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