Tim was back from a trip to Beijing.
He could go to the same BJJ gym where he was the
big dog. But that was the problem: there were no strong
opponents in the kids class. To grow, Tim would need
constant and meaningful wins as well as defeats. Through
word of mouth, we learnt about this other school in an industrial
neighborhood and paid a few visits.
First thing I noticed was there seemed to be ten times more
kids. That was good because of more and better training
partners. It also meant less one-to-one coaching time per
student. I liked it that sparring started from standing-up.
This was more realistic and self-defense oriented.
On the second day, the coach asked Tim to grapple with the
biggest kid in the class. Tim showed good spirit but was
defeated! He was in tears after the class. But I thought we
got what we were looking for.
The third time, Tim joined a higher-level class. My estimate
was that there were at least three kids who could beat him.
I noticed he pulled guard too often. In a street scenario,
this would be dangerous.
We were late and joined the Sat morning class for the last
30 min. It turned out to be the best lesson Tim had had. He
sparred and won twice. Afterward, I had never seen such
enthusiasm from him toward the art. We discussed his
take-down and mount strategies on the road. Arriving home,
we did a Gracie Combatives lesson and the boy saw the
connection right away: "I could use the GB techniques in my
sparring!"
