How to Design an Ecological Dynamics Jiu Jitsu Class
Constraints-Led Approach for Practice Design
“There is no shortage of phony experts and charlatans out there trying to separate people from their treasure with promises of quick fixes and easy solutions.” - Benny Profane
How to Design Practice
There are two approaches in Eco Dynamics: Constraints-led Approach (CLA) and Differential learning. CLA is more easily adaptable to grappling as we design it. For the sake of efficiency, we’ll focus on CLA.
Constraints-led Approach or CLA
Constraints are based on physical certainty.
Task-focused scenarios build a student’s fine and gross motor skills and allow for exploration through affordances. Since the ecological dynamics approach is a science of information, all the info we need to create a movement solution is available and scalable in live practice, where function and intention lead to knowable outcomes.
Design Practice North Stars:
No prescriptive instruction
No static/dead drilling (i.e. 10,000 torreandos on a non-resistant partner)
Games are always “live” and task-focused for both players
Focus attention through intention
Scale for the room and experience of players
First, let’s take a look at the concept of ‘Repetition without Repetition’
“By manipulating the environments and task constraints within our practices, we can give our athletes multiple opportunities to practice specific skills while they repeatedly attempt to solve problems (and thereby learn to feel comfortable executing those skills in various scenarios).” (Source)
Repetition without repetition—meaning the variables that arise from the function of the position are infinite while the intention remains the same. That’s why people always say that grappling and Jiu Jitsu is a game of inches, they are talking about variables rather than actual movement solutions in a given grappling exchange.
Now that we have some of the concepts established, I’ll break down the idea of blocked practice and how I approach class design.
At 10th Planet Denver, we typically have a month of themed work ranging from submissions, escapes, guard, passing, and all that happens in between.
I design each class as a continuation of the previous week so that skills are built over the span of multiple classes in four weeks.
This month the theme is Passing/Retention.
I break the passing/retention theme into segments with task-focused games and in blocks of three to four, quarter-hour segments with the last 5-10 minutes dedicated to playing the “full game” of Jiu Jitsu with a focused approach.
I strongly recommend using timed rounds to add another constraint and to help keep the class moving forward. Without the constraint of time, the practice can progress too far without guidance, increasing the cognitive load on the student and opening up too many variables.
Time is a critical component in the constraint-led approach. In an hour of class, I have four quarter-hour blocks. I break at each for a water break unless the class is acclimated to the style of CLA/ECO. I will run top and bottom grappling scenarios at 1-3 minute intervals.
A typical 1-hour “Eco” class runs as follows:
The First Block utilizes several task-based scenarios between a seated guard player and a standing player in a timed round of 2 (two) minutes on top and 2 (two) minutes on bottom.
The top player's primary task is to connect to the bottom player and get them to their back by whatever means are available to them within the constraints.
The top player’s secondary task is to keep the bottom player on their back and in a supine position as long as possible for the duration of the round.
The top player is constrained by not allowing their knees to touch the mat (top pressure, leverage and distribution of weight cross-body).
On the other hand, the bottom player’s primary task is to keep their feet and hands in front of the top player and their secondary task is to remain/retain a seated guard position. The bottom player is constrained to using only posts and frames.
The scenario is continuous for the duration of the round.
From here on the tasks are scaled with increased difficulty.
The video below is a version of the previous segment with scaled difficulty.
Top player must pass the bottom player and get chest to chest or chest to back without dropping to a knee or knees.
Bottom player can use hooks and grips to make meaningful connections for the primary task of off-balancing the top player, forcing them to post on their hands or get them to their hips.
Secondary task focus for bottom is to upgrade grips.
Top Player’s hips touch mat, reset. (win condition for bottom)
Top player’s primary task is to make the bottom player carry their weight.
Successful application of top player’s primary task leads to their secondary task which is to achieve a chest to chest or chest to back pin, reset. (win condition for top)
Another scenario within this standing/supine block opens up a previous constraint for the bottom player by allowing them the use of hooks and grips rather than fending off the passer with only posts and frames. We run the same scenario from the previous but this time, the seated player's primary task is to off-balance the top player and get them to post on the mat—in which case the action is continuous—and then terminates on a successful “sweep” of the top player by getting the top player’s hips to the mat.
Here’s another example.
Each situation can be built upon the previous.
The most important part of practice design is observation. A coach must recognize the things that help skill emerge and build constraints around those. Being disciplined about successes and failures is part of the process as well. It is easy to be overly prescriptive.
As a practice designer for grappling skill development, we’re looking for ways to get our students better, faster and more efficiently. Don’t go die on drill hill just because that’s the prevailing dogma. Push your understanding of what it means to be a coach. Try and keep your classes as “live” as possible.
Here is a helpful visualization of how you could start looking at practice design from a Jiu Jitsu perspective. (I don’t remember where I found this chart so if it is yours please let me know and I’ll link back)
The next image is an example of scaling.
Next time, I’ll dive into my approach at Passing and Retention with a focus on inside and outside channels for both top and bottom players.