Students and teachers: Some of my happiest coaching memories come from watching my students teach. I have always been insistent on the idea that my students have a deep understanding of the underlying principles and concepts that underly our approach to the game and that they be capable of explaining them well to others. As a result, my students can in almost every case, do a fine job of teaching our methods and philosophy to students of all levels and backgrounds. In particular Eddie Cummings, Garry Tonon and Gordon Ryan have a complete and deep knowledge of my approach to jiu jitsu. Indeed, I would go further and say that these three have developed an independence and originality of thought that has taken them beyond my teachings and into their own distinctive style. I have taught seminars with all three and am constantly amazed by the maturity and depths of their views and their skill at conveying it to others. All three take immense pride in their knowledge and constantly work to refine and improve it. It is no exaggeration to say they are light years ahead of where I was after a similar time spent in training. This bodes well for the future as they have so much more time to develop their skills and knowledge. All three teach seminars between competitions. I can attest to how much learning material they offer when they teach. This weekend in Florida, Mr Ryan will be teaching elements of our style – if you have the chance to go – don't miss it! Mr Cummings and Mr Tonon are also often available and can be reached easily through social media to arrange seminars etc so that you can learn more about their method and philosophy. Competition makes our sport thrilling in the present, but only teaching creates the framework for the health and growth of the sport into the future.
