Small Stuff

As a coach I want my students to be better than me, to have information I didn’t have as early as possible. Some things I will leave up to preference, whereas other things I will very clear about my expectations for a particular move, position or behavior. My only goal is to make my students better in and out of the gym. If you feel like I’m being harsh or too meticulous, know that it is not malicious. I have done this for twenty years and if I can do nothing else with my life, I can make you a proficient if not stellar grappler. You just have to care, care about the small stuff. If I tell you it’s wrong or not to do something, it’s probably because I know you’re not good enough to bend the rules. World class grapplers do things all the time that coaches tell their white belts not to. The difference is that they’ve messed that stuff up so many times, they have made bending the rules efficient and effective for them. The small stuff matters at every level and emphasizing that early on will pay dividends.