Why We Teach Differently
Most Gyms Teach the Way They Were Taught. We Teach the Way Research Says You Learn.
There is a large body of research on how humans develop physical skills. Most martial arts gyms have never read it. We built our entire program around it.
The Way Most Gyms Run Class
Here is the standard format used at nearly every BJJ gym in the country. The coach picks a technique. They demonstrate it. Students pair up and drill it for 20-30 minutes. Then everyone does open sparring.
Nobody designed this class structure. Nobody asked whether it works. It is how jiu jitsu has always been taught, which is the only reason anyone still teaches it that way.
The problem: drilling a technique in isolation does not translate well to live grappling. Students memorize steps they cannot recall when it matters. Beginners lose every exchange in sparring without understanding why. Experienced people plateau because they are not being challenged to think.
As one researcher put it: "Every student complains that their coach gives them 37 steps to a move and they don't remember any of them." That is not a student problem. That is a teaching problem.
Technique of the day
No curriculum. No progression. Whatever the coach feels like showing that day.
Drill and repeat
Isolate a move, repeat it out of context, then try to use it in live sparring. Most people cannot make the transfer.
Sink or swim sparring
Beginners get thrown into open rolling with people years ahead of them. No calibration. No structure.
What We Do Instead
From your first class, you play structured grappling games. Each game has a starting position, a goal, and rules for both players. The rules are what do the teaching.
For example: a game might start with one player in your guard and only let you score by sweeping. That game forces you to explore sweeping options, feel what works and what does not, and develop a real sense for the position. No 37-step sequence required.
You practice both sides of every position. You play the guard and you play the pass. You practice the pin and the escape. You never spend a whole class stuck on the bottom without learning how to get out.
Concepts come first. Techniques follow. When you understand why a position works, you can adapt. When you only know what to do, you freeze the moment anything changes.
Games from day one
Structured games with defined goals. You learn by playing, not by watching.
Both sides of every position
You always practice attacking and defending. Never just one side.
Concepts, not sequences
You build a framework for grappling. Not a library of steps to memorize.
Structured curriculum
Every class fits into a progression that covers all major grappling positions. Nothing is random.
See it for yourself
Your first class is free. No experience needed.
The Research Behind the Method
Our coaches study how people learn physical skills. Here is what that research says, in plain terms.
Skills are discovered, not installed
You cannot build a real physical skill by following a checklist. Skills develop when you interact with a real problem and figure out what works. The coach's job is to design the problem, not deliver the answer. This is why our games are built to put you in situations where you have to solve something, not perform a memorized sequence.
Variation is how you get better
Traditional drilling repeats the same movement in the same context until it feels automatic. The problem: that automatic response often fails the moment anything changes. Practicing a skill across varied contexts, with resistance and constraints, builds something more durable. You develop feel for the position, not just memory of a technique.
More decisions per minute means faster learning
Games force you to make decisions constantly. Every exchange requires you to read a position, choose an action, and feel the result. Traditional drilling offers a fraction of those decision reps in the same amount of time. The research is clear: more high-quality decision-making practice produces faster skill development.
Playfulness is a prerequisite, not a bonus
People learn faster when they feel safe to fail. When training feels like play, people take more risks, try more things, and learn more from mistakes. When training feels like a performance, people default to what they already know. Building a playful culture is not just good for morale. It is the structural condition that makes learning possible.
What This Means for You
If you are new to jiu jitsu, you will not spend your first weeks confused and getting demolished. You will be playing games with structure and purpose from day one. You will understand what you are working on and why.
If you have trained elsewhere, you will likely notice a difference within the first month. Members regularly tell us they understand jiu jitsu better after a few months here than after years at their previous gym. That is not a marketing claim. It is what happens when you stop memorizing moves and start building understanding.
The games are also more fun. Training should not feel like homework. When it does, people quit. The format we use is engaging by design, which is why our members actually show up.
You learn faster
More decision reps per class, more variety, more transfer to live grappling.
You retain more
Understanding why something works means it sticks. Memorizing steps means it vanishes under pressure.
Training feels like playing
It is engaging enough to keep coming back. That is the whole point.
What Members Say
Real reviews from our members on Google, where we hold a 5.0 rating.
" This gym has a great vibe, the training area is pretty big, and the people are awesome. Avery coaches concepts at a high level and is always including the 'why' when we talk about different positions and creating leverage. "
Christian H.
Google review
" Can't recommend this gym enough if you're trying to learn jiu jitsu! I enjoy the game based structure of the classes which allows you to have a lot of fun while exploring common positions that you end up in during live rounds. "
Ashton F.
Google review
" I started at Golden Jiu Jitsu as a complete beginner. Avery runs his gym in a way that feels extremely approachable. In class there is less focus on drilling and more focus on being guided into certain positions and working from there. "
Matthew D.
Started as a beginner
Don't Take Our Word for It
The method we use is grounded in motor learning research that has nothing to do with jiu jitsu. Dr. Rob Gray, a professor who studies how athletes develop physical skills, has spent years documenting why game-based and constraint-based training produces better results than isolated drilling. His research has been cited by coaches across dozens of sports.
Greg Souders, a coach who studied pedagogy in formal sport settings before bringing it to grappling, coined the "37-step problem" to describe what happens when coaches give students more information than they can use. His work on evidence-based coaching has been widely discussed in the coaching community.
These ideas are not fringe. They represent where sports coaching is heading, and most BJJ gyms are not paying attention.
GJJ head coach Avery Lorenzato was a guest on the BJJ Mental Models podcast to discuss how these principles apply to running a gym. That conversation, and the research behind it, is what shaped the program here.
Listen to the BJJ Mental Models podcast. Episodes 144, 203, and 206 are a good place to start if you want to go deeper on the research.
Dr. Rob Gray
Professor of motor learning. Researcher studying how athletes develop physical skills across sports.
Greg Souders
Coach and researcher. Coined the "37-step problem." Work on evidence-based coaching cited across the grappling community.
BJJ Mental Models Podcast
One of the most research-literate podcasts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GJJ's head coach was a featured guest.
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Your first class is free. No experience needed. No long-term contract.