Artists and Engineers – Part I

Ryan Young of Kama Jiu-Jitsu recently interviewed Randy McElwee of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Athens and American Black Belt Academy. Randy opened the academy in 2005 following his retirement from the United States Army. His 23 years of service had taken him all over the world, including to war zones in Afghanistan, but eventually landed him at the University of Georgia, where he taught at the Military Science Department. He decided to remain in the college town and open a gym that began as an indirect affiliate of the Pedro Sauer Association, then became an indirect affiliate of Gracie University, and then an affiliate of Pedro Sauer Association again in 2016.

Though Randy has more of a background in karate, he can trace his interest in jiu-jitsu back to 1997 when he saw a VHS of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship and was first witnessed how Royce Gracie dominated other fighters in the tournament. Randy was not alone. The tournament, which took place in 1993, elevated the Gracies and jiu-jitsu as a martial art from a niche interest to one of the most well-respected disciplines in martial arts.

What was different was that Randy realized that it could not just help his personal journey as a fighter, but that it could become part of the training for Army Special Forces. As he explains in the above video, his military background has also allowed him to design a method for teaching jiu-jitsu that is based on a systems approach. As he explains, systems save you time, energy, and money. Using a systems approach also makes the learning process more standardized and more rapidly repeatable.

The Importance of Systems

What is a “systems approach”? It’s not typically the kind of phrasing you hear in jiu-jitsu. Most jiu-jitsu gyms tend to focus on the importance of learning certain techniques and practicing those techniques to become better at executing them. While this is often called a curriculum, it’s really just a list of techniques that students eventually learn. At best, it’s a guidebook that allows individuals to basically choose their own adventure depending on what classes they attend. In most cases, no two people in the class will learn these techniques in the same order.

A systems approach represents a more holistic approach. Instead of focusing on individual techniques in isolation, a systems approach places each technique within a broader context, allowing students to understand how they interconnect and influence each other. Within the military, a systems approach is often necessary for two reasons. First, it allows strategists to address complex problems that have multiple dimensions. Second, it ensures that everyone who is in training is on the same page.

Systems for Students

For Randy, a systems approach is used to train people who are new to jiu-jitsu and to train instructors. For people who are new to jiu-jitsu, they have a systematic way to get people on the mat, make them comfortable, and get them to both recognize and realize individualized goals. “People forget how much courage it takes to walk into a strange place where people choke each other for fun,” Randy says.

Secondly, Randy has created the system in such a way that everyone learns the same fundamentals. They are the most reliable aspects of jiu-jitsu, and they are the things that everyone goes back to time and time again. They are battle tested more than perhaps anything else in jiu-jitsu because they are the basis of literally everything that you do within the martial art.

Moreover, when everyone learns these fundamentals, they start with the same foundation. While Randy’s system is then designed to allow people to branch off and create their own styles based on additional teachings, everyone begins with the same fundamentals.

Systems for Instructors

A systems approach is also applied to instructors. Randy doesn’t let anyone teach at his gym, since not everyone is going to be able to translate what they do on the mat into instructions for students. “Just because you can exhibit stuff or execute it doesn’t mean you can relay it or communicate it.”

Simply put: Instructors need to learn how to instruct.

This is why Randy has created a three-layer program to teach their instructors, with each layer being a 10-week program. They have to go through all levels to become instructors.

As Randy explains, you have to understand more than just jiu-jitsu to be a good instructor. You also need to understand goal-setting and personal communication. You have to be able to connect with students.

Failing to have this kind of training isn’t good for the students and it’s frustrating for the instructor. Moreover, from a business perspective, it’s not good for the gym. If someone walks through the door of a gym, the gym is implicitly promising that they will have a process that will take students to the black belt level. Moreover, there is an implicit promise that the gym will remain open long enough for that to happen. That means the business needs to be professional and competent so that it will not only provide that kind of curriculum but also be able to last for the eight, ten, twelve, or even twenty years it takes for a person to go from white belt to black belt.

Taking a systems approach helps guarantee that those levels of professionalism and competency are met and that students will receive the kind of instruction they need to grow as martial artists.