Evolution of the Yoga for BJJ Teacher Training

“We will never do Yoga for BJJ Teacher Training”

However, the demand for Teacher Training only grew stronger as more members of the YFBJJ (Yoga For BJJ) community experienced the benefits of what this program has done for them. The expectation was achieved of improving flexibility and mobility, however there were some unexpected benefits that came with the package too. 

Injury prevention. 

So often in Jiu-Jitsu muscles and ligaments are consistently overused. The repetitive movements wrestling and even drilling demands. This provides opportunity for injury (yes, even too much of a good thing can cause injuries). YFBJJ balances out that overuse through stretching programs. No emotional chakras or hand flailing, just good old fashioned stretching and Sebastian telling you through the screen: “Toughen up. It’s just stretching”, and deep inside your soul you're ashamed the stretching is so hard, and the child inside you agrees with Sebastian and you continue stretching because you’ll never admit how hard it is. But you will admit to all your friends how it helps as you submit them with an upside down, inside out triangle. 

What else? 

Properly warming up before training can improve training sessions, decrease opportunity for injury, and proper cooling down can improve recovery time. Shocking. Imagine that. 

Not to mention the rehabilitation program, breathing program, and even handstand program to help you balance on your hands in order to defend those awful sweeps from those ridiculously fancy guards. Your guard passing might not be perfection, but thank goodness the balancing on your hands is on point. 

The community not only requested a Teacher Training, but began demanding it. Yoga for BJJ stayed true to their values: To improve the quality of training and longevity of time on the mats. 

Sebastian got to work with his wife Stine in a different way than before. Instead of content, sequencing and filming for the website, they began to put together an in person teacher training for YFBJJ. This wasn’t their first teacher training program, they had attended countless training in the past and taught even more. Although this was a new way of putting together the work, the concept was far from new to them. 

So, the first ever Teacher Training in London was born, followed closely by the second one in Tulum. With those courses full and future ones filling up quickly, the excitement around the event made the need evident for this. 

It is hard to encapsulate in words the experiences within the live Yoga For BJJ Teacher Training.  

The energy, bonding and knowledge that everyone shared was absolutely incredible. Meeting people from all walks of life from all over the world for the same purpose. To better their own lives on a deeper level, and to share the experience of what YFBJJ brings to their students and training partners. Every single person that participated in each teacher training brought something unique to the table, while making the learning incredibly dynamic through sharing experiences of their knowledge complimented by perspective. 

“We will never do an ONLINE Yoga for BJJ Teacher Training”.

Then. 

Covid hit.

Yoga for BJJ once again looked at their values and priorities. To improve the quality of training and longevity of time on the mats. In short, to allow the BJJ community to beat eachother up for a longer period of time, and be better at it.  

Well, time to evolve. This is not always an easy task to evolve as fast as the times are. 

Challenge accepted. 

With many Academies beginning to open it is a legitimate concern to have people jumping on the mats full force training with rounds to death after being a couch potato for months. 

This concern involves having people wrestle right away, expecting to pick up where they left off and potentially injuring themselves or their training partners. It takes a while for the body to change whether this is a good or bad change, and it takes a while to bring it back to where it was. Yoga for BJJ has provided a bridging point for students to come back onto the mats in a safe way. Moving though stretching, mobility and movements that mimic BJJ, while challenging strength and coordination and improving fitness. 

“I need to stretch more” If I had a dollar every time I heard this I would be a millionaire, you would too - no doubt. What if our warmup was our stretch. Not only just a stretch, but a logical and enjoyable avenue to activate, warmup and strengthen every area of the body as the student transitions from their workday onto the mats. What if I told you, I had the secret formula to get even the advanced students to do the warmup, and even go so far as to say they might enjoy it. That would be a miracle in itself. But miracles can happen every day with the right formula. 

Then, the bonus of a 60 minute class. 

Then. Once all this has been mastered, variations to the class and warmup itself. 

Then, once all this has been mastered. A community of like minded people and Yoga for BJJ instructors to continue learning, growing and evolving. Too many miracles for one day. Tone this miracle making down, will ya? Okay okay, we will not go into further details of the online course. 

Or will we?

With the above needs in mind, the Yoga for BJJ Online Teacher Training was born. Stine and Sebastian dug their heels and began working once again, but this time in a different way than ever before. Putting together a master curriculum from the Teacher Training Level 1 (with more levels coming). The knowledge between these two masterminds combined with over two decades of experience produced a brainchild that will change the BJJ world (I’m sorry, I promised no more miracles but I just can’t stop).

 The course was full at 98 participants.

The Yoga for BJJ Team wasn’t quite sure how the Online Teacher Training would compare to the in person teacher training (even with the confidence of their best efforts and work in creating and organizing the course). 

Right away, it was evident the Online Teacher Training would have incredible potential in it’s own way. The course had participants from all over the world attending (who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to in person due to travel, family or Academy obligations, etc). Each participant brought something unique to the table, whether it was questions, perspective, experience and even feedback of their learning experience in the course.

Although the course was online it was incredibly active and engaging, with the benefits of the knowledge (physical knowledge of the actual stretching but also the knowledge and concepts of the theory) proved to be invaluable. 

This isn’t something that is ‘good to have’ for you or your academy. This is something you won't want to go without. 

Click here for more information

If you have any questions or concerns at all, email sarah@yogaforbjj.net

and will be here to connect with you!

“Yoga is an industry, and it’s pretty hard to feel like you have any credibility or right to share your passion with anyone knowing that it takes so much time and so much money to become an accredited yoga instructor. Yoga for BJJ is different; it is focussed, relevant and legitimate training for BJJ, and it’s a window into the world of ‘real’ Yoga if you’re interested in exploring it.

The instructors course helped me to understand that. It taught me the difference between personal practice and instructing, and gave me both the tools and the confidence to take it back to my gym. Without the course I wouldn’t have felt like I had the authority or the ability to instruct a flow. It highlighted the complexity of the moves and how hard it is to describe each transition and position, but gave me the latitude to find my own solution to the problems.

 Since completing the instructor training I run a 30 min Yoga session every week at my academy, not something that I thought I would do. The feedback has been phenomenal. Every week someone new tells me how they never thought Yoga was like that, that they could see the value for their own training, and that they wanted to do and know more. I feel like the confidence the course gave me is helping me to share something which I personally believe has raised my game, improved my health, and improved my mindset.

 It goes without saying that the quality of instruction that Sebastian provides on the instructor’s course is both original and exceptional, but his willingness to trust others with his brand and develop it in their own way is nothing short of inspirational. If you think that Yoga for BJJ has helped you, then don’t keep it to yourself. The instructor's course gave me the boost I needed to share my practice of Yoga for BJJ with my team-mates in the same way that I share every other technique or move that I have learnt. I genuinely can’t recommend it enough.”

 

-Karl Potts

Article written by Sarah from Yoga for BJJ over a good cup of coffee