Special guest, Larry Shealy!

Hey everyone, good news! We’re going to have an Instructor Certification Course later this month. If you are an instructor, an assistant instructor, or just want to be an instructor eventually, you’re exactly who we want to help. Teaching Jiu Jitsu takes a certain set of skills that need to be just as developed as your skills on the mat.

We’re holding it over a three day period, June 25, 26, and 27th. It will be two full days of instruction on Friday and Saturday, then a partial day on Sunday followed by graduation and certification.  It will be at the USA Jiu Jitsu National Training Center, 7841 Rolling Road,Suite D. Springfield, VA 22153.

As a special bonus, we’ll be having a guest instructor, Larry Shealy! Larry has been a member of USAJJ nearly from the get go, and is renown for his involvement in th Jiu Jitsu community. He is also a black belt, and a member of the Black Belt Council.

In 2003, Larry began developing the “Kid-Jitsu®” program along with the “Kid-Jitsu® Values Program”. This trademark registered program teaches children the fundamentals of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, while weaving targeted values into each lesson within the “Kid-Jitsu®” Children’s Curriculum.

So come down to the NTC and learn proper techniques for teaching Jiu Jitsu to other people. It’s guaranteed to be fun, and it will help you become a better teacher. Register online or call the NTC to reserve your spot now. Cost is free to member schools for the primary instructor, $175.00 for individual members, $250.00 for non-members.

USA Jiu-Jitsu offers instructor certification for all Jiu-Jitsu students who have achieved the rank of blue belt. The course is designed to aid in the development of students who aspire to teach the art to which they have devoted themselves.

New Breed Jiu-Jitsu founder Johnny Ramirez talks about why a student should attend the USA Jiu-Jitsu instructor certification course. Watch the video to hear his take on the value of the course.

Johnny is part of USA Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Council and one of the best instructors I’ve ever had the honor of rolling with.

This course took place from 12/04 to 12/06 at the USAJJ’s National Training Center in Washington, DC.

Students were exposed to different teaching methodologies, leadership development, business planning, and even how to plan a tournament. These concepts go well beyond technique to produce well-rounded teachers, instructors, and academy owners.

As you’ll see on the video, the course mixes lecture with practice; the ITC students take turns teaching an actual class in which even white belts are in charge of correcting and guiding upper belts. This training gives them the ability to become assistant instructors (in the case of white belts) or even the head instructor (for blue and purple belts that operate away from a black belt).

The last day of the course is dedicated to tournament planning, referee education, and the instructors are divided into the multiple staff requirements of a big tournament: timekeepers, score keepers, referees, registrations, weigh-ins, and tournament director.

After debating the best strategies, ITC students are put in charge of running an actual USAJJ In-House tournament.

The last tournament was broadcast live on uStream this past Sunday, and it was a great hit.

Below, check out pictures of the award ceremony for both the Instructor Training Course and the in-house tournament.

1st day of class during Intructor Training Course at USAJJ's NTC

As I write this post, USA Jiu Jitsu’s Executive Director “Papa” John Gorman is introducing the mission and goals of USAJJ to a group of Jiu Jitsu students that are interested in taking a leadership role in their own schools.

The Instructor Training Course (ITC) qualifies students of all belt ranks to become instructors and graduate other students up to their own same belt rank.

ITC started this morning and will continue until Sunday afternoon, when the students have to organize their own Jiu Jitsu tournament – the class is divided into Tournament Director, Officials, Referees, and everybody is introduced to the exact roles of each person on a tournament.

A great deal of the ITC is to instill fundamentals of leadership to produce better qualified Jiu Jitsu teachers. The goal is to prepare fighters to move beyond a highly technical approach to one that incorporates multiple learning styles, to make sure all students within the group understand the techniques.

We’ll post real-time updates on the USAJJ Facebook Fan Page – stay tuned!

Here are some pictures of the introductory class: