Tom DeBlass is calling on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructors to take more responsibility in protecting their students, especially when pairing training partners.
In DeBlass’s view, instructors must look beyond belt colors, ages, and athletic backgrounds to understand why each person trains.
Not everyone is on the mats to become a champion.
Some simply want to stay healthy, improve fitness, or enjoy the art – and those motivations should matter when choosing who they roll with:
If you have a middle aged man training to stay fit, make sure his training partners understand that.
The situation becomes risky, he warns, when hobbyists are paired with intense young competitors.
A 45-year-old who trains after work shouldn’t be thrown into rounds with a 20-year-old, high-speed wrestler chasing ADCC dreams – unless that younger athlete fully understands how to train responsibly with someone who has different goals:
Having that man train with a 20 year old wrestler with dreams of becoming an ADCC champion isn’t a smart choice, unless you’re sure that 20 year old understands how to train properly.
DeBlass argues that many students don’t stop training because they lose passion, but they stop because they get hurt in situations that could have been avoided with better supervision:
So many students stop training because of injuries that could have been prevented!
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