Break from tradition and join the Jiu Jitsu revolution.
While modern sports science made the move long ago, most of Jiu Jitsu has been slow to adapt to practice methods backed by scientific research.
Not at Zenyo. We use this research to guide our revolutionary training approach to Jiu Jitsu.
The Zenyo Approach
To learn more about our approach I’ve compiled a list of blog posts I’ve written over the last six years that lays out our framework.
We start with a core assumption that guides our training: We believe that everyone who comes to Zenyo is smart, capable, cares about doing their best and wants to learn. Everything follows from this.
At Zenyo, we take a different approach to Jiu Jitsu training. We use the best ideas from research to guide our practice for a fun, fast-paced class. Read: Jiu Jitsu Training With A Difference
Jiu Jitsu can be simple. Skill can be simple. That’s because “ability comes before words, competence comes before content and knowing how is the paradigm,” to paraphrase philosopher Jerry Fodor. You come with skill, ready! Read: Jiu Jitsu Is Simple
Research shows repetition-based instruction to be less effective than believed. Your brain responds to fun and play. Your brain responds best to creative movement and variety. Your brain learns through differences. Join us at Zenyo to experience the difference. Read: The Power Of Difference
You do best training in a complex manner. Research shows that you don’t develop skill when you break things apart into chunks and practice in isolation through mindless repetition. Learning doesn’t grow in this environment. Skill is dependent on context and interaction. Read: Putting Together A Jiu Jitsu Revolution
We focus on your ability to see, move, think, plan and improvise. We structure our training in a way to create supportive and sustainable training. Read: Take Your Jiu Jitsu Game To The Next Level At Zenyo
We give you the freedom and space to explore training, even if that might mean making mistakes, because this leads to actual progress. Read: Transforming Your Approach To Jiu Jitsu
Temple Gardens, By Paul Klee, 1920
"Form must on no account ever be considered as something to be got over with, as a result, as an end, but rather as genesis, growth, essence . . . What is good is form as movement, as action, as active form. What is bad is form as immobility, as an end, as something that has been tolerated and got rid of."
We use elements from art, philosophy and psychology to develop your abilities in relation to Jiu Jitsu. Class Stories: Breaking Rules To Blue Belt In Jiu Jitsu
Up For Any Challenge
We start with the belief that you bring great ability to training from day one. Read: Coach’s Journal: Up For Any Challenge
Each person who begins training forms Jiu Jitsu in their own unique way. Lecture, imitation, demonstration: these methods’ effectiveness has come under scrutiny. You can’t constantly be given the answers to questions in training, and life, and expect to problem solve on your own. You have to work at this from the start. That’s why, at Zenyo, our work begins by creating an environment where you are challenged not just to act but to think. Read: Coach’s Journal: Complex Not Complicated
Portrait of Stravinsky by Albert Gleizes, 1914
“The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution."
See how we use complex thinking, exploration and constraints, like those championed by Stravinsky, to structure our practice: Class Stories: The Fast Track To Getting Good At Jiu Jitsu
Understanding Learning
If you want to go deep on learning research, you can read: Faster Jiu Jitsu Learning With 4 Keys For Unrivaled Practice
A key piece of information comes from learning expert Stuart Brown, who writes that the uncomfortable reality is “the most effective learning strategies do not feel productive, whereas the less effective strategies we often favor create illusions of mastery… Mastery requires understanding of the concepts behind a (subject), connecting them to what you already know and elaborating on them in your own (way).”
Read more about how we use modern research to avoid counter-productive training methods (hint: flow rolling) in Why Jiu Jitsu Practice Is Not Rocket Science
Get In The Game
You will experience a new way to train Jiu Jitsu at Zenyo, a break from tradition, a radical departure from methods that do not stand up to research. Leave behind discredited ideas, mindless repetition against compliant partners and uncontrolled training.
Zenyo means best. At Zenyo, we train with a difference: Our Baltimore Jiu Jitsu Gym Brings Out Your Best
What works for adults also works equally well for kids. The ecological approach that we use at Zenyo helps kids learn fast, feel confident and capable. Read more: Our Jiu Jitsu Kids Learn This One Amazing Lesson
Join the skill revolution in Jiu Jitsu at Zenyo, open your mind to new ideas and possibilities and discover your best self.
Great article,thank you very much for sharing this awesome post with us.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. Much appreciated.