Which instructor method is best, the "slam 'em into the mat" or the "we've all got to work tomorrow so go easy" method. Discuss.
A mixture. Everyone goes easy I personally think is a crap school. Everyone tries to kill each other is a school where no one really learns and becomes a survival of the fittest club no one wants to train at. You should be being hurt (not injured, just pain should be being felt at a minor degree in a contact art) but no one should be sinking outside their comfort zone. That relies on students as well as instructors realy but still.
Agree with the mixture. We have 2 instructors at my gym, one has the 'take it easy' approach, his classes focus a lot on proper technique and accuracy. The other one instead goes really heavy on conditioning and general hard training. This mixture is very good for me.
Silly question. There is not reason why it has to be one or the other. In reality the best is going to be a balance between the two and a balance that will change for each piece of material they are teaching and of course for each individual student.
Slamming into the mat doesn't hurt that much once you're experienced enough at breakfalling, plus it's an excellent conditioning exercise. As such I'm going to reiterate that it's a combination of the two. For beginners I'd say it's a little different. If my novice students aren't already familiar with breakfalling, they don't get slammed into the mat until they're ready. Usually takes a few weeks to a few months depending on the speed at which they pick up the safety skills.
Silly question? It's a discussion point. I've experienced both and agree that a mixture is ideal depending on the student. I've seen students leave clubs as the sensei seems unable to differentiate between a beginner and experienced student. Pain is useful in receiving techniques for both uke and tori so you can tell when it's "on" or not, having it applied full on to a beginner is not in my experience useful nor is expecting a beginner to fall safely from a technique they have not been taught or expecting. Unfortunately my sensei is the slamming kind there is no middle ground.
I think this either shows a lack of self control, which is bad in the instructor, or extremely poor judgement skills, which is arguably much worse. In either case, it would be worth raising this point to the instructor if you feel you are able to do so, as there is a chance he will learn from it and become a better instructor because of your comments. If he doesn't listen for whatever reason, you may wish to consider another instructor, as this sort of teaching can endanger students needlessly. Every class should be about safety first, everything else later. If someone can't fall from a throw, they need to be taught gently first with a gradual build-up of force until they're comfortable with full power.
Good idea Unfortunately he's not an approachable guy, he asked me to txt a beginner that was keen but hadn't been taught how to fall so he left which I did to no effect. I said to my sensei that the beginner was asking me how to fall and was concerned about it, his reply "jujitsu isn't for everyone"
I know it's wrong.... I know it stinks but there's not a plethora of JJ clubs in the area, BJJ yes but my preference is for JJ.
BJJ is also very good as an alternative, but if you're looking to move to another non-Brazillian jujutsu style, why not ask for some personal recommendations for towns nearby? Someone here might know someone who can help or have experience of finding a similar club in your area.
I understand. But just sticking with JJ under a bad teacher because you can't find a good one, is not that smart a plan.
Then do judo instead. There's bound to be a judo club nearby. If you are training with an instructor who doesn't think it is important to teach beginners how to fall properly, it is only a matter of time before he hurts someone and that someone could be you.
Any technique for it to work effectively and efficiently against resistance, must be technically correct. This is best done by getting everything spot on and increasing the resistance. Slamming techniques onto people who arn't resisting is pointless, but always working against 10% energy is also pointless.
Been there done that That scenario has already happened and I've missed training as a result and i do have some experience at ukemi at a basic level, I suppose I'm "keen" to learn this art.
Do I have to have a reason? Gendai. Jitsu Foundation which does have a lot of stand up techniques and not a lot of ground work techniques which they see as weakness I.e. in a street fight there will be others willing to kick your head in as soon as you go to ground you're not just fighting the guy you're fighting but his mates as well potentially (their viewpoint). Against the current flow of opinion BJJ appears to be mainly groundwork, although I'm ignorant of any real detail and its just a personal choice for JJ over BJJ
