May 27, 2025 • 25 mins
Chances are we love our BJJ coaches and they are one of the sole reasons we are still in the game. But could your coach inadvertently be setting a bad example? We have talked about why wearing injuries on your sleeve as a jiu jitsu practitioner is a bad thing, but what about when it's the coach?
The answer: double bad.
Tune in here to learn why coaches need to lead by example and must always be taking care of themselves for performance and teaching on the mats.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
A good martial artist does not become tense, but
ready.
Essentially, at this point thefight is over, so you pretty
much flow with the goal.
Who is worthy to be trustedwith the secret to limitless
power?
I'm ready, jt.
(00:33):
We talk plenty on this showabout injuries in Jiu-Jitsu.
We do a lot.
I'm pretty sure that thoselistening understand there are
injuries in Jiu-Jitsu.
There's plenty of injuries inJiu-Jitsu.
But today I want to talk aboutthe most injured people in
Jiu-jitsu.
And it's not the grapplers.
Who?
Who is the most injured personin jiu-jitsu?
It's the fucking coaches.
Oh, what coaches are?
(00:55):
The most injured people injiu-jitsu and here's a statement
I'm going to make is that theyare the worst at managing their
injuries.
How dare you and you know whatthis does, please.
The shit rolls downhill and itinfluences their students to
also be shit at managing theirinjuries.
It's kind of true.
So here's the problem.
We know that as you go furtherdown the path with Jiu-Jitsu,
(01:17):
you do accumulate more damage.
Yes, it's just a part of it.
Any sport, the longer you're init, more damage is accrued.
Coaches have usually been in itfor the longest time in the gym
.
Yep, um, coaches are also sortof often have the most chaotic
training practices they can,because to be a great coach and
to be dedicated to your studentsand running the business and
(01:38):
doing all that you generallycan't be.
You can't be optimizing foryour ideal training setup for
yourself, you're doing it forfor the students, right?
I mean?
And I think all coaches sort ofgo through this where they're
like, oh fuck, like my owntraining's fallen off a bit.
Generally speaking, they find away to manage it.
It's like I jump in on theseclasses and whatnot.
(01:59):
But I think that thing of acoach making themselves
available to roll when thenumbers are uneven you mentioned
this the other day.
Actually, you were like, so wewere just having a conversation
over coffee the other week andJoe's like, oh yeah, like it was
uneven numbers and so I had tojump in, which you hadn't really
planned to, but throughobligation of being there and
(02:20):
you want everyone to have a goodtime.
That was not to your benefit,right, like you know.
And so because you feel thatobligation to serve your
students, which is like anhonorable thing, it's, it's
fucking great.
You self-sacrifice,self-sacrifice.
True, you're doing it for them,but then, as a result, your
neck might get a bit jacked oryou're not properly warmed up
(02:43):
and maybe you should be restingat that time, but you fucking
don't.
That's right, and I thoughtcoaches pay a price for this.
They fucking do so.
Quick chat now.
I want to go over kind of thethree main reasons why coaches
need to change their approach toinjury.
Yes, uh, and I've got likethere's pretty clear actions off
this and I'm sure you're goingto have some input.
Yes, sir, the first one is goand see a fucking physio or a
(03:09):
health specialist or whoeverthat person is that's in your
network that deals withbiomechanical injuries, body
work, because you're showing upat jujitsu and I'm going to talk
to you as a, as a student whohas been trained by coaches over
the years many coaches who havebeen carrying injuries has been
trained by coaches over theyears many coaches who have been
carrying injuries.
Your students get sick of youtalking about your fucking
injury.
That's been dragging on formonths and months.
(03:30):
Yeah, um, your students also,like, subconsciously, feel that
you're not able to train withthem the way that maybe you once
did.
Yeah, right, they.
They want to have a hard rolewith you.
They want to.
They want to feel like they'rebeing tested by the boss.
Yeah, uh, they want to have ahard role with you.
They want to.
They want to feel like they'rebeing tested by the boss.
Yeah, uh, they missed that, um.
But as we've sort of alreadyidentified, they also
(03:51):
subconsciously take your exampleas well.
I should just ignore myinjuries too.
Yeah, this is so tough becauseI I had this with my Russian
coach.
If him, you know, like I admirehim so much and I still do Like
I I look up to him, but thisguy is the master of self abuse.
He'd just talk about how hewasn't warm and he's like, yeah,
(04:12):
I'll just press this 48 kilokettlebell.
You're like why You're a coach.
You know that's not good andyou know that's your bad
shoulder, but like you just feltthe need to.
You know what I mean Like itdoesn't make sense and I, the
way I think about it, it'salmost like with kids and I
don't have any kids at themoment, but having I have my
parents and I look up to them.
(04:32):
I respect them a lot, butobviously they did the best they
could, as at the time, withwhat they had.
But you do copy your parents'behavior, even if they tell you
eat your vegetables, but thenyou don't see them eating
vegetables.
You're like should I eat myvegetables?
It doesn't seem like you do it,man, and really it is monkey,
see, monkey do.
In this situation it's 100%that, yeah, you can't like.
(04:56):
And this is the beauty ofjiu-jitsu is that there is a
real what's the word.
There's an equality to j tojujitsu in that usually uh,
except for maybe some of the bigkind of franchise operations
but there is this equality to.
This is what the coach does,like this is their game and how
they do jujitsu and this is whatyou're doing and that's what
(05:17):
your coach is teaching you.
It's not like, hey, here's thetechniques for you guys, but I
do this other, more advancedshit.
Of course, beginner programsand and stuff are going to have
beginner techniques, but at acertain point it's like we're
all doing the same jujitsutogether.
But yeah, it's with the injurything, it's like the coach will
tell you hey, you should go anddeal with that, and you're like
(05:39):
can't?
You're not, yes, but I thinkthis is a tricky, tricky thing.
I was speaking to a coach theother day who hurt their knee.
They feel it's bad advertisingto because they weren't wearing
their knee brace in class, right, right because they think it's
a bad look, because if someonecomes in to sign up for jujitsu
and they, they see that you gota knee brace on, they're like I
(06:01):
don't know if I should be doingthis.
You know, like it's we, we allknow it's part of the game and
it's so strange that there'slike this, like it's like an
inherent shame in the game, thatyou get injured.
It's like no, this is fuckingfull on contact sport and you do
cop injuries and I believethere is a weird self neglect
(06:22):
that is acceptable for coachesbecause it's in the name of
their students.
Yeah, but but really, this iswhere it's like you can't, you
can't help others swim if you'redrowning, that's.
It's just fucking that simple.
So you've got to take care ofyou to be able to be empowered
to help others.
And here's the the basic mass onthis go see a physio.
(06:45):
Recommendation is, like youknow, it costs you money to go
and see a physiotherapist.
Right, it's going to cost you125 bucks.
But if you don't do that, let'slook at like, say you do you
pay that you go in for anotherfew appointments, you get a
little rehab thing, get someneedling massage and before you
know it.
Three weeks pass and the injuryis no longer a thing.
Flip on that and say you don'tsee the physio.
(07:08):
The injury drags out for weeks,months.
That affects your training forweeks, months.
That affects your energy as thecoach in the gym.
The pain the students feel thatthe class isn't as enjoyable
because you're in a dark moodall the fucking time, because
you're fucking going through ashit period.
It, you're fucking goingthrough a shit period, you know
(07:29):
like it's, this wholecompounding thing and then, yeah
, potentially the injury becomessomething more serious which
requires greater sums of moneyto be spent down the track.
Surgery, yeah, all of that,that's right, like it.
Just it has the power to reallymake the next fucking chunk of
your life shithouse and that'sgoing to affect your business.
So best to like deal with it asearly as possible in the best
way possible, so that it's done.
Yes, definitely.
Um, this follows into the secondpoint, which is to lead by
(07:50):
example.
We've already kind of touchedon that, but I think it deserves
having sort of mentioned on itsown, which is that your
students really do emulate whatyou do, and I mean, we know this
from being in the gym personaltrainers for a long time.
People come to you to learnstrength and flexibility and how
to train and all that stuff.
But what I observed sort ofonly really clicked for me maybe
(08:15):
about five years ago is thatoften the people that come to
train with you, they actuallyjust and this is going to sound
really weird they actually justwant to be you, yeah, and they
want to know what do you eat forbreakfast?
Yeah, and do you use a journal?
What journal do you use?
What kind of coffee do you have?
Hey, are they cool shoes?
Should I get some of those?
Yeah, yeah, like, and you startto realize, fuck, I've actually
got.
I want this.
(08:49):
Yes, right, and that's what gotthem in for the session, cause
that's what you were offering.
Now, sure, people are there forjujitsu and all those things,
but the coach really does becomethat person that students will
idolize, like, idolize in manyways, and so you are a person of
influence and they want to.
They also want to be great atjujitsu and they want to be
confident, like you are, andthey want to be nice and
(09:14):
friendly and fucking happy likeyou are.
And so your influence extendswell beyond what's being taught
right now in the class.
And I think the biggestchallenge there is that when
you're a coach, you do end upspending a bit of social time
with your students and, justlike anything, as we grow up,
like you know, we learn moreabout our parents.
(09:34):
We spend time, we come tounderstand them more as people,
not as these people up on apedestal, and either maybe we
get on with them or maybe wedon't, because we're like, oh,
you know, and this is thebiggest challenge, because you
don't.
I think we don't think of thiswhen we become coaches.
We think of our passion forjiu-jitsu or whatever we might
(09:54):
be teaching, but we don'trealize we're putting our whole
life on display.
Because they see you having aheated conversation, they're
like, oh, who's that?
It's like, ah, you know mylandlord or these different
things, and you're like, oh,that's oh, okay, that doesn't
seem very positive and over time, this does affect how you are
(10:17):
perceived and received.
And it's not to say we'resaints or you have to even
pretend to be like that.
Your students, you lookingafter you and having a practice
of that very in a in asubconscious way, lets the
(10:37):
student know that they alsoshould be doing that.
Yeah, and if that's notcommunicated in your behavior,
then what the fuck like?
You're not going to takefinancial advice from someone
who's broke?
Yeah right, they're just notshowing you what you came for.
Now, I believe this is abyproduct of commitment to the
art.
(10:58):
People who just like they'reall about jujitsu, so because
they're so all in on jujitsu,they've neglected other aspects
of their life.
So people are like, wow,they're so wonderful at jujitsu,
they must be great ateverything else, and that's just
not true.
But I think correct me if I'mwrong here, joe it wouldn't even
take more than, say, 5% of aperson's time or effort to start
(11:19):
to do this thing of lookingafter themselves better.
Just look after yourself, holdyourself to a higher standard,
go and see a fucking physio whenyou, when you fucking feel that
shit snap, and to do 10 minutesof rehab work because you're
already in the fucking gymanyway.
(11:40):
Yeah, you're living there,right?
Um, yeah, the.
I think to the the what like?
What we fail to realize is thatlike well, two parts to this one
the under.
Most academy owners aren'thappy with the performance of
their academy.
Most are going to bepotentially right, I would say.
I would say most it's their gymis not a capacity they're not
super stoked with where it's at,it's okay.
(12:01):
Well, by uh allowing thisculture to only become further
entrenched, then you're shootingyourself in the foot because
your students are copying moreinjuries and they're not doing
anything about it and they'retaking long chunks of time off.
Probably more people arecanceling than would have had to
have canceled if they had havedealt with their injuries.
Right, yep, um, but also like,fuck, I lost my train of thought
(12:24):
there.
That's right, um, but my pointis that, like, so many benefits
come from doing this thing yes,right, and so do the fucking
thing.
Other part on that that I wantto mention is like, think of
this as an example coach's gotan injury, everyone's aware.
But coach's got a bad elbow,coach's been talking about it
for you, everyone.
And then coach is like, ah,fuck, it's time to roll, put
(12:46):
some time.
Fuck, I'm jumping in tonight,right.
And you're like, oh, you'rerolling tonight.
And they're like, yeah, fuck it, just gonna fuck it.
You know, I haven't trained,haven't rolled for two weeks.
And you're like, oh, you'rerolling tonight.
And they're like, yeah, fuck it, just go Fuck it.
Yeah, I haven't trained, Ihaven't rolled for two weeks.
And you're like, oh, awesome,coach is in, yeah, and then
coach rolls.
And then you're like how's yourroll?
Oh, it's fucked, it's reallybad, yeah, yeah, looks like I
have to take another couple.
(13:09):
But the other thing it tells youis that, like coach is really
irresponsible when it comes totaking care of themselves.
Like it actually communicatesboth something good and
something bad.
Yes, and I would say that thejuice is not worth the squeeze.
They already know you're atough cunt.
They already know you'recommitted to the thing because
you show up here every fuckingday to teach us.
So why not just be responsiblewhen you go to a commercial gym?
(13:31):
There is a very smallpercentage of people there that
actually know what they're doing.
Most people are just wastingtheir time, and this is why we
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It's so that everyday grapplerslike yourself could benefit
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(13:51):
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(14:13):
We will see you on the inside.
Yeah, I think it's difficult.
Most coaches I know most blackbelts feel that not rolling for
any reason is soft.
It indicates a lack ofcommitment to jujitsu.
Whatever you say aboutself-preservation, you know,
(14:34):
like as if to show that level ofweakness, that you're human or
that you can't roll becauseyou're a black belt, that then
makes that hurts your brand asan instructor Deep values yeah,
like, oh, that's a bit fuckingsoft.
You know, like, actually thething that occurred to me which
was very interesting, with umLachlan Giles, actually after he
(14:58):
had done a fair bit ofwrestling training with Talgut,
and Talgut was um, our wrestlingcoach, who's was one of the
best wrestlers ever out ofUzbekistan but wrestled for
Australia.
Eventually he was all about thesmart training and he said to
Lockie, you should train a bitless.
So it was kind of at a criticalpoint in the training.
(15:21):
I'd say to Lockie, are youtraining later?
And he's like no, I was likewhat?
You're not training twice a day?
He's like no, I trained thismorning, I'm good, and he was
totally fine with that, yeah,and he would stop a round or two
early and I was like, oh, doyou want to go?
And he's like, no, I'm done fortoday.
And he just had really gooddiscipline about it.
He didn't feel self-conscious,you know, and I was like, oh, I
(15:42):
was actually more impressed byhis ability to stop, because I
have such a compulsion to like,no, I gotta, I gotta, just leave
it all on the mat.
And actually it's, it'sincredibly like, yeah, it's
quite undisciplined, because Ithink the difficulty is
obviously your student is thereand you want to satisfy the
(16:05):
student's need, but you alsohave to teach multiple students
across multiple sessions, day in, day out, and this is the thing
the student doesn't see.
You've got to show up at 6 amthe next day.
You've got to show up at lunch,you've got to be everything,
which is so.
That's why being a coach is sodemanding and if you're going to
have longevity there and you'regoing to show up in a
(16:27):
consistent way, it's got to be alittle bit more moderate, which
is so hard to, especially whenyou have a great passion for
jujitsu, which is, I think,every coach's kind of calling.
Is that passion, yeah, great.
Third point here, and this is areal practical one have a basic
equipment package in your gym.
Yes, now, most academiesprobably don't have the luxury
(16:50):
of having, like, an area forstrength conditioning, so we're
not talking about that though,though that would be sick.
But let's say you've just gotthis small kind of room and
you've got your mats there, andthat's sort of all there is.
You can still have a few itemsof equipment that live in there
that are going to allow you todo the majority of any kind of
rehab work you're going to needto, and it's not going to get in
(17:13):
the way, it's not going todamage your mats, and it's also
going to be an asset for yourstudents to come into the gym
when they're injured.
Rather than having to fuck offto some other place and not come
to your gym, they can come anddo it alongside the class.
Yeah, definitely.
I think you see it more now likea roller, like there might be a
roller or two, like a softerone and a harder one, a layer of
(17:34):
dust on it, but no, no, they doget used.
You do see it Like it's notalways everyone using it, but
there's a couple people use it.
Or a lacrosse ball or a massageball.
Sometimes you see a bandhanging off a pull-up bar or
like you're like, oh, someone'susing that.
Or there might be a smallbasket or something that gets
(17:56):
put away that has like the kindof booty band for the knees for
abduction, or I do believe thatthere is a bit more of a shift
in the jiu-jitsu community thatwe are starting to embrace or
open up about the nature ofjiu-jitsu, including injuries.
Therefore, as a retention methodand I think we can talk about
this as, like you were saying,instead of someone going
(18:16):
somewhere else, right, I believethe hardest part about people
getting injured in Jiu-Jitsucoach or anyone is that it
breaks that link and that ifyou're a coach, you're always
trying to include people, right,and as a business owner like
retention's number one, like youwork so hard to get these
people in.
Once you've got them, you wantto keep them.
Giving someone an excuse tocome to the gym, uh, to do their
(18:40):
rehab, keeps them connected andso in that way, like that's
that's a nice way for them tostay seeing their mates as well
as looking after themselves.
And if they, if you say, hey,I'm doing my knee rehab too,
come in before class and we'llkind of do it together.
You know, I think this idea.
It makes people feel lessalienated when they get injured
(19:03):
or they feel they're not like,oh, I don't want to show
weakness.
They're like, oh, no, I'm partof the crew now, yeah, yeah,
because without that, the kindof unspoken belief is that, well
, I'm only part of thiscommunity if I can do jujitsu,
so I can go hard.
Yeah, but if you're not able tolike, if you're not able to
roll, then you're not part ofthe community.
And that's where, like, oh, I'mnot rolling at the moment, so
(19:24):
I'll just wait till I can rollagain, then I'll go back.
Whereas, like no, you can be inthis community if you roll, if
you want to sit off to the sidesand stretch, if you want to do
your rehab, like, that'sculturally, that's what this is,
you know.
And so, yeah, like it's, it'sum.
You mentioned the retentionthing.
Um, most gyms don't have aretention process.
(19:45):
Yes, they're not running areport every month of like who
hasn't shown up much in the lastfew weeks?
And calling them.
And so if you're not preparedto do those things, at least by
doing something like this youincrease your attention without
actually having to get on thephone.
Yeah, yeah, and for some of youout there, you may be aware, if
you have a physical job or youwork in a factory, they will
(20:08):
have like a.
If you get injured at work,they'll maybe put you on light
duties.
You know like it's a, a returnto work method, because they
don't want to get sued and theyalso don't want you to quit.
Uh, you know, like, oncethey've got you and you're
trained and stuff in a in aworkplace, they want to keep you
.
So they've invested in youexactly, and and they know like
big companies know it costs themso much more to get a new
(20:28):
person train them and do thewhole thing.
So most big workplaces willhave some kind of return to work
approach.
And I think a jujitsu gym, byincluding just some very cheap
and simple things and makingspace for people to do their
rehab at the gym, helps thestudents stay in touch and it
(20:50):
also just gives permission.
The coach is doing it, I'mdoing it, we're all in this
together.
I think that is actually agreat move from a coach to be
open about it, and then it letspeople know that like, be here,
don't get injured and go awayand I think that's strong.
Just quickly, what would bethat ideal gear package for you?
(21:14):
I think, yeah, you're going toneed probably one or two rollers
a softer one for the tighterfolks and a tougher, spikier one
for those who are not.
Uh, lacrosse ball, yeah, avariety of bands, like a mini
band, a medium band and aheavier band yeah, um, somewhere
to attach the band to on thewalls nice.
Yeah, maybe like a mini band, amedium band and a heavier band.
Somewhere to attach the band toon the walls nice.
Yeah, maybe like a littlefixture or like pull-up bar off
the walls always good.
Or doorway as it might be.
(21:35):
Pull-up bar would be huge,ideally, and it sits above the
mat, so it's not an issue whenpeople are rolling.
It's just mounted on the wallBecause you can also hang off
that bad boy.
You know there's that too.
People love doing pull-upsafter class, you know like, just
smash it out a little bit, likeit's, it's there.
(21:55):
Yeah, I think allowing, becauseI know some gyms they don't like
if you're not in the class,then you're meant to stay off
the mat.
Yeah, so if that is the case,putting a little like corner,
you know how it's, it'sclassically the way in the gym
that there's like the ab area.
Yeah, that's where you go andyou sit and you stretch or do
sit-ups or whatever.
There's actually huge value inthat and for the best part I've
(22:17):
actually seen this in goodpowerlifting gyms they will have
an area where you can go dowarm-up shit, yeah.
But what's so funny injiu-jitsu, even though we have
this big mat space, oftentimesthe space which is not the mat
is not conducive to that at all.
It's like some really weirdcramped seat.
That's where the parents sitwhile they're waiting for their
kids to come on.
I'm all jammed up like, oh hey,it seems like my kid's beating
(22:39):
the shit out of your kid.
Oh lovely, you know what I mean.
It's true, yeah, so yeah,there's not like, hey, here's a
little warm-up area.
So even just, I think, sayingto people, hey, if you are
injured or you know you can goover there, you can use that and
no one's going to roll into youor whatever.
I think that could be good.
I would add to that like threekettlebells oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
(23:01):
and not particularly heavy ones, but just you know whatever
like an eight, 12 and a 16 orsomething, or some small
dumbbells for just doing somebasic shoulder work as well.
Yeah, yeah, I mean that package, but all very cheap.
You could put that together forlike less than 200 bucks.
Yeah, 500 maybe.
Well, it depends on whereyou're getting it.
Yeah, true, team, who's got you?
(23:25):
And then last point I wanted tomention on this, which was just
kind of something that thatactually came to mind as we're
talking about it, which is thatyou can still coach when you are
injured.
Yes, this is the thing Like I,like it's always it sucks a
little bit, right, like when Iwas after I had my ACL surgery.
Yeah, it fucking sucked to likeshow up and run a class or
whatever.
Um, you know, when I'm oncrutches or when I basically
(23:47):
have to like sit down, I hobblein and then sit down, but you
can still do it totally fine.
And actually it forces you tosharpen other parts of your uh
communication sword becauseyou're like okay, hey, jt, can
you take joe, take jonas's back,okay now.
So what we're looking at, youknow you start to verbalize more
.
Yeah, you got a bunch ofable-bodied people in your class
(24:07):
, use them.
Um, I think for a lot of coachesthere's this thing that like oh
, but if I'm unable to do itmyself, like the class is going
to fall apart, and that isabsolutely not the case.
It's not true.
I think we all have FOMO itdoesn't matter whether you're a
coach or not and we also areprobably too self-conscious or
(24:29):
judgmental of ourselves thatwe're like, well, if I can't
show the thing, then I'mworthless.
Then people will stop believingI have these skills.
Well, no, that's really nottrue.
It's just.
It's just some story we tellourselves.
People know what the fuck youcan do.
I mean, it's only last week youwere fucking all over them,
right?
And they're probably honestlyexcited to see you come back.
(24:50):
So I think people aresupportive.
I think the way we talk toourselves is different to how
people might look at us.
So your willingness to help andshow up, even though you're
banged up, that is what peoplecare about.
You are showing your care forthem by being there, even if
you're not at your full capacity.
I think that buys coaches allthe goodwill in the world, which
(25:13):
gives you time to come back.
Yeah, spot on.
There it is, fam.
If you are a coach and you'relike fucking hell, this is me.
It hurts and you bust it up andyou want some help with that.
We would be happy to give yousome help for free.
Get in touch with us, joey atbulletproofforbjj or jt at
bulletproofforbjjcom, flick usan email, copy us both in and
(25:36):
let's have a chat about how wecan help you to fix your injury.
Lead by example and change theculture of rehab at your gym.
Happy to help.
A good martial artist does not become tense, but
ready.
Essentially, at this point thefight is over, so you pretty
much flow with the goal.
Who is worthy to be trustedwith the secret to limitless
power?
I'm ready, jt.
(00:33):
We talk plenty on this showabout injuries in Jiu-Jitsu.
We do a lot.
I'm pretty sure that thoselistening understand there are
injuries in Jiu-Jitsu.
There's plenty of injuries inJiu-Jitsu.
But today I want to talk aboutthe most injured people in
Jiu-jitsu.
And it's not the grapplers.
Who?
Who is the most injured personin jiu-jitsu?
It's the fucking coaches.
Oh, what coaches are?
(00:55):
The most injured people injiu-jitsu and here's a statement
I'm going to make is that theyare the worst at managing their
injuries.
How dare you and you know whatthis does, please.
The shit rolls downhill and itinfluences their students to
also be shit at managing theirinjuries.
It's kind of true.
So here's the problem.
We know that as you go furtherdown the path with Jiu-Jitsu,
(01:17):
you do accumulate more damage.
Yes, it's just a part of it.
Any sport, the longer you're init, more damage is accrued.
Coaches have usually been in itfor the longest time in the gym
.
Yep, um, coaches are also sortof often have the most chaotic
training practices they can,because to be a great coach and
to be dedicated to your studentsand running the business and
(01:38):
doing all that you generallycan't be.
You can't be optimizing foryour ideal training setup for
yourself, you're doing it forfor the students, right?
I mean?
And I think all coaches sort ofgo through this where they're
like, oh fuck, like my owntraining's fallen off a bit.
Generally speaking, they find away to manage it.
It's like I jump in on theseclasses and whatnot.
(01:59):
But I think that thing of acoach making themselves
available to roll when thenumbers are uneven you mentioned
this the other day.
Actually, you were like, so wewere just having a conversation
over coffee the other week andJoe's like, oh yeah, like it was
uneven numbers and so I had tojump in, which you hadn't really
planned to, but throughobligation of being there and
(02:20):
you want everyone to have a goodtime.
That was not to your benefit,right, like you know.
And so because you feel thatobligation to serve your
students, which is like anhonorable thing, it's, it's
fucking great.
You self-sacrifice,self-sacrifice.
True, you're doing it for them,but then, as a result, your
neck might get a bit jacked oryou're not properly warmed up
(02:43):
and maybe you should be restingat that time, but you fucking
don't.
That's right, and I thoughtcoaches pay a price for this.
They fucking do so.
Quick chat now.
I want to go over kind of thethree main reasons why coaches
need to change their approach toinjury.
Yes, uh, and I've got likethere's pretty clear actions off
this and I'm sure you're goingto have some input.
Yes, sir, the first one is goand see a fucking physio or a
(03:09):
health specialist or whoeverthat person is that's in your
network that deals withbiomechanical injuries, body
work, because you're showing upat jujitsu and I'm going to talk
to you as a, as a student whohas been trained by coaches over
the years many coaches who havebeen carrying injuries has been
trained by coaches over theyears many coaches who have been
carrying injuries.
Your students get sick of youtalking about your fucking
injury.
That's been dragging on formonths and months.
(03:30):
Yeah, um, your students also,like, subconsciously, feel that
you're not able to train withthem the way that maybe you once
did.
Yeah, right, they.
They want to have a hard rolewith you.
They want to.
They want to feel like they'rebeing tested by the boss.
Yeah, uh, they want to have ahard role with you.
They want to.
They want to feel like they'rebeing tested by the boss.
Yeah, uh, they missed that, um.
But as we've sort of alreadyidentified, they also
(03:51):
subconsciously take your exampleas well.
I should just ignore myinjuries too.
Yeah, this is so tough becauseI I had this with my Russian
coach.
If him, you know, like I admirehim so much and I still do Like
I I look up to him, but thisguy is the master of self abuse.
He'd just talk about how hewasn't warm and he's like, yeah,
(04:12):
I'll just press this 48 kilokettlebell.
You're like why You're a coach.
You know that's not good andyou know that's your bad
shoulder, but like you just feltthe need to.
You know what I mean Like itdoesn't make sense and I, the
way I think about it, it'salmost like with kids and I
don't have any kids at themoment, but having I have my
parents and I look up to them.
(04:32):
I respect them a lot, butobviously they did the best they
could, as at the time, withwhat they had.
But you do copy your parents'behavior, even if they tell you
eat your vegetables, but thenyou don't see them eating
vegetables.
You're like should I eat myvegetables?
It doesn't seem like you do it,man, and really it is monkey,
see, monkey do.
In this situation it's 100%that, yeah, you can't like.
(04:56):
And this is the beauty ofjiu-jitsu is that there is a
real what's the word.
There's an equality to j tojujitsu in that usually uh,
except for maybe some of the bigkind of franchise operations
but there is this equality to.
This is what the coach does,like this is their game and how
they do jujitsu and this is whatyou're doing and that's what
(05:17):
your coach is teaching you.
It's not like, hey, here's thetechniques for you guys, but I
do this other, more advancedshit.
Of course, beginner programsand and stuff are going to have
beginner techniques, but at acertain point it's like we're
all doing the same jujitsutogether.
But yeah, it's with the injurything, it's like the coach will
tell you hey, you should go anddeal with that, and you're like
(05:39):
can't?
You're not, yes, but I thinkthis is a tricky, tricky thing.
I was speaking to a coach theother day who hurt their knee.
They feel it's bad advertisingto because they weren't wearing
their knee brace in class, right, right because they think it's
a bad look, because if someonecomes in to sign up for jujitsu
and they, they see that you gota knee brace on, they're like I
(06:01):
don't know if I should be doingthis.
You know, like it's we, we allknow it's part of the game and
it's so strange that there'slike this, like it's like an
inherent shame in the game, thatyou get injured.
It's like no, this is fuckingfull on contact sport and you do
cop injuries and I believethere is a weird self neglect
(06:22):
that is acceptable for coachesbecause it's in the name of
their students.
Yeah, but but really, this iswhere it's like you can't, you
can't help others swim if you'redrowning, that's.
It's just fucking that simple.
So you've got to take care ofyou to be able to be empowered
to help others.
And here's the the basic mass onthis go see a physio.
(06:45):
Recommendation is, like youknow, it costs you money to go
and see a physiotherapist.
Right, it's going to cost you125 bucks.
But if you don't do that, let'slook at like, say you do you
pay that you go in for anotherfew appointments, you get a
little rehab thing, get someneedling massage and before you
know it.
Three weeks pass and the injuryis no longer a thing.
Flip on that and say you don'tsee the physio.
(07:08):
The injury drags out for weeks,months.
That affects your training forweeks, months.
That affects your energy as thecoach in the gym.
The pain the students feel thatthe class isn't as enjoyable
because you're in a dark moodall the fucking time, because
you're fucking going through ashit period.
It, you're fucking goingthrough a shit period, you know
(07:29):
like it's, this wholecompounding thing and then, yeah
, potentially the injury becomessomething more serious which
requires greater sums of moneyto be spent down the track.
Surgery, yeah, all of that,that's right, like it.
Just it has the power to reallymake the next fucking chunk of
your life shithouse and that'sgoing to affect your business.
So best to like deal with it asearly as possible in the best
way possible, so that it's done.
Yes, definitely.
Um, this follows into the secondpoint, which is to lead by
(07:50):
example.
We've already kind of touchedon that, but I think it deserves
having sort of mentioned on itsown, which is that your
students really do emulate whatyou do, and I mean, we know this
from being in the gym personaltrainers for a long time.
People come to you to learnstrength and flexibility and how
to train and all that stuff.
But what I observed sort ofonly really clicked for me maybe
(08:15):
about five years ago is thatoften the people that come to
train with you, they actuallyjust and this is going to sound
really weird they actually justwant to be you, yeah, and they
want to know what do you eat forbreakfast?
Yeah, and do you use a journal?
What journal do you use?
What kind of coffee do you have?
Hey, are they cool shoes?
Should I get some of those?
Yeah, yeah, like, and you startto realize, fuck, I've actually
got.
I want this.
(08:49):
Yes, right, and that's what gotthem in for the session, cause
that's what you were offering.
Now, sure, people are there forjujitsu and all those things,
but the coach really does becomethat person that students will
idolize, like, idolize in manyways, and so you are a person of
influence and they want to.
They also want to be great atjujitsu and they want to be
confident, like you are, andthey want to be nice and
(09:14):
friendly and fucking happy likeyou are.
And so your influence extendswell beyond what's being taught
right now in the class.
And I think the biggestchallenge there is that when
you're a coach, you do end upspending a bit of social time
with your students and, justlike anything, as we grow up,
like you know, we learn moreabout our parents.
(09:34):
We spend time, we come tounderstand them more as people,
not as these people up on apedestal, and either maybe we
get on with them or maybe wedon't, because we're like, oh,
you know, and this is thebiggest challenge, because you
don't.
I think we don't think of thiswhen we become coaches.
We think of our passion forjiu-jitsu or whatever we might
(09:54):
be teaching, but we don'trealize we're putting our whole
life on display.
Because they see you having aheated conversation, they're
like, oh, who's that?
It's like, ah, you know mylandlord or these different
things, and you're like, oh,that's oh, okay, that doesn't
seem very positive and over time, this does affect how you are
(10:17):
perceived and received.
And it's not to say we'resaints or you have to even
pretend to be like that.
Your students, you lookingafter you and having a practice
of that very in a in asubconscious way, lets the
(10:37):
student know that they alsoshould be doing that.
Yeah, and if that's notcommunicated in your behavior,
then what the fuck like?
You're not going to takefinancial advice from someone
who's broke?
Yeah right, they're just notshowing you what you came for.
Now, I believe this is abyproduct of commitment to the
art.
(10:58):
People who just like they'reall about jujitsu, so because
they're so all in on jujitsu,they've neglected other aspects
of their life.
So people are like, wow,they're so wonderful at jujitsu,
they must be great ateverything else, and that's just
not true.
But I think correct me if I'mwrong here, joe it wouldn't even
take more than, say, 5% of aperson's time or effort to start
(11:19):
to do this thing of lookingafter themselves better.
Just look after yourself, holdyourself to a higher standard,
go and see a fucking physio whenyou, when you fucking feel that
shit snap, and to do 10 minutesof rehab work because you're
already in the fucking gymanyway.
(11:40):
Yeah, you're living there,right?
Um, yeah, the.
I think to the the what like?
What we fail to realize is thatlike well, two parts to this one
the under.
Most academy owners aren'thappy with the performance of
their academy.
Most are going to bepotentially right, I would say.
I would say most it's their gymis not a capacity they're not
super stoked with where it's at,it's okay.
(12:01):
Well, by uh allowing thisculture to only become further
entrenched, then you're shootingyourself in the foot because
your students are copying moreinjuries and they're not doing
anything about it and they'retaking long chunks of time off.
Probably more people arecanceling than would have had to
have canceled if they had havedealt with their injuries.
Right, yep, um, but also like,fuck, I lost my train of thought
(12:24):
there.
That's right, um, but my pointis that, like, so many benefits
come from doing this thing yes,right, and so do the fucking
thing.
Other part on that that I wantto mention is like, think of
this as an example coach's gotan injury, everyone's aware.
But coach's got a bad elbow,coach's been talking about it
for you, everyone.
And then coach is like, ah,fuck, it's time to roll, put
(12:46):
some time.
Fuck, I'm jumping in tonight,right.
And you're like, oh, you'rerolling tonight.
And they're like, yeah, fuck it, just gonna fuck it.
You know, I haven't trained,haven't rolled for two weeks.
And you're like, oh, you'rerolling tonight.
And they're like, yeah, fuck it, just go Fuck it.
Yeah, I haven't trained, Ihaven't rolled for two weeks.
And you're like, oh, awesome,coach is in, yeah, and then
coach rolls.
And then you're like how's yourroll?
Oh, it's fucked, it's reallybad, yeah, yeah, looks like I
have to take another couple.
(13:09):
But the other thing it tells youis that, like coach is really
irresponsible when it comes totaking care of themselves.
Like it actually communicatesboth something good and
something bad.
Yes, and I would say that thejuice is not worth the squeeze.
They already know you're atough cunt.
They already know you'recommitted to the thing because
you show up here every fuckingday to teach us.
So why not just be responsiblewhen you go to a commercial gym?
(13:31):
There is a very smallpercentage of people there that
actually know what they're doing.
Most people are just wastingtheir time, and this is why we
created the Bulletproof for BJJapp.
It's so that everyday grapplerslike yourself could benefit
from our multiple years ofexperience and not waste time
when they go to the gym.
(13:51):
So if you like the idea ofbecoming strong and mobile and
being better resistant toinjuries on the mats, get the
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(14:13):
We will see you on the inside.
Yeah, I think it's difficult.
Most coaches I know most blackbelts feel that not rolling for
any reason is soft.
It indicates a lack ofcommitment to jujitsu.
Whatever you say aboutself-preservation, you know,
(14:34):
like as if to show that level ofweakness, that you're human or
that you can't roll becauseyou're a black belt, that then
makes that hurts your brand asan instructor Deep values yeah,
like, oh, that's a bit fuckingsoft.
You know, like, actually thething that occurred to me which
was very interesting, with umLachlan Giles, actually after he
(14:58):
had done a fair bit ofwrestling training with Talgut,
and Talgut was um, our wrestlingcoach, who's was one of the
best wrestlers ever out ofUzbekistan but wrestled for
Australia.
Eventually he was all about thesmart training and he said to
Lockie, you should train a bitless.
So it was kind of at a criticalpoint in the training.
(15:21):
I'd say to Lockie, are youtraining later?
And he's like no, I was likewhat?
You're not training twice a day?
He's like no, I trained thismorning, I'm good, and he was
totally fine with that, yeah,and he would stop a round or two
early and I was like, oh, doyou want to go?
And he's like, no, I'm done fortoday.
And he just had really gooddiscipline about it.
He didn't feel self-conscious,you know, and I was like, oh, I
(15:42):
was actually more impressed byhis ability to stop, because I
have such a compulsion to like,no, I gotta, I gotta, just leave
it all on the mat.
And actually it's, it'sincredibly like, yeah, it's
quite undisciplined, because Ithink the difficulty is
obviously your student is thereand you want to satisfy the
(16:05):
student's need, but you alsohave to teach multiple students
across multiple sessions, day in, day out, and this is the thing
the student doesn't see.
You've got to show up at 6 amthe next day.
You've got to show up at lunch,you've got to be everything,
which is so.
That's why being a coach is sodemanding and if you're going to
have longevity there and you'regoing to show up in a
(16:27):
consistent way, it's got to be alittle bit more moderate, which
is so hard to, especially whenyou have a great passion for
jujitsu, which is, I think,every coach's kind of calling.
Is that passion, yeah, great.
Third point here, and this is areal practical one have a basic
equipment package in your gym.
Yes, now, most academiesprobably don't have the luxury
(16:50):
of having, like, an area forstrength conditioning, so we're
not talking about that though,though that would be sick.
But let's say you've just gotthis small kind of room and
you've got your mats there, andthat's sort of all there is.
You can still have a few itemsof equipment that live in there
that are going to allow you todo the majority of any kind of
rehab work you're going to needto, and it's not going to get in
(17:13):
the way, it's not going todamage your mats, and it's also
going to be an asset for yourstudents to come into the gym
when they're injured.
Rather than having to fuck offto some other place and not come
to your gym, they can come anddo it alongside the class.
Yeah, definitely.
I think you see it more now likea roller, like there might be a
roller or two, like a softerone and a harder one, a layer of
(17:34):
dust on it, but no, no, they doget used.
You do see it Like it's notalways everyone using it, but
there's a couple people use it.
Or a lacrosse ball or a massageball.
Sometimes you see a bandhanging off a pull-up bar or
like you're like, oh, someone'susing that.
Or there might be a smallbasket or something that gets
(17:56):
put away that has like the kindof booty band for the knees for
abduction, or I do believe thatthere is a bit more of a shift
in the jiu-jitsu community thatwe are starting to embrace or
open up about the nature ofjiu-jitsu, including injuries.
Therefore, as a retention methodand I think we can talk about
this as, like you were saying,instead of someone going
(18:16):
somewhere else, right, I believethe hardest part about people
getting injured in Jiu-Jitsucoach or anyone is that it
breaks that link and that ifyou're a coach, you're always
trying to include people, right,and as a business owner like
retention's number one, like youwork so hard to get these
people in.
Once you've got them, you wantto keep them.
Giving someone an excuse tocome to the gym, uh, to do their
(18:40):
rehab, keeps them connected andso in that way, like that's
that's a nice way for them tostay seeing their mates as well
as looking after themselves.
And if they, if you say, hey,I'm doing my knee rehab too,
come in before class and we'llkind of do it together.
You know, I think this idea.
It makes people feel lessalienated when they get injured
(19:03):
or they feel they're not like,oh, I don't want to show
weakness.
They're like, oh, no, I'm partof the crew now, yeah, yeah,
because without that, the kindof unspoken belief is that, well
, I'm only part of thiscommunity if I can do jujitsu,
so I can go hard.
Yeah, but if you're not able tolike, if you're not able to
roll, then you're not part ofthe community.
And that's where, like, oh, I'mnot rolling at the moment, so
(19:24):
I'll just wait till I can rollagain, then I'll go back.
Whereas, like no, you can be inthis community if you roll, if
you want to sit off to the sidesand stretch, if you want to do
your rehab, like, that'sculturally, that's what this is,
you know.
And so, yeah, like it's, it'sum.
You mentioned the retentionthing.
Um, most gyms don't have aretention process.
(19:45):
Yes, they're not running areport every month of like who
hasn't shown up much in the lastfew weeks?
And calling them.
And so if you're not preparedto do those things, at least by
doing something like this youincrease your attention without
actually having to get on thephone.
Yeah, yeah, and for some of youout there, you may be aware, if
you have a physical job or youwork in a factory, they will
(20:08):
have like a.
If you get injured at work,they'll maybe put you on light
duties.
You know like it's a, a returnto work method, because they
don't want to get sued and theyalso don't want you to quit.
Uh, you know, like, oncethey've got you and you're
trained and stuff in a in aworkplace, they want to keep you
.
So they've invested in youexactly, and and they know like
big companies know it costs themso much more to get a new
(20:28):
person train them and do thewhole thing.
So most big workplaces willhave some kind of return to work
approach.
And I think a jujitsu gym, byincluding just some very cheap
and simple things and makingspace for people to do their
rehab at the gym, helps thestudents stay in touch and it
(20:50):
also just gives permission.
The coach is doing it, I'mdoing it, we're all in this
together.
I think that is actually agreat move from a coach to be
open about it, and then it letspeople know that like, be here,
don't get injured and go awayand I think that's strong.
Just quickly, what would bethat ideal gear package for you?
(21:14):
I think, yeah, you're going toneed probably one or two rollers
a softer one for the tighterfolks and a tougher, spikier one
for those who are not.
Uh, lacrosse ball, yeah, avariety of bands, like a mini
band, a medium band and aheavier band yeah, um, somewhere
to attach the band to on thewalls nice.
Yeah, maybe like a mini band, amedium band and a heavier band.
Somewhere to attach the band toon the walls nice.
Yeah, maybe like a littlefixture or like pull-up bar off
the walls always good.
Or doorway as it might be.
(21:35):
Pull-up bar would be huge,ideally, and it sits above the
mat, so it's not an issue whenpeople are rolling.
It's just mounted on the wallBecause you can also hang off
that bad boy.
You know there's that too.
People love doing pull-upsafter class, you know like, just
smash it out a little bit, likeit's, it's there.
(21:55):
Yeah, I think allowing, becauseI know some gyms they don't like
if you're not in the class,then you're meant to stay off
the mat.
Yeah, so if that is the case,putting a little like corner,
you know how it's, it'sclassically the way in the gym
that there's like the ab area.
Yeah, that's where you go andyou sit and you stretch or do
sit-ups or whatever.
There's actually huge value inthat and for the best part I've
(22:17):
actually seen this in goodpowerlifting gyms they will have
an area where you can go dowarm-up shit, yeah.
But what's so funny injiu-jitsu, even though we have
this big mat space, oftentimesthe space which is not the mat
is not conducive to that at all.
It's like some really weirdcramped seat.
That's where the parents sitwhile they're waiting for their
kids to come on.
I'm all jammed up like, oh hey,it seems like my kid's beating
(22:39):
the shit out of your kid.
Oh lovely, you know what I mean.
It's true, yeah, so yeah,there's not like, hey, here's a
little warm-up area.
So even just, I think, sayingto people, hey, if you are
injured or you know you can goover there, you can use that and
no one's going to roll into youor whatever.
I think that could be good.
I would add to that like threekettlebells oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
(23:01):
and not particularly heavy ones, but just you know whatever
like an eight, 12 and a 16 orsomething, or some small
dumbbells for just doing somebasic shoulder work as well.
Yeah, yeah, I mean that package, but all very cheap.
You could put that together forlike less than 200 bucks.
Yeah, 500 maybe.
Well, it depends on whereyou're getting it.
Yeah, true, team, who's got you?
(23:25):
And then last point I wanted tomention on this, which was just
kind of something that thatactually came to mind as we're
talking about it, which is thatyou can still coach when you are
injured.
Yes, this is the thing Like I,like it's always it sucks a
little bit, right, like when Iwas after I had my ACL surgery.
Yeah, it fucking sucked to likeshow up and run a class or
whatever.
Um, you know, when I'm oncrutches or when I basically
(23:47):
have to like sit down, I hobblein and then sit down, but you
can still do it totally fine.
And actually it forces you tosharpen other parts of your uh
communication sword becauseyou're like okay, hey, jt, can
you take joe, take jonas's back,okay now.
So what we're looking at, youknow you start to verbalize more
.
Yeah, you got a bunch ofable-bodied people in your class
(24:07):
, use them.
Um, I think for a lot of coachesthere's this thing that like oh
, but if I'm unable to do itmyself, like the class is going
to fall apart, and that isabsolutely not the case.
It's not true.
I think we all have FOMO itdoesn't matter whether you're a
coach or not and we also areprobably too self-conscious or
(24:29):
judgmental of ourselves thatwe're like, well, if I can't
show the thing, then I'mworthless.
Then people will stop believingI have these skills.
Well, no, that's really nottrue.
It's just.
It's just some story we tellourselves.
People know what the fuck youcan do.
I mean, it's only last week youwere fucking all over them,
right?
And they're probably honestlyexcited to see you come back.
(24:50):
So I think people aresupportive.
I think the way we talk toourselves is different to how
people might look at us.
So your willingness to help andshow up, even though you're
banged up, that is what peoplecare about.
You are showing your care forthem by being there, even if
you're not at your full capacity.
I think that buys coaches allthe goodwill in the world, which
(25:13):
gives you time to come back.
Yeah, spot on.
There it is, fam.
If you are a coach and you'relike fucking hell, this is me.
It hurts and you bust it up andyou want some help with that.
We would be happy to give yousome help for free.
Get in touch with us, joey atbulletproofforbjj or jt at
bulletproofforbjjcom, flick usan email, copy us both in and
(25:36):
let's have a chat about how wecan help you to fix your injury.
Lead by example and change theculture of rehab at your gym.
Happy to help.
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