6 Month Review at Wakizashi JiuJitsu
It's rather hard to believe, but it's been now been six months since moving to Washington and finding a new home school at Wakizashi JiuJitsu. I was driving today to hit a new open mat about an hour away, during that time I was reflecting on what my initial impression of the school was, and what I've found it to be. I've been incredibly impressed with the place, and I wanted to highlight some of the things that I think we do really well and share them with everyone.
The things I like about Wakizashi JiuJitsu:
1. A Culture of Questions.
One of the biggest things that I love about Wakizashi is the receptiveness of questions within class. Whether it's professor Eli fielding questions while explaining a technique, answering one that comes up during drilling it, or one that pops up at the end of class after rolling. He not only answers them, but encourages them, and I think it makes a big difference in the technical progression of the team.
While I'm constantly hitting up Professor Eli with questions, this culture also extends to the rest of the team as well. "How are you preventing my guard pass?" "Can you tell me why I keep getting caught with that Kimura?" "Hey can you help me with the techniques from Tuesday? I'm having a little trouble remembering them." Those are just a small sampling of questions you'll hear being asked during class among the team. This aspect of the school's environment is one that puts an emphasis on learning and development. I've been observing those around me and this environment has created a lot of growth in the team.
2. Conceptual Learning.
This one's pretty straightforward, but I still want to just briefly touch on it, because it's something I really like about the teaching style of Professor Eli. The first thing is that each week has an area of focus and ends with a review of what was taught. I've found that this, particularly the review, is something that not only helps me to remember, but implement the techniques that I'm learning. I know there are lots of different learning styles out there, but for me, this has made a dramatic difference in my rate of learning.
The second one in this area, is a focus on the concepts of why a technique works or why it fails. Once armed with this knowledge, the acquisition of new techniques happens much more rapidly, and the implementation of them more successful.
3. A healthy mixture of gi and no gi training.
I talked more about it HERE, but no gi was really an under developed area in my grappling game. I love my grips and my lapels, and I'd feel rather diminished once the tops came off. It honestly was a bit frustrating to roll or compete in no gi, because I knew that I'd do so much better wearing the rest of my tool kit.
Motivated from my conversation with Chad Hardy, I happily found that my new home offered no gi classes twice a week and I really hammered down on them. I've been happily rewarded from those efforts too. I know feel much more comfortable rolling in no gi, added in a host of leg lock attacks, and even *gasp 😮* look forward to no gi nights now.
I actually used to get a little nervous walking into a no gi only school like a Tenth Planet affiliate. Now though, I feel more like a complete grappler, and it doesn't matter which one it is I'm going to have a great time and get some great sparring in 😄 I can't speak for everyone, but I feel like this is a pretty shared thing throughout the team, and it's something that I really like about our culture.
4. Good Times and Good Rolling.
JiuJitsu is a big part of my life, and is something that I put a lot of my free time into. If I could, I don't know if I'd really do anything else all day😜 It is always great to spend that time training with people that you actually enjoy being around. Walking into a brand new state not knowing anyone, this team has been pretty incredible with welcoming me in. I've had just a blast having after class conversations that can lead anywhere. We've done potlucks at the school, grabbed lunch, packed out the top floor of a restaurant. I even got to"meet" the President
at a Navy party with some of the team 😂
I have felt incredibly lucky to land at this spot of the world. In fact, it really rather seems like life was supposed to bring me here for a number of reasons. I couldn't be happier to be a part of this team, and if you are ever in Washington I'd highly recommend you pay us a visit!
Steven McMahon earned his Kyuki-Do Black Belt in 2011 from Grand Master Kim at Kim's Black Belt Academy and his BJJ Purple Belt in January 2017 under Professor Charles Nunley. He currently trains out of Wakizashi BJJ in Oak Harbor under Professor Eli Trevino. He is an active competitor at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Army Combative tournaments
The things I like about Wakizashi JiuJitsu:
1. A Culture of Questions.One of the biggest things that I love about Wakizashi is the receptiveness of questions within class. Whether it's professor Eli fielding questions while explaining a technique, answering one that comes up during drilling it, or one that pops up at the end of class after rolling. He not only answers them, but encourages them, and I think it makes a big difference in the technical progression of the team.
While I'm constantly hitting up Professor Eli with questions, this culture also extends to the rest of the team as well. "How are you preventing my guard pass?" "Can you tell me why I keep getting caught with that Kimura?" "Hey can you help me with the techniques from Tuesday? I'm having a little trouble remembering them." Those are just a small sampling of questions you'll hear being asked during class among the team. This aspect of the school's environment is one that puts an emphasis on learning and development. I've been observing those around me and this environment has created a lot of growth in the team.
2. Conceptual Learning.This one's pretty straightforward, but I still want to just briefly touch on it, because it's something I really like about the teaching style of Professor Eli. The first thing is that each week has an area of focus and ends with a review of what was taught. I've found that this, particularly the review, is something that not only helps me to remember, but implement the techniques that I'm learning. I know there are lots of different learning styles out there, but for me, this has made a dramatic difference in my rate of learning.
The second one in this area, is a focus on the concepts of why a technique works or why it fails. Once armed with this knowledge, the acquisition of new techniques happens much more rapidly, and the implementation of them more successful.
3. A healthy mixture of gi and no gi training.I talked more about it HERE, but no gi was really an under developed area in my grappling game. I love my grips and my lapels, and I'd feel rather diminished once the tops came off. It honestly was a bit frustrating to roll or compete in no gi, because I knew that I'd do so much better wearing the rest of my tool kit.
Motivated from my conversation with Chad Hardy, I happily found that my new home offered no gi classes twice a week and I really hammered down on them. I've been happily rewarded from those efforts too. I know feel much more comfortable rolling in no gi, added in a host of leg lock attacks, and even *gasp 😮* look forward to no gi nights now.I actually used to get a little nervous walking into a no gi only school like a Tenth Planet affiliate. Now though, I feel more like a complete grappler, and it doesn't matter which one it is I'm going to have a great time and get some great sparring in 😄 I can't speak for everyone, but I feel like this is a pretty shared thing throughout the team, and it's something that I really like about our culture.
4. Good Times and Good Rolling.JiuJitsu is a big part of my life, and is something that I put a lot of my free time into. If I could, I don't know if I'd really do anything else all day😜 It is always great to spend that time training with people that you actually enjoy being around. Walking into a brand new state not knowing anyone, this team has been pretty incredible with welcoming me in. I've had just a blast having after class conversations that can lead anywhere. We've done potlucks at the school, grabbed lunch, packed out the top floor of a restaurant. I even got to"meet" the President
at a Navy party with some of the team 😂
I have felt incredibly lucky to land at this spot of the world. In fact, it really rather seems like life was supposed to bring me here for a number of reasons. I couldn't be happier to be a part of this team, and if you are ever in Washington I'd highly recommend you pay us a visit!
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