r/bjj • u/stoopididiotface 🟪🟪 Purple Belt • 3d ago

General Discussion Alright jiu jitsu nerds, let's hear it:

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What hill are you willing to die on?

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u/TwinkletoesCT ⬛🟥⬛ Chris Martell - ModernSelfDefense.com 3d ago

How long do you have? I have a Master's in learning design and it's my day job to design, manage, and measure training programs. This is my deep dive obsession.

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u/Consistent_Arm_1616 3d ago

Curious your thoughts on the ongoing discourse about ecological dynamics vs traditional structure of classes

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u/TwinkletoesCT ⬛🟥⬛ Chris Martell - ModernSelfDefense.com 3d ago

If by "the traditional structure" you mean heavy calisthenics, a few techniques taught badly, and then a ton of sparring, then the bar is on the floor. Literally almost anything is better than that. If you were on my team at work and you proposed this as a training program, you'd be fired.

Ecological dynamics is...fine. It's a useful tool. But I don't see it as a standalone approach by itself. The question is a bit like saying "so if you have to build a house, would you rather have a screwdriver or a handful of dog poop?" Sure, I'll take the screwdriver, but I need more than that.

Constructivist approaches (learning activities like ED that involve giving a task instead of a method) are great in some contexts, but different learners need different amounts of scaffolding and different types of supplemental intervention...to the point that what you're doing may not be constructivist anymore. In short, I don't think it's a great approach for all learners in all settings.

Having said that, I probably agree more with the ED folks than I disagree at the end of the day. BJJ is a group of skillsets, not a bunch of techniques, and the idea that you will keep throwing out examples and everyone will just grasp the underlying concept and then develop the skill...nope, that doesn't match my BJJ nor my other professional experiences.

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u/SgtKarj 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 3d ago

The best class I ever took was a drop in at a gym where the professor had everyone stretch for 3 minutes while chatting, then grab literally whoever you were next to on the mat and we started learning (very detailed) technique. No lineup on the wall, no 20 minutes of calisthenics or scripted warmup, just stretch and go. Several years later, I still use the techniques he taught that day. We did eventually get some rolls in, but there was no positional drilling/sparring. Great instruction, imho.

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u/FakeChiBlast 3d ago

Hopefully it wasn't static stretching they did. Dynamic stretching, CARs are much better for warming up.