I teach a 7am class that is comprised of older dudes with minimal athletic ability and guys in their 20s that can cartwheel pass. I've found most of my teaching success with focusing on one technique for the duration of the class, rather than combining 3 or 4 techniques, even from the same position. Now, I begin each class with concepts regarding that position. After a few minutes of explaining and displaying concepts, I introduce the technique of the day. If, during the drilling, I see just one person missing a detail, I have the class regroup, and I briefly readdress all details and explain the importance of not doing it the way I saw it being drilled. Also, going over important concepts has been very well received by my students. Instead of just jumping into a technique, I make sure to spend ample time going over the goal of each position and the strengths and weaknesses of that position. Hope that helps!

I normally break each technique into numbered steps. I try to keep the number of steps below 6 parts. Then I have them drill step one, 5 times, then step two, 5 times. Then I have them put those two steps together and drill that. Then I add in step three, so on and so on. It’s slower but it has worked for my students. So one class might be all the steps from an arm bar from guard.

Awesome buddy, I just started training at Epoch for the past 3 weeks actually! I've spent the last 2 years training and competing as a black belt at Salter's. I had a little knee injury that took me out for a month and when I felt healthy I came in to talk with Brian and try a few classes. I love the good vibes and training quality so I'll probably see you in there soon! Have a good week of training. -Enjoy the Journey

The number one mistake I see from new instructors is talking too much. There is no point: most students are only going to remember a handful of details anyway. I find it is much better to try and keep the instruction portion of a class under five minutes. You can always add detail for those who want or need it during drilling, as you wander around the class to see who has questions.

Killer advice from everyone! I'm so impressed with the community here. As for myself, I try to remember that it's ok if they aren't hitting all the details. Sometimes it's better to leave some details out and let them discover the issues on their own, (which may feel counter intuitive as an instructor). I also try to spread the details out over the several times that I show the technique that way they get a little more each time instead of front loading it. Get them to focus on the end goal of the move. Less is often more. It's less important that they nail the technique and more important that they enjoy Jiu-Jitsu. I personally have found that the big improvements I've made in different areas of my life mostly came while I was having fun along the way.

Killer advice from everyone! I'm so impressed with the community here. As for myself, I try to remember that it's ok if they aren't hitting all the details. Sometimes it's better to leave some details out and let them discover the issues on their own, (which may feel counter intuitive as an instructor). I also try to spread the details out over the several times that I show the technique that way they get a little more each time instead of front loading it. Get them to focus on the end goal of the move. Less is often more. It's less important that they nail the technique and more important that they enjoy Jiu-Jitsu. I personally have found that the big improvements I've made in different areas of my life mostly came while I was having fun along the way.

Yeah. Sticking some of the the technique into the warm up is something I'll also do, if I reckon the technique is a bit complex for the audience I have, or there's just a lot I want to get through. E.g., last week I wanted to teach a sitting guard sweep, but I wasn't sure everybody was 100% on the position. So I added a simple sitting guard movement drill into the warm up.

I also looked at who they are drilling with. If there are more experienced people in the room, I try to get them to partner up with the people either having a harder time or newer. Some ask me about learning and something that has helped me (which I could possibly expand more) is a few things. Watching the instructor teach with intent, having the move drilled on me, drilling the move on someone, trying the move live, and having the move done live on me. Each one of those have shown me different details.

Breaking things down into manageable parts, isolating different principles etc. and having them understand one part at a time. Also, I try to teach by multiple modalities, e.g. seeing, hearing and feeling. A good way to practice teaching (perhaps between instructors) through words is instructing a new technique to someone blind or wearing a blindfold and without touch. Really makes you aware of what your verbal instructions are lacking. You could to the same thing with only instructing by showing (but not speaking) etc. Teaching by making them feel the techniques (being on both ends of it) is usually better after first instructing verbally and visually - when someone is having difficulties, it often helps to go hands on and direct their body parts to do the technique correctly, so they get to feel how it feels. You can also set up restrictions using walls or standing close, blocking the way of e.g. turning or leaning the wrong way. Sometimes, it's also enough for some students just to grasp parts of the technique in a session, as you're returning to it another day. Teaching is not a sprint but a marathon, where I recommend reading up on pedagogical concepts such as spaced interval learning (spaced repetition).