Matt Serra has a straightforward philosophy when it comes to choosing the right BJJ academy – especially for beginners.
He explained:
It’s a good question. When you walk in, get the energy of the place.
Is it a bunch of guys just being meatheads? You’ll get the vibe of a place…Is it people smiling, having a good time? Is the instructor greeting you and introducing you to people?
That’s number one.
But beyond the initial impression, he believes the real test lies in how a gym handles newcomers during their earliest stages:
The hardest part is one, to walk into a new school. And two, when you get on the mats, that first month is crucial.
You don’t have any of the answers. Everything you’re doing is wrong.
Serra is critical of gyms that push beginners into live sparring too quickly as well:
If you put them on the mat to roll too early, they’ll be like: “This is effective, but I just got the heck kicked out of me. What am I paying for? What is going on here?”
Instead, he advocates for a more gradual and structured introduction:
Two weeks at least, they’re doing the technique, doing the warm-up, and then they’re watching, doing some drills on the side, some flow drills.
This approach helps build confidence and understanding before exposing students to full resistance:
So that way by the time they get to do some live training… They’ll have some tools in the toolbox…
Instead of just doing totally the wrong thing or just not having any answers, which is a horrible feeling.
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