BJJ vs. Judo for Small Guy about to Teach in an Urban High School

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hampster

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I'm a small guy (5'4" and 130-140 lbs), early 30s, and young-looking about to teach at a lower-income, urban high school in Houston.

As part of my job, I'll be breaking up fights; I'll also have to be prepared for students punching/fighting with their teachers.

Which grappling art do you guys recommend for my situation? I live in North Houston (live close to Ground Dwellers BJJ, which has judo, and Gracie Barra-The Woodlands).

I've had a few months of both judo and bjj (also did some boxing) and don't really have a preference. Before I visit both gyms, I just wanted to hear people's opinions. I heard that one nice feature of Gracie Barra is that there is actually a structured curriculum. In the previous gyms I've been to, you learn whatever the gym happens to be teaching that day without regard for your level of experience.

Thanks.
 
I would recommend BJJ in your case. The judo learning curve is so huge that your chances of pull off a proper throw on someone bigger and stronger than you is going to be slim to none for quite a while. Learn a few takedowns; bodylock, inside trip, double, single, high-crotch, and then use your BJJ to control them on the ground - mount or knee on belly- until help arrives. You probably don't want to be on World Star harai goshi'ing some 15 year old kid anyway.

Judo is cool. You should learn some of it, but I wouldn't make that my primary focus if I were you.
 
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How's your freestyle? You hafta make a connection & inspire them before you can teach properly. There's like 245 movies about this subject.
 
I'd go with judo, most important part of bigdogging, AMOGing, and posturing is on the feet.
 
Um dude... the majority of the time.. you are going to be getting out of the way of fights and call the officer if it's that type of school. Unless you feel like getting either beat up sued or fired.

While it is a good idea to know some basic self defense. That is not how you are going to control your classroom. In fact, a small guy trying to be threatening and trying to convey that kind of authority will make you a joke to them

There's a reason the good teachers and principles talk about 'classroom management' so much. So you have to set up the classes that they don't have time or the inclination to screw off more than normal.

You also have to adjust the way you carry yourself. You can't ask or tell them to do things.. you have to expect them to do it. And convey this in the way you talk, act, carry yourself. Kids, I don't care where they are from, see right through adults being full of shit.

I work with a lot of low income and inner city kids. And I've worked with middle class kids, and with kids from old money who go prep schools that cost more than most colleges. Kids at the end of the day are kids, they all have issues, all are tougher and smarter than you think, and the angst and attitudes get pretty similar when you consider over 75% of kids, regardless of class, come from broken or unstable home environments

I'm not being a jerk or a pc warrior. I mean this, you need to sit down and be really honest about what you already and really think about the kids you're going to be teaching and what you you actually think they're capable of. Because otherwise you're going to be miserable and they won't respect you
 
Lol. You will not be breaking up fights. If it's such a bad school the resource officer will be doing that shit. You going into a war zone?
 
Capoeira is the best Brazilian martial art for cleaning up rough high schools.

 
hampster said:
I'm a small guy (5'4" and 130-140 lbs), early 30s, and young-looking about to teach at a lower-income, urban high school in Houston.

As part of my job, I'll be breaking up fights; I'll also have to be prepared for students punching/fighting with their teachers.

Which grappling art do you guys recommend for my situation? I live in North Houston (live close to Ground Dwellers BJJ, which has judo, and Gracie Barra-The Woodlands).

I've had a few months of both judo and bjj (also did some boxing) and don't really have a preference. Before I visit both gyms, I just wanted to hear people's opinions. I heard that one nice feature of Gracie Barra is that there is actually a structured curriculum. In the previous gyms I've been to, you learn whatever the gym happens to be teaching that day without regard for your level of experience.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I hope this is a joke thread. No job exists where you're supposed to physically stop public school children fighting, whether you're using martial arts or not. If it's something that can't be mediated using basic crisis management ("let's take a walk!!!") then you get on your walkie-talkie and call the school's resource officer.
 
youre not gonna want to be punching students in the face, or throwing them hard floors.

i definitely would go with bjj
 
My sambo/judo coach works in alternative learning center for kids that are expelled from the other schools. That is, the kids with the worst learning problems from almost exclusively low-income schools. He's physically seen exactly two fights in the past year, and for both he immediatley had help in restraining the kid without hurting them. De-escalation> physical skills, and part of deescalation is not viewing the people you're helping primarily as threats.

That said, it sounds like you have some anxiety about the kids you'll be working with, and martial arts, particularly combat sports, are a great way to instill confidence and calm with stressors, so by all means, train away. Just worry more about finding a school that makes you comfortable and lets you build skills, and less about gameplanning for taking your kids down.
 
Try wrasslin, or work out with the football team. There is lesser learning curve I am told.
 
Or just learn to Ne Ne



It has been used in the past to diffuse situations.
 
If you have any doubt or insecurity, they will sense it and walk all over you. You have to have what the police call command presence. I guess martial arts training could help you develop and feel that in yourself, but as other people said, you won't be hip tossing teenagers
 
Thanks for the responses you all. Let me clarify my original post because I think some posters have been jumping to other conclusions. I had intended to train, with no strong preference for either judo or bjj, regardless of this job situation; I just figured since I may need to learn self-defense and break up fights, I might as well pick a grappling art that would help me on the job. While I hope I never have to use grappling on a student, I have to be prepared for the reality that it may come in handy in the same way that CPR may come in handy one day.

I appreciate the advice on how I should conduct myself as a teacher, but believe me I have absolutely no intentions of trying to be this small, intimidating, authoritative guy with a chip on his shoulder. My personality is the complete opposite, and I wouldn't be able to pull it off even if I tried. I walked away from a more respected, financially lucrative, and stable profession because I want to make a difference in the lives of children who need it the most. I'm perfectly aware I may be the only positive adult figure in these kids' lives.
 
I'd just try both and see which one you like more personally. Practical application wise I think the difference between the two won't even matter.

Good luck.
 
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