9/21: CROSS TRAINING
This Monday, the Muay Thai class will be doing our 3rd installment of cross training with the students from Commonwealth BJJ at their location this time. I am a big proponent of occasional cross training with other gyms and I thought this would be a great opportunity to share my perspective.
Cross training is the process of visiting other gyms occasionally to train with different students. It is a great way to train with students that will have a different focus, different skills, or different perspective on training. Every gym will have a style or system that they teach their students based upon the knowledge of that instructor. While good instructors will share information that is not their specialty so students can become well rounded, every instructor will have a set of skills that have worked for them and they will inevitably spend more time on those skills. It is always good to get a different perspective and work any learnings into your own training. Whenever I travel, I always make it a point to find a gym to go train at to see what I can learn, but to also share what I know. At the last seminar I attended at GB Romeo, I shared my half-guard fundamentals with the purple belt instructors running the class and they were incredibly appreciative of the improvements I was able to provide them.
In the past, my experience was that instructors were less comfortable with students cross training. Ten years ago, before YouTube and all the easy access to online content, many instructors wanted to keep their knowledge in their gym because they felt if they had something unique to offer, they didn’t want it getting out for free, or possibly causing them to lose a benefit they had over another gym. But in this digital age, information sharing is so open those walls have essentially crumbled down. There was also an insecurity from some gym owners that students would enjoy the other gym better and swap locations. My viewpoint on that is that every gym will have its own culture and if your students don’t like your culture, they will eventually leave anyway. If your students don’t gel with your culture, they are either not a good fit for your gym, or you need to change your culture.
But just as important to know is what cross training is NOT. Cross training is NOT hopping from gym to gym every week, hopping in random classes and trying to learn one or two nuggets of knowledge and trying to pick the instructors brain for their best techniques to add to your knowledge. Not having a home gym you are dedicated to and simply hopping from gym to gym will only get you so far. Instructors are very aware of gym hoppers and will spend very little time on them. From my perspective, I will spend most of my time on dedicated members that have committed themselves to the gym, the instructors, and the other students. YOU are the ones that deserve the most attention.
I have a very good relationship with many gym owners in SE Detroit and am supportive of our members occasionally training with them. I do this myself, especially around IBJJF World Master competitions where many of us that compete get together to prepare for the event. On the flip side, there are also gyms in the area that I would not recommend and encourage you to check with me if you ever decide to reach out to any gym to go visit. For the most part, the Muay Thai and BJJ gym community in SE Michigan is very respectful as so many of us have known each other for years or decades. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the opportunity to cross train, but also be sure to support your home gym, where ever that may be!
