My main goal for 2026 is to develop a strong fundamentals program. A program that will allow students of any skill level to enjoy a fun, fast paced practice while retaining as much information as possible. I have found that this best happens when the practice is 90% live drills. In January we kicked off the new curriculum. Starting at the absolute fundamentals. Teaching students how to safely move on the mats. One of my biggest rules over the last 12 years has been “if you can’t control your own body, you have no hope of controlling you and another person. So we always start off with line drills. Not as a warm up, but as a way of learning how to safely move across the mat. We repeat the same 4 line drills every Monday,

1) Forward roll: this one is pretty basic. There are many times in Jiu Jitsu you or your opponent will roll forward. Maybe not from the feet, but certainly from the ground during the act of rolling. Later on some of our technique also involves rolling forward so this is an incredibly important skill to learn.

2) Backward roll: I allow my students to do this in 3 different ways based on their comfort and skill level. The first is from a butterfly position to a butterfly position. This one can be done slowly and safely. The effort is to teach them to roll backwards without injuring their necks. So we emphasize rolling over the ear, or at the extreme end rolling without the head ever touching the mats. The second variation is from a butterfly to a standing position. For this one the focus is on framing with our arms to push ourselves to a standing position. This is a fantastic skill to learn as framing will be important in nearly all of our grappling positions. The last variation for the backward roll is from a standing position to a standing position. This is the most difficult and requires a fair amount of coordination and confidence.

3) Granby roll: Now we are starting to get more difficult. This is the movement that most beginners struggle with, but arguably it is the most important movement of the group. We use granby rolls in so many situations in grappling. When I have students do them in line drills I get to familiarize them with the movement before it happens in a roll. The main focus here is that they can roll sideways with their face looking towards their thighs. Everything after that is ok, I just want them to be able to roll sideways while looking at their thighs.

4) Sidewinders: This is that terrible side wiggle down the mats that everyone tries, but no one was taught how to actually do it. This is a coordination drill, learning how to segment your body and move in two teams (a reoccurring theme with me). The upper body works as one unit and the lower body words as a second. The shoulders move down the mats, then the hips, working in a rocking motion. Rhythm is king here. Don’t rush down the mats. Students struggle the most with this one, and will take some time to figure out. I like to let them figure it out on their own over time. Eventually it improves and they learn this important segmenting tool.

These fundamental movements are the primary focus of the first two classes of each year. It’s simple and redundant for most people but I think it’s an important part of the process. After this we move pretty quickly into our main class format.