“The only constant in life is change.” Heraclitus
I’ve trained Jiu Jitsu going on 30 years.
I opened my gym, Zenyo Jiu Jitsu in Baltimore, 10 years ago.
I’ve implemented different methods for learning in this time.
All worked. Some more than others.
I used direct instruction for eight years.
Then I switched for three years to the constraint-led approach.
For three years now, I’ve been using a method based on the ideas of Wolfgang Schollhorn, a German physicist, sports coach and researcher who is doing things completely differently.
Change Your Idea
Only change is constant.
Eyes never stay still.
Attention shifts in 8 seconds.
Cells turnover by the minute.
Nothing stays the same.
Constant change is undisputed.
Yet, most ignore its value.
Change is a way to better living, Wolfgang realized.
He became a champion of change.
Wolfgang’s idea is to change training all the time, even down to each repetition of a drill.
With enough changes, corrections become unnecessary, Wolfgang believes.
For the past three years, I’ve exclusively used this method, called differential learning.
“Change is not merely necessary to life, it is life.” — Alvin Toffler
Change Your Result
Jiu Jitsu gyms are a crazy mix of people. And Baltimore has a crazy mix, too.
We have mechanics, engineers, doctors, lawyers, cooks, professors and college students, and scientists, including one rocket engineer and one rocket physicist, training with each other.
We have factory workers and small business owners.
We have adults in their 20’s, many in their 30’s, lots in their 40’s and a handful of 50, 60 and 70 year olds.
New people are always coming and going.
Experience levels range from never having done any sports to life-long athletes who have won championships in high school and college.
Plus, kids.
We have kids of all sizes and skills. Kids who can do 8 pullups and ones who can’t even manage one. Kids who are top of their class plus kids who are bottom of their class. Home-schooled, public-schooled and private-schooled kids.
We have kids with in honors programs; kids with adhd who can’t sit still or focus for two seconds; kids on the spectrum.
We have kids as young as 4.
The one thing that is consistent through all of the differences is that change as a way to better learning works for all of them.
The rowdy kid who can’t stay quiet, the construction worker who didn’t go to college and the professor who teaches grad courses at the local university understand and connect with changing things up all the time.
Training is exciting and motivating.
Results have far surpassed what I’ve been able to achieve as a coach using other methods like deliberate practice or ecological dynamics.
We are doing half the work we used to do and many are getting better in much less time.
The unique training method we use at Zenyo, called differential learning, intentionally changes training to get you to move and think in different ways. This shift produces a change in brain activity to a meditative state, the state of Zenyo, which means best use of physical and mental energy.
“In contrast to the traditional training strategy, where fluctuations (i.e., different from biomechanical models) are viewed as errors that must be minimized, the differential learning approach considers the fluctuations in moving systems as crucial sources for learning. A major purpose of differential learning is increasing the possibilities of movement rather than constraining them.” — Wolfgang Schollhorn, creator of differential learning
Joe and Adam training without using arms. A majority of training at Zenyo is done with changes in how use the body.
Change Your Ability
Veda, 13, rolled easily backward over her left shoulder. Asked to roll over her right shoulder, she couldn’t. Again and again, she tried, but only to the left.
We worked together, adding many changes — turning the head, closing the eyes, slow, fast, rotating her arms, bending her legs — all over her left shoulder, since that is the one she could roll over.
I remember wondering if all the changes would really work.
“What about now?”
She rolled to the right and kept rolling and went over her right shoulder to her knees.
“I did it! I did it!”
Now, when other kids struggle and ask how to do a move, Veda says, “differential learning.”
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” — Albert Einstein
Change Your Limit
Before I started using change as a way to better training, I used to promote athletes to blue belt in about two years.
All that has changed.
Same standards, better results.
Chryssy earned her blue belt in 16 months. Angel earned his in 14 months. Amitesh could earn his in 13 months.
They train on average 2 or 3 times per week for one hour per session.
Classes used to be 2 hours per session.
So, 1/2 the work in 1/2 the time.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates
Change Your Progress
Amitesh, 24, spun around the head of his partner and hit a silky smooth armbar.
“What are you feeding these white belts?” yelled Bryce, a brown belt with 12 years of training.
“Differential learning!” exclaimed Amitesh, 24, a white belt with less than one year of experience.
Change Your Condition
It didn’t take long for my knee to feel better — which is kind of a miracle since I’ve been bothered by it for more than 30 years.
Soccer, basketball, football, track, mountain biking, trail running, downhill and cross country skiing, jiu jitsu, judo.
I’ve done lots of training in my life.
Injuries are part of training. I’ve had my share, broken knee cap, torn acl and meniscus, separated shoulders, neck problems.
I now walk with a perpetual limp and running, hiking, even walking, all cause so much pain that I stopped doing them.
I wanted to change that.
So I decided to try running again, but not how I how I’d always done it.
With a change.
I ran across the mats at the gym, maybe 25 meters from one side to the other.
Each time, I would change something. This is how it’s done in differential learning.
Arms raised, head turned, right knee up fast.
I ran back and forth — up to 15 minutes, but sometimes as little as two or three. I ran one to three times a week.
All this was a big departure from my usual work hard for a long time all the time mentality.
The results of these sessions have been life-changing. No lie.
My knee is better.
I can hike and walk the dog with my wife Gabriella again.
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw
Change It Up
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Patrick, 6, couldn’t catch the two-pound med ball.
Each time he flinched and the ball fell to the ground.
The other kids started to gripe, “come on, catch it.”
I had an urge to tell him how to place his hands, where to focus and how the ball should land. But I’d never had luck with that.
Instead, I made one change each throw.
Leg in the air, arms crossed, hands on head, facing backwards, eyes closed.
I don’t know what changed but something did.
Before, easy was hard but now hard seemed easy.
He caught one, then another.
He dropped some.
But the mood changed with the results.
“Hey, Patrick! Go, Patrick!”
Change Your Skill
Erik, 30, has trained Jiu Jitsu only using the ideas of differential learning.
Each class is different.
We don’t focus on right or wrong.
We don’t play games.
We don’t use principles, concepts of constraints.
Change. That is what we work on.
Erik signed up for a recent tournament. There was only one other competitor in his division. He had to face Erik four times.
After his third loss, his opponent shook my hand in the corner and said, “Man, he’s so good.”
Erik wins by armbar at Good Fight.
Change Your Way
Change can be applied to anything — how you think, work, workout.
Wolfgang has studied teeth brushing, hand writing, music, office work, in addition to the sports of soccer, volleyball, tennis, running, basketball and more.
Each time the conclusion is the same, change speeds progress.
This has been known for generations. Life gets better by change, not chance.
Make the change, see the changes.
An Oasis In The Jiu Jitsu World
The unique bjj training method we use at Zenyo Jiu Jitsu creates training that feels good, is fun, playful and child-like. By being different, a world of new possibilities opens. The results are amazing and getting there is great fun.
Terence Nance, a filmmaker and purple belt in bjj who recently joined our gym in Baltimore, describes Zenyo as “an oasis from conformity and rigidity.”
Train with us at Zenyo to experience Jiu Jitsu with a difference.