Ecological Approach vs Progressive Resistance with Greg Souders & Priit Mihkelson
Sep 7, 2023
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Discussing training methodologies, Greg advocates for an ecological approach while Preet favors progressive resistance. They delve into motor learning, skill development, and session structuring. Debating coaching strategies, submission positions, resistance training, and creating metastable regions for optimal technique execution and skill refinement.
Focusing on foundational functions in Jiu Jitsu training encourages unique solutions to positional challenges.
Progressive resistance training helps students develop personalized movement solutions through varying tasks and resistances.
Teaching functionality over rigid technique in submission positions emphasizes shoulder attachment and limb manipulation.
Shifting from specific techniques to functional engagement in grappling highlights the importance of nuanced limb control.
Ecological approach in training emphasizes movement solutions based on direct interaction with the environment, minimizing interpretation.
Deep dives
Foundational Principles of Grappling Engagement
The initial focus in teaching is on making and maintaining connection, managing distance, and destabilizing opponents. This foundational approach applies whether in peripheral connections like hip or arm grips, or in central connections like shoulder attachments. By emphasizing these functions without specific techniques, students are encouraged to create unique solutions to positional challenges.
Progression from Peripheral to Central Connections
The teaching sequence progresses from peripheral attachments such as hip and arm grips to central attachments around the shoulders. Students learn to destabilize, isolate, and immobilize limbs with varying degrees of resistance. As students experience different tasks and resistances, they develop personalized movement solutions informed by functional engagement.
Understanding Arm Bars, Kimuras, and Triangles
Specific submission positions like arm bars, Kimuras, and triangles are approached through focusing on shoulder access, isolating the limb, and immobilizing it for straightening or twisting. Students engage in games that emphasize shoulder attachment and limb manipulation, teaching functionality over rigid technique.
Evolution of Stereotypical Alignments into Functional Movements
Starting with stereotypical alignments like arm in strangles, hip connections, and shoulder control, students progress towards isolating limbs and experiencing the nuances of twisting, straightening, or compressing opponents for strangles and breaks. The emphasis shifts from specific techniques to understanding varying degrees of functionality in grappling engagements.
Ecological Approach in Training Design
Using the ecological approach in training design involves focusing on information theory to create movement solutions directly linked to the organism's interaction with the environment. This approach emphasizes that all necessary information for movement is already present and does not need interpretation or mental modeling to execute the training effectively.
Scalable Live Practice vs. Aliveness
Distinguishing between scalable live practice and aliveness is crucial. Aliveness lacks an objective definition and can be vague, leading to challenges in implementation. In contrast, scalable live practice offers a more informed and realistic approach towards training by focusing on practical application and effectiveness in preparing for real-life scenarios.
Drilling: Repetition without Repetition
The concept of 'repetition without repetition' in drilling emphasizes problem-solving and adaptability in training. By facing varying degrees of challenges and solving them dynamically, this approach moves beyond static repetition to simulate real-world scenarios and encourage strategic thinking in a controlled yet adaptable training environment.
Teaching Immobilization Strategies in Jiu Jitsu
The podcast delves into the importance of teaching immobilization strategies in Jiu Jitsu. By focusing on creating metastable regions of state space, students are taught how to manipulate positions to handle novelty and emerging techniques effectively. Emphasizing the foundational basis of immobilization for purposes of strangulation and breaking, the discussion highlights the need to understand the function behind each move. Teaching how to attack the periphery to access center mass, and the significance of managing destabilization as it relates to immobilization, forms a key aspect of the Jiu Jitsu training approach.
Shifting Paradigms and Challenging Teaching Methods in Jiu Jitsu
The episode explores a paradigm shift in teaching methods within the Jiu Jitsu community. By questioning traditional approaches and emphasizing the necessity of understanding functions over memorizing solutions, the podcast advocates for a more ecological and functional understanding of techniques. The challenges of redefining the role of instructors from emphasizing specific moves to teaching overarching principles and foundations are discussed, marking a significant departure from traditional teaching practices. The conversation encourages a continuous exploration of new teaching methodologies and the integration of ecological approaches in Jiu Jitsu instruction.
I talk to Greg Souders and Priit Mihkelson, two of the most forward-thinking jiu-jitsu coaches today, about their philosophies on training methodology and practice design. Greg advocates for an ecological approach focused on constraints and foundational functions, while Preet comes from a background utilizing progressive resistance. We have an in-depth discussion on motor learning, developing skills, and the merits of different systems like ecological dynamics versus traditional step-by-step technique instruction. They analyze how to best structure training sessions, teach students, and elicit desired skills with games and drilling. A debate between two grappling philosophers on the cutting edge of instruction and understanding what it takes to excel at BJJ.
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