career-ending neck injury showcases how setbacks can lead to positive transformations.
Transition to No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu and Focus on Fundamentals
Greg Souders' transition to focusing solely on no-gi Jiu-Jitsu is explained, citing reasons like a deeper understanding of control and fundamental grappling engagements. He emphasizes the limitations of the traditional gi in developing true control and highlights the shift towards fundamental distance control and body-to-body engagement over relying on the gi for leverage.
Teaching Jiu-Jitsu with Context and Self-Organization
Greg Souders advocates for teaching Jiu-Jitsu within context and promoting self-organization in learning. By emphasizing fundamental concepts like distance control and connections rather than isolated moves, he aims to help students develop a deeper understanding of grappling engagements. He believes in scaling practice complexity without losing relevance, aligning with principles of skill acquisition and motor performance for effective learning.
Teaching the Middle Ground in Jiu Jitsu Instruction
The podcast episode delves into the speaker's journey towards enhancing Jiu Jitsu instruction by focusing on teaching the middle ground, the grey area between beginning and completion of a move. Initially prompted by a realization during class, the speaker and a fellow student discuss crucial concepts that reshaped their teaching approach. This led to a deep dive into various learning methods, including reading, listening to podcasts, and studying renowned coaches' works, to improve the effectiveness of Jiu Jitsu practice. The emphasis on understanding the transitional phases in techniques and conveying this insight to students marked a pivotal shift in the speaker's coaching philosophy.
Embracing Messiness in Jiu Jitsu Training
The episode highlights the importance of embracing the 'messiness' in Jiu Jitsu training as a pathway to skill development and innovation. The speaker emphasizes that what may appear chaotic to the untrained eye is actually a simple yet uncoordinated process that leads to skill acquisition. By encouraging students to persevere through challenging moments and make mistakes, the speaker promotes a learning environment where failures serve as valuable opportunities for growth and refinement of techniques. The episode stresses the significance of practicing in various conditions and staying adaptable to improve performance under different constraints, ultimately advocating for a holistic and dynamic approach to grappling training.
For today's Episode, my guest is Greg Souders! (@gdsouders)
Greg is the owner and coach of Standard Jujitsu in Rockville Maryland. Greg is 3rd degree black belt under Dave Jacobs.
Greg started training jujitsu in February 2004 very quickly fell in love with the art. Initially, Greg was focused on becoming a world champion but his career was cut short due to a serious neck injury that cause spinal cord
Greg turn this unfortunate incident into a positive by dedicated his life to coaching and helping others reach their goals and has been coaching full-time since 2010
His competitors travel around the US to chasing succeed and he has produced medalist at every level from white to black out every level of competition from NAGA to the IBJJF Pan-American world championships
If you like today's episode, leave a review here....If you want to reach me directly, contact me on social media or shoot me @javier@igniteperformance.net
