Gracie Instructor Certification Training: Week 2 - 12

It's been a long journey and a lot of work but I am happy to finish submitting my initial evaluation to qualify for Gracie ICP. Due to the quarantine, I was unable to get a practice partner to demo my teaching but the Gracie CTC support is aware of the challenges so they were willing to accept video submissions demoing me teaching without someone else there.

There were quite a few "Aha!" moments during the certification training and I definitely had lessons and wisdom that I was able to take away from it to apply towards software engineering. These were some of the things that I realized during the certification.

Presentation matters

How you present a technique can make a huge difference on the impact your teaching can make. I remembered jiu-jitsu classes where the instructor did not follow good presentation formula such as the formula that Rener and Ryron uses and I remember walking away confused and not trusting the technique, to the point where I was wasting my time. That is so similar to a lot of material out there in software development. People want to be presented with material that allows them to reasonably apply what you're teaching, and have enough context to understand the importance of what you are teaching. That emphasis is not prevalent enough in software engineering in my opinion.

Introduction matters

How someone is introduced into jiu-jitsu is a big deal. It makes or breaks whether you have a student for life or just someone who tries for a year and leaves. After understanding the importance of a good introduction it makes me remember how many people would have been great for software engineers but were put off or driven away from it due to the wrong impression or environment.

Commitment to fostering a good environment matters

What is the biggest difference between a jiu-jitsu school that is successful and has a lot of lifelong students training day in and day out vs. a jiu-jitsu school that has been open for many years but on any given night will only have a handful of students? The difference is the environment. Is the environment that is fostered one that is welcoming to newcomers from all walks of life or is it an exclusive club that pushes people away? Before the certification training I would have thought that a good environment comes naturally, but it actually takes conscious effort. In software am a firm believer that for many free and open source projects you have to place emphasis on fostering a good environment that is welcoming, inviting, and gives people a clear path to become an expert. That also applies to enterprise teams as well.

These were the big lessons that I took away from the certification training. I also learned how to teach kids and the challenges with that and also had some smaller lessons too. Overall though, the certification training is definitely life changing for me. I feel like I have a new perspective on things, and definitely grew a lot wiser from it.