What should you, as a BJJ instructor and/or academy owner, do about your students’ cross-training? How should you go about their training in other Jiu-Jitsu gyms… Should you allow for it?
Keenan Cornelius is the head coach and owner of the “Legion American Jiu Jitsu” academy. To illustrate his opinion about this issue, he compares it to a relationship in which one (or both) people are jealous:

If you try to hang on to people and tell them they can’t do things… It’s only going to make them want to do these things more.
And insecurities, your self doubt will sometimes try to convince you that that’s the right way. But it’s the exact same situation like a jealous boyfriend or jealous girlfriend.

You cannot (and should not try) to control the other person. It’s the same thing with your students’ cross training:

Ironically, the solution is to say: “Go do whatever you want.”

How can I stop you, an individual who pays me, from going and spending your money somewhere else? That’s crazy.
There’s no loyalty that I deserve from you, to only pay ME money. If someone can provide you better service for that money, it only makes sense for you to go and see what that’s about.

Rather, explains Keenan, you should focus on making your BJJ academy into the best one there is:

So, if you just focus on making yourself better and your gym better… If they go to other facilities and it’s not as good as your gym – what bad can happen?
If anything, people are going to see that your student is very stable, probably good at Jiu-Jitsu… And they might create a strong connection, they might invite you to one of their open mats.

Take a listen to more of Keenan’s opinion on the topic on the video below: