Why it matters
I give you the plan and coach you through it. Going above and beyond it is on you.
My side: the plan, coaching and guidance during sessions, feedback in class, and answering your questions. Your side: research, study, recording and reviewing your own rounds, and evaluating yourself honestly, so you learn to coach yourself and keep developing.
It's never impossible to out-study your coach. Even with the best coaches in the world, you could watch dozens of instructionals and end up with a wider view of a position than your coach can communicate in a class. Nobody winning Worlds just turns up and does what the coach shows. They go above and beyond the plan, every week. At the top level, that's expected.
The standard
Non-negotiable
- You develop yourself beyond what's given to you. I'll give you a big document of links to start. I still expect you to research: instructionals anywhere you can find them, more content, other coaches, and your questions answered.
- Do more with the plan. Don't change it. Deeper, wider, further into the topics it gives you.
- Record and review your own rounds. At least two sessions a week on the Show Me version. The footage is for you: I don't watch recordings or give feedback on them.
- Study at home: two 20-minute blocks a week, minimum, on your current focus.
- Bring specific, short questions to class. That's where your footage turns into coaching.
- Free resources first. Pay only once you're finishing what you've got.
How to do it
Find seven more for every technique
Say the coach shows the class one De La Riva sweep. The athlete I want goes home and finds seven more, finds other ways to play De La Riva, and finds ways to make the position stronger and their own. Then they train it, practise it, and come back with questions. That moves you a lot further than "I tried the move, it didn't work, how do I make it work?"
Do this
The find-seven routine
- Log it in your training log the same night, including the position and technique from class.
- Find seven more options from that position: sweeps, entries, follow-ups, counters to the common defence.
- Pick two that fit your game and your current focus. Not all seven.
- Train them in your next sessions. Count your attempts.
- Bring one specific question to class. "When they cut my knee line here, what do I do?" beats "How do I make it work?"
Record your sessions
This is a big one, and it's cheap. Buy a $15 tripod from Kmart, put your phone on it, record your sessions, review your sessions. It's the cheapest technical upgrade in this whole guide.
The footage is for your own review. I watch you live, during sessions, and give feedback there. I don't watch recordings or send feedback on them, and that's deliberate: reviewing your own rounds is how you learn to coach yourself.
Good filming manners. My suggestions for filming in a room full of other people, including kids:
- Ask your partner first. Every time. Most people say yes. If they say no, film the next round.
- Film your rounds, not the class. Never film other Students, especially kids, without the coach and their parents saying it's okay.
- Footage is for study, not for posting. Don't post other people's rounds.
- Phone on aeroplane mode while it records. You're filming, not scrolling.
- Wide angle, whole mat in shot, phone sideways. A round you can't see is a round you can't review.
Review your footage the same day
Recording is easy. The value comes from watching it back. Fifteen minutes, the same night or the next morning:
- Watch 1Watch it once straight through. No pausing. Get the story of the round. Who was on top, where did it change?
- Watch 2Watch for your focus. Count how many times you actually tried the thing you're working on. Most people are surprised how low the number is.
- PauseStop at the moment it broke. Where exactly did you lose the position, the grip or the angle? What did your partner do right before it?
- LogWrite it up in your training log. Same five lines as every session: your focus (with the attempt count), one thing that worked, where it broke and why, one question for class, and the one thing to fix next session. Only one fix. Write it on your hand if you have to.
What to watch for:
- Attempts: how many real tries at your focus? Whoever has the most focused tries usually gets better at that skill.
- The break point: the same mistake showing up in three rounds is your next lesson.
- What you do when it fails: do you go back to your safe move, or keep trying?
- Effort and pace: where did you slow down, stall or go flat?
- Focus: how much time is chatting, laughing, sitting between rounds? Be honest.
From the coach
When I review my own fights I keep it short and honest, one note per problem. "Guard pull was too telegraphed." "Leg drag defence too weak." "Stop grabbing the drawstring." Plus what worked, so I keep doing it. No essays. Just what to fix and what to keep.
Ricky
Footage into a question
Bring it to class, short and specific
Not the video. One question about the moment it broke: "When I'm passing De La Riva, I keep losing the sleeve grip. What should I fix first?" Ask it at the right time (see Communication), and I'll help you with it on the mat.
Study at home, linked to your focus
Home research, study and footage review is what going above and beyond looks like in a normal week. It doesn't need to be hours. It needs to be consistent and linked to what you're working on, not random clips.
Do this
A 20-minute study block
- Pick a topic from your current focus (or this week's block on the Worlds plan).
- Watch one system video, not ten single-move clips.
- Write three details you didn't know before.
- Pick one to try next session, and one question to ask.
Two of these a week is the Show Me minimum. It fits in the time you free up by keeping your phone out of the first and last hour of the day.
It doesn't matter how many privates you do or how many videos you watch if you can't make it work in training. Study is half of it. The other half is taking it onto the mat and trying it against resistance, again and again.
Add match review at the top level
I'm not a huge fan of match review on its own. Instructionals usually teach you more per minute. But at world level you should be doing both.
- Your own matches: review every comp. One timestamp per fight, short honest bullets: what worked, what to fix, any rule or referee notes.
- The best in your division: watch how the top people at your belt and weight actually win. What do they do in the first 30 seconds? How do they score?
- Opponents (Pro): if you know who you'll fight, watch a few of their matches and boil it down to one or two simple actions. "On bottom, pull fast and keep your feet on the outside. On top, knee up, elbows tight." Not a dossier.
Coach yourself too
At the top level you coach yourself as well. Nobody else is inside your head during every round, and nobody else is going to do your research for you.
From the coach
In my camps I deep-dived into ecological dynamics and motor skill acquisition: how people actually learn movement. I spoke to skill acquisition researchers, watched every instructional I could, bought Submeta, and designed my own games and practices. At that level, I had to coach myself too.
Ricky
You don't need to read research papers to start. Know the focuses in your plan, design the rounds you want (where you start, what you're trying to do), and steer your training toward them (see Focused Training).
Use the free tier first, then pay
Start at the top of the free tier and work down. Move to paid only once you're genuinely finishing what you've got.
Free tier: start here.
| Resource | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| The Worlds blocks | The Gi and NoGi plans I've given the squad: Gi block, NoGi block, and the squad blocks home. Hand-picked videos, games and a timeline. | Your main technical homework. This is the plan you've been given. Start here before anything else. |
| Leg Lock Block | Our earlier block on leg lock foundations: leglock.magnx.com.au | NoGi foundations and leg entanglement basics. |
| Foundations 1 | Our first skill block: foundation1.magnx.com.au | Filling gaps in the basics. No shame in going back. |
| Trusted YouTube | Channels I'd search first: Jon Thomas, Lachlan Giles (Submeta's channel), Keenan Cornelius, Greg Souders (NoGi games). Also worth searching by name: John Danaher, Andre Galvão, Atos, Cobrinha, Michael Langhi (spider guard), Tainan Dalpra (Gi X-guard). | Find-seven homework and the 20-minute study block. |
| Bilibili | A video site with a lot of free grappling instruction uploaded. Search the technique name in English. | Going wider when YouTube runs dry. |
| Your coaches | Me, the other Professors and coaches, your training partners. | Questions. Bring specific ones, at the right time (see Communication). |
- Systems over clips. A complete guide to a position beats ten "one weird trick" videos.
- Max three videos per topic from one instructor, and only if each adds something new. Go wide.
- Pick instructors who spend the video teaching, not selling.
- Quick-reference compilations are fine as a menu of ideas, but they're not instruction. Use them to pick what to study properly.
Paid tier: when you're ready. The order I'd spend in. Prices are rough estimates in US dollars as of late 2026; check the sites for current prices.
- FirstSubmeta (Lachlan Giles' platform). Structured, layered courses with a suggested path, plus some free courses. Subscription, roughly US$20 to $25 a month, cancel any time. My first pick because it gives you a curriculum, not just a pile of videos. It's what I bought for my own camps.
- SecondOne instructional at a time from BJJ Fanatics, matched to your current focus. You buy it once and keep it. Lachlan Giles' and John Danaher's instructionals go very deep on one topic. Usually around US$100 to $200 each, often on sale. Rule: don't buy the next one until you've finished and used the last one.
- ProOutlier Database (OutlierDB). A match analysis and training database: searchable footage and sequences from high-level matches. For when you're at the match-study and opponent-scouting stage. Check the site for current pricing.
My rule
Don't buy a library you won't watch.
If you haven't finished the free Worlds blocks, you don't need a subscription. Show me you're using what you've got, then we spend money.
Show Me and Pro
Show Me You Mean It
A tripod and the free blocks
About $15
- Record at least two sessions a week, review each one yourself and write it up in your training log.
- Work through the Worlds block you've been given, in order.
- Do the find-seven routine on one class technique every week.
- Two 20-minute study blocks a week.
- Bring at least one specific question to class every week.
Pro
Study like it's your job
Roughly US$20 to $25 a month, plus instructionals
- Every session recorded. Reviewed by you the same day.
- Submeta, plus one paid instructional per focus block.
- Review of every competition, yours and the top of your division.
- Opponent scouting for majors, boiled down to one or two actions.
- Study blocks three or more times a week, with your questions taken to your coach.
Common mistakes
- Only doing what's shown in class. At the top level, class is the starting point. Find seven more.
- "I tried it, it didn't work." Bring a specific question instead: where exactly did it break?
- Recording and never watching. Fifteen minutes, same day, then your training log.
- Sending your coach a 30-minute round to review. Review it yourself, then bring one specific question to class.
- Ten single-move clips. Watch one system video on your focus instead.
- Studying whatever the algorithm serves you. Link every study block to your current focus.
- Study without mat time. It only counts once you've tried it against resistance.
- Filming or posting other people without asking. Ask first. Footage is for study.
- Buying a library you won't watch. Finish the free blocks first.
Checklist
Do this