All posts by edhjiujitsu

Adults Jiu Jitsu

Black Belt Promotion and Jiu Jitsu Seminar in El Dorado Hills, CA

EDH Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Promotion and Seminar took place on June, 30th celebrating Allan Scott’s black belt promotion. Allan is an avid competitor and practitioner, with an enthusiasm for health, fitness, family, travel, and a sweet tooth on a special occasion. Allan earns his black belt promotion after 10 years of dedicated practice to the martial art of jiujitsu. He started his journey in jiujitsu at the age of 49 and received his promotion shy of his 60th birthday.

Some of Allan’s accomplishments on the international competition include:

  • World Master Gold medalist (blue belt)
  • World Master Gold medalist (purple belt)
  • World Master Bronze medalist (brown belt)

Allan is proof that consistent practice and intentional training in understanding positions, movements, and strategy are the keys to a successful experience on the mat. We’re excited to see him continue to challenge himself in training and continue to mentor others on their journey.

Kids Jiu Jitsu

Coaching jiujitsu in the kids bjj class

Coaching Kids Class
Coaching kids can be very difficult in BJJ. It can be hard to tell where the line between “over coaching” and not helping enough is. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and here are some of my thoughts.

There should always be a head coach and there should not be confusion about who the head coach is. This means when the head coach is giving instructions to the group other coaches should not be doing any coaching/talking. If the class is practicing techniques that are “review” from a class recently then there should be minimal interference from coaches, this means the coaching should be mostly done vocally not physically. Kids learn Jiu Jitsu by moving so the more they are moving with their partner without interruption the better. Learning NEW techniques can be a little different though. Some kids, especially new kids may need physical help at first to move through a technique, but the sooner they are moving on their own with their partner the faster they will learn. Even if it isn’t perfect (it probably won’t be) we can try to make corrections with vocal coaching and the head coach can bring it in and show a technique again if necessary.

When kids are doing matches or “sparring” the coach’s job will shift to more of a referee’s role. A referee’s job is to ensure nobody gets hurt. That means there should be absolutely no physical coaching/interference during matches, that will not set them up for success if they decide to compete in Jiu Jitsu. There should be interference if there is a submission or dangerous position that may result in somebody getting hurt. The arm being straight on an arm bar or a head outside single leg come to mind as situations where the coach needs to stop the match. Vocal coaching is still beneficial.

I feel very lucky to have so many parents willing to step up and help make the class better. The more we can all be on the same page the better we can make the class which will make us all stronger as a team. 

Coach Danny

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Building more than just technical skills at EDH Jiu Jitsu

EDH Jiu Jitsu and Self Defense is a martial arts school established in 2009. When we first started, we had once class a night with only adults. Fast forward to 2022 we have morning, noon and evening classes. In the evening we have 4 different age groups; peewee (age 4-6) kids (age 7-9) juniors (age 10-15) and adults (age 15+). Dividing the classes into different age groups allows us to create an age appropriate learning situation and the older more experienced students a chance to mentor the younger less experienced students.

While there is a technical focus on learning and developing skills in the art of Brazilian jiu jitsu, we are very conscious about emphasizing more than just technical skills in all of our classes. Three skills outside the development of jiujitsu we emphasize are: communication, team work, and growth mindset. We strongly believe (and know through evidence based sports psychology research) sports teams or martial arts schools that emphasize the development of skills related to life, lead to better performers in their sport. We make an emphasis to emphasize and teach these skills in our lessons.

The first skill we emphasize as students join our program is communication. Communication isn’t easy. People communicate differently and are receptive to different styles of communication. There is athlete to athlete communication, coach to athlete communication, coach to coach communication… There is also the often over looked, coach to family communication, family to athlete communication as well. Communication is often a continuous process. This requires people checking in, clarification, repetition and reminders, forgetting and confirming. The most important is probably making sure people know they can and should speak up while keeping the line of communication open. The famous martial artist, Yuki Nakai, famously coined his jiu jitsu teams motto, “martial arts communication.”

As students develop skills in communication, team work becomes more possible. While jiujitus is an individual practice, it requires the team to collaborate and build off one another. Team work requires leadership and ability to follow leaders, problem solving skills, communication, an understanding of expectations, and more. We develop these skills in our athletes by creating practice scenarios that require them to use and practice these ideas through the duration of practice. The better they are as a team the better they are as individuals.

The ability to communicate and work as a team are a direct contribution to the practice of a growth mindset. In a growth mindset, talents, abilities, and intelligence are viewed as learnable and capable of being improved through effort. As athletes see and experience their development in jiujitsu, communication, and team work, we look to help them recognize the importance of maintaining a growth mindset.

As we train our skills on the mat in jiujitsu at our academy, EDH BJJ, we look to also train our skills off the mat. Communication, teamwork, and growth mindset are such skills we encourage and emphasize in our lessons. Doing this not only helps athletes be better people off the mat but also helps the athletes be better performers in jiujitsu.

Eliot

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Summer Jiu Jitsu Camp in El Dorado Hills in June

June Jiu Jitsu Camp
I’m excited to announce that we will be hosting another Jiu Jitsu camp for the kids June 13th and 15th. This camp will be for ages seven and older. No Jiu Jitsu experience is needed to attend this camp, in fact I think it is a great first time Jiu Jitsu experience.
We will begin with an hour of Jiu Jitsu class where the kids will learn some basic techniques including takedowns, sweeps and guard passes. After the class we will make teams and start playing mat games. This is always a lot of fun. The kids will get to bond with their teammates and new friends while engaging in healthy competition. After the games are over we will have a snack and wind down with some board games.
I am expecting to get twenty campers signed up for this event and am excited to make it a fun and memorable experience for them. This will be the first No Gi camp that I have done so I am looking forward to making some teaching adjustments to the class section of camp and sharing some of my No Gi knowledge with the kids.

Coach Danny

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Match Night at EDH Jiu Jitsu

Match Night
Last week at El Dorado Hills BJJ we did a match night for the PeeWee, Kids and Juniors classes. It was a lot of fun for the kids and coaches. The goal of this event was to get everybody some tournament-like experience in class and that goal was definitely achieved.

We split the class into different groups based on size and experience level. Each group had at least one coach/referee. Once everybody was set we started the clock and ran a round robin style mock tournament where everybody got at least two or three matches. It was fun watching the kids compete with each other and show good sportsmanship. The coaches got a lot of valuable feedback from the matches as well.

There was a lot of volunteer participation which was really cool to see. It can be intimidating playing the role of a ref so I’m glad people felt comfortable stepping up and taking part. We could not have done it without everybody’s help. I think we’ll be doing several of these match nights a year since it was so successful which I am excited for because I thought it was a lot of fun. 

Coach Danny

Camp

Jiu-Jitsu Kids camp in JUNE

June Jiu Jitsu Camp
I’m excited to announce that we will be hosting another Jiu Jitsu camp for the kids June 13th and 15th. This camp will be for ages seven and older. No Jiu Jitsu experience is needed to attend this camp, in fact I think it is a great first time Jiu Jitsu experience.
We will begin with an hour of Jiu Jitsu class where the kids will learn some basic techniques including takedowns, sweeps and guard passes. After the class we will make teams and start playing mat games. This is always a lot of fun. The kids will get to bond with their teammates and new friends while engaging in healthy competition. After the games are over we will have a snack and wind down with some board games.
I am expecting to get twenty campers signed up for this event and am excited to make it a fun and memorable experience for them. This will be the first No Gi camp that I have done so I am looking forward to making some teaching adjustments to the class section of camp and sharing some of my No Gi knowledge with the kids.

Coach Danny

Uncategorized

Growth Mindset Pt 1

Growth Mindset Pt 1
I am currently reading a book that a student at EDH BJJ gave to me as a gift. So far, this book has talked about the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. The book is written by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. who after decades of research discovered almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

What I have learned so far is that a fixed mindset is when people think of their qualities as an unchangeable part of who they are. A growth mindset is when people think of these same qualities as things that can be stretched and can improve. The book talks about the differences in behavior caused by these two mindsets for example; somebody with a fixed mindset won’t value effort because if they were smart things would be effortless. A person with a growth mindset values effort because that challenge is what makes them “smart”. The book also gives examples of the types of romantic partners each mindset seeks out. A fixed mindset person would seek out a romantic partner who basically worships them and loves everything about them unconditionally. A growth mindset person seeks out a partner who will challenge them and help them grow.

This book separates qualities by two types; Intellectual and Personal. It talks about being able to have a fixed mindset for one type of quality but a growth mindset for the other. For example; “I can become a better reader if I practice hard but I cannot speak in public because I am too introverted.” This would be an example of having a growth mindset about intellectual qualities but a fixed mindset about personal qualities. I like this book so far and will probably keep writing about it as I read more. 

Coach Danny

Tournaments

EDH Jiu-Jitsu competes in JJWL Golden State

  The Jiu Jitsu World League Golden State tournament was last weekend. Our school had eleven youth competitors and three adult competitors. Everybody performed well. 

    I started the day coaching some of the kid competitors. It was great to see many of them make huge improvements since their last tournaments. One of our students hit a couple of really nice hip bump sweeps, at a previous tournament he struggled to finish that technique. Another student, who lost by arm bar in her last tournament was put in the same attack but she was able to defend and even counter the attack with a guard pass! 

    I won four out of five of my matches earning a bronze medal. My first match went pretty well, I scored a takedown, passed the guard and was able to finish with a head and arm choke. My second match I lost by triangle choke which put me in the bracket fighting for third place. My third match was pretty close but I scored a takedown early and was able to win the scrambles caused by my opponents sweep attempts. My fourth match I got the takedown and was able to take the back with a knee on belly setup that has been a part of my game plan for a while now. My final match for third place was the most fun, I scored the takedown, there were some scrambles and some back and forth action but I eventually took the back and finished with a bow and arrow choke. 

    Overall the team looked great. It’s so inspiring to watch everybody improve and get stronger. I am excited to continue my preparation for the World Championships with the feedback from this outing.

Coach Danny

Uncategorized

JJWL Tournament Champions

This weekend was the JJWL Stockton tournament. The American Jiu Jitsu Syndicate team finished with a few team trophies. In the youth gi division the team finished in 2nd place, a few points shy of 1st. In the adult and masters gi division the team finished in 1st place by a margin over 150 points. Congratulations!

From EDH BJJ there were 11 youth competitors, Ryder, Dailan, George, Drake, Marco, Jack F, Jack J, Colin, Hunter, Ella, and Emma. There were also 3 adult and master competitors, Danny, Joe, and Johnathan. Each competitor made improvements from match to match, showing a great display of ability to learn and improve their instincts. It’s very exciting to see competitors get out there and compete. The lessons learned in the short minutes of competition are incredibly valuable.

As the opportunity to compete grows it’s important to keep a few things in mind. Tournament experiences are a multi part process of training and preparation, the tournament performance, and the post tournament review and reflection. We can’t stress enough the importance of coaches and competitors connecting the dots and making the most of their competition experience through reflection.

EDH Jiu-Jitsu

Camp

Kids camp in El Dorado Hills at EDHBJJ

Spring Jiu Jitsu Camp
Over the Spring break I got to do another 4 days of Jiu Jitsu Camp. We did an hour and fifteen minutes of Jiu Jitsu class which included learning and reviewing the single leg takedown, the fireman carry, offensive and defensive basics from side control, the staple gun guard pass, and the flower sweep. The group of kids who participated in camp had different levels of experience with Jiu Jitsu, for some of them Jiu Jitsu camp was their first Jiu Jitsu class. It was cool to watch the more experienced kids mentoring the newer kids.

After the jiujitsu lesson we played a variety of mat games, which the kids always love. We started off with making teams and picking team names. Hearing the team names that the kids come up with is always one of my favorite parts of camp. After everyone had their name picked we got started with relay races, sumo matches, tug a war, dodgeball, sharks and minnows and freeze tag. It’s always fun to watch the combination of competition and camaraderie in the room during these games.

Once we Finished up with the mat games everyone stepped off the mat to have a snack and wind down playing board games. I plan on doing a few more of these camps this year. The kids seem to have a lot of fun with them and I enjoy planning and doing them. 

Coach Danny