Artists and Engineers – Part II

Randy McElwee of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Athens and American Black Belt Academy has been a martial arts instructor for the past 19 years. What may come as a surprise is that he started the school in 2005 while he was a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and only obtained his black belt in 2018 after two decades of training, despite already having a background in karate when he was first introduced to jiu-jitsu 27 years ago.

As he explains in the above video, the delays weren’t due to injury or difficulties getting started. His first instructors were none other than Royce and Rorion Gracie, who helped him establish his foundation and get him to blue belt. Instead, struggled to train regularly because he didn’t live in an area where he could easily train. He had to drive two hours to and from Tiger Academy in suburban Atlanta to Tiger Academy, where he trained under Eddy Camden until he achieved the level of brown belt. After that, he trained under Pedro Sauer who ultimately gave him his black belt.

Though the whole process took him 20 years, the most frustrating time was the 12 years he spent as a blue belt. This has influenced how he looks at training and teaching jiu-jitsu.

Training Self-Defense Like an Engineer

Randy was no stranger to combat training. He served in the U.S. Army for over 20 years and even spent several years at the University of Georgia, where he taught at the Military Science Department. Beyond his background in karate and his frustrations getting past blue belt, his military background also heavily influenced how he instructs his students, and he has focused on three elements of training for every student who walks through the door of his gym.

The first is that he focuses on self-defense rather than tournament-style jiu-jitsu. As he tells Ryan Young of Kama Jiu-Jitsu in the above video, he constantly asks himself of the jiu-jitsu he teaches, “Will it work against somebody who’s six inches or more taller and 60 pounds or more heavier?” He knows that there are no weight classes when you’re defending yourself against an assailant on the street or in the line of duty, and that aggressors are more likely to attack people who are smaller than them because they perceive them to be less of a match.

Secondly, he prefers to think of training from 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. Everyone in the class starts on the same page, which means everyone is speaking the same language. This dramatically reduces miscommunication, which can be problematic in jiu-jitsu and deadly in the military. It also means that, should his system be adopted by other gyms, people who are familiar with the system will be able to attend a class at any gym in the country without feeling as though they need to start over.

Finally, he prefers to think of martial arts less from the perspective of an artist and more like an engineer. As he says, he wants to teach students the foundations of jiu-jitsu as though they are engineers, and only then allow them to be artists.

Of course, this begs the question: What is the difference between an artist and an engineer?

Artists and Engineers

Everyone who has done jiu-jitsu for a few years or sometimes just a few months has come across a person who has a natural talent for it. After the instructor teaches a new technique, they seem to execute the move perfectly and to immediately understand how it fits with other techniques. When asked how they picked it up so quickly, they can’t tell you. They just have an innate talent for jiu-jitsu.

These people are artists. They are like white rhinos in the sense that they are exceptionally rare. In some cases, you can train for several years without ever encountering one.

If you show up to your first day of jiu-jitsu class and realize that you are not an artist, don’t despair. Though most of us are not born with this raw talent, anyone can develop their jiu-jitsu to the point where they become as skilled as artists. It just takes time.

It also takes a different approach than when teaching an artist. Randy likens it to engineering. Engineers are people who have really thought about what they’re doing and can explain to you in step-by-step fashion how something is accomplished. Engineering may seem a little boring, but it is ultimately how you teach jiu-jitsu most effectively to people who are beginners or even at the intermediate level. This is why he prefers to treat everyone as though they are engineers until they are advanced belts. Once they have a very base, Randy says, then you allow them to be artists. That’s when they get the chance to develop a style that is more creative and unique.

Having more of an engineering mindset also helps each jiu-jitsu more effectively because it can be broken down into clear steps. As he is more of an engineer himself than an artist, “I can get people to my level a lot more efficiently than other folks,” he says.