Anyone can be a coach, but not anyone can be your coach

Whenever I go to Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Wrestling or Boxing tournaments, I for sure always hear one thing: yelling. Everyone is yelling at someone and acting as their coach, even people they don’t know. It’s human nature to want to give advice, but that doesn’t mean it’s good advice.

In fact, I was at a BJJ tournament once and I was asked to help coach someone last minute because the rest of his coaches were helping other students. This guy was a blue belt and both him and his competitor were wearing black gis. I was asked literally about one second before his match. I had no clue who this kid was and for a couple seconds I wasn’t even sure which one to coach. Fortunately, someone who actually knew the blue belt came to relieve me.

I find it an honor to coach people and with that, here are some of my insights around coaching:

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COACHING STARTS WAY BEFORE STEPPING ONTO THE MATS