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BJJ

Welcome To The Team Vanessa

We’re really excited to announce that Vanessa English is joining our Escapology BJJ as a kids and adults coach.  

For those of you that don’t know her, Vanessa is a black belt under Victor Estima and an extremely seasoned UK-born competitor.  Although she’s known for her strong gi work, Vanessa has experience with both gi and no gi, so you can expect to see her floating around in both programmes.  She’s medaled at or won just about every major event that you can participate in– she was even a walk-on from the crowd in the 2009 ADCC Championships.  It’s a great story, you should ask her sometime.  

In addition to competing, Vanessa has been coaching extensively for the last ten years and has become well-known for her engaging mat presence. At Escapology, we’re really proud to be a team that such an accomplished female competitor would choose to join.  We think that says great things about the kind of environment that our students have helped us build. 

Vanessa is going to be an amazing addition to our coaching staff, and we’re excited for the addition of such a knowledgeable, experienced athlete into the team.

Vanessa will be running our Kids 1 programme, which focuses on building strong technical and competitive basics for new primary-age students.  In the adult programme, she’ll be teaching a wide variety of different classes– check the schedule a week in advance for more information!

Interested in starting BJJ classes in Cambridge? Click the button below to learn more about our classes and get your FREE Trial at Escapology BJJ:

GET YOUR FREE TRIAL

Filed Under: Academy, Instructors Tagged With: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Escapology BJJ, Vanessa English

Everyday I’m Wrasslin’ Part 1 // Masterclass

If you want to have good Jiu Jitsu, you have to have a good understanding of takedowns.

A well timed takedown, can change the course of a match or score vital points when needed. There are countless examples where a takedown has been the key to victory for an athlete. 

Takedowns aren’t just useful when you’re standing – they’re critical in your sweeping game, too. After all, a sweep is just a takedown that starts in guard. 

To help you develop your takedown game Escapology BJJ’s head coach will be teaching a masterclass on 28th September covering part of his wrestling game.

This is a game Tom has be developing for a long time, which he’s used to great effect at the high-levels of BJJ.

During the Everyday I’m Wrasslin’ master class Tom will be sharing the gripping strategies, takedowns, and transitions you need to know to add some wrestling to your BJJ arsenal.

Best of all, you can “Pay What You Want” to attend the seminar. Want to invest £100? Awesome! Only have £1? No worries? It’s entirely up to you. Just change the amount before you complete your registration. All entry fees will go towards the creation of Escapology 2.0.

To register your space, click the link below now.

REGISTER NOW!

(No Gis uniform policy applies. Only 30 spaces available.)

Filed Under: Academy, Seminar Tagged With: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Masterclass, No Gi, Seminar, takedowns, Wrestling

Inside Our Kids BJJ Grading Structure

One of the biggest differences between Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and other martial arts is how the gradings work.

Unlike other martial arts, Jiu Jitsu is a living, constantly-evolving art that is practiced at full intensity in every session. There is relatively little in the way of rote learning, instead BJJ requires participants to be willing to problem solve in the moment. The grading structure reflects that.

Our gradings aren’t based on the kids being able to demonstrate a specific techniques or how long they’ve been at a belt.

Our junior BJJ students are grading based on their improvement measured against themselves. Getting the next belt is just a by-product of that improvement.

This helps develop intrinsic motivation or internal motivation and it’s has been shown to have a life long impact. Check out the video below to learn more about our grading structure and the how it develops positive habits in the children who attend our BJJ classes.

If you’d like to learn more about our classes and how they can benefit you or your child, click the button below and get your FREE trial at Escapology BJJ.

GET YOUR FREE TRIAL

Filed Under: Academy, BJJ 101, Concepts, The Art Of Teaching BJJ Tagged With: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Escapology BJJ, Kids Classes

Developing Intrinsic Motivation

Did you know there are two types of motivation, but only one has been shown to have long term benefits?

Motivation is often portrayed as the carrot and a stick, but in reality, carrots and sticks are the weakest long-term motivators because they are external to the individual, or extrinsic. 

Extrinsic motivators are powerful in the moment, but their impact on the individual is short-lived: as soon as the motivator disappears, the motivation evaporates.

Our goal is to help our students of any age build intrinsic motivational systems. (That’s motivation that comes from inside of them).

It’s intrinsic motivation that has been shown to lead to achieve higher academic success, exhibit greater creativity, and demonstrate more persistence in challenging tasks.

We want them to enjoy the work and the effort; we want them to place value on their effort, competitiveness, and attitude.

To give you an example of how we do this in our BJJ classes, check out the video.

In the video, Escapology BJJ head coach, Tom Barlow discusses how we interact with our students to encourage intrinsic motivations and remove the hidden negative pressures of extrinsic motivation.

If you’d like to learn more about our classes and how they can benefit you or your child, click the button below and get your FREE trial at Escapology BJJ.

GET YOUR FREE TRIAL

Filed Under: Academy, BJJ 101, Concepts, The Art Of Teaching BJJ Tagged With: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Escapology BJJ, Kids Classes

Building Effort Through BJJ

Research consistently shows that fostering a strong work ethic and perseverance in children leads to a multitude of benefits that extend far beyond the classroom. Typically, kids who develop a strong work ethic and understand the importance of effort have a higher levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction, and are more likely to achieve their goals.

This is why we spend a lot of time in our Kids BJJ classes helping the students understand what it means to give effort and creating an environment where effort is rewarded over skill or winning. Jiu Jitsu lends itself to this way of learning.

One of the cool things about Jiu Jitsu is that it allows you to give maximum effort pretty safely while in a situation where you might be going against someone bigger, stronger, older or better. The result of your training then comes down to effort rather than skill or size.

To give you an example of how we do this in a class environment, check out the video.

In the video, Escapology BJJ head coach, Tom Barlow discusses some drills we’ve been using to promote effort and encourage kids to try their best in training.

If you’d like to learn more about our classes and how they can benefit you or your child, click the button below and get your FREE trial at Escapology BJJ.

GET YOUR FREE TRIAL

Filed Under: Academy, BJJ 101, Concepts, The Art Of Teaching BJJ Tagged With: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Escapology BJJ, Kids Classes

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