Are you Ready to Open your own BJJ Academy?

Posted by Fanatics Authors on July 27, 2018

When you have aspirations of opening your own academy, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Doing things your way, being able to train around the clock, the sense of pride you’ll feel from bringing the benefits of BJJ into the lives of everyone who walks through your doors. These are all wonderful things. The joys of opening your own school are many, but there are some things you may want to consider in your decision-making process. Are you really ready?

Making the leap from full time student to full time instructor can be a difficult one. Sometimes we don’t consider what this means. You will no longer be the most important person on the mat. If you are selfish when it comes to your progress and training, you will struggle as the leader of an academy. If you are an avid competitor, it can be a little more difficult to satisfy your quota for training until your school becomes more established.

Owning a school means you will be taking more of a vested interest in everyone who walks through the door. Their progress becomes your progress. You will share in their successes and failures, on and off the mat, and you’ll become an integral part of everyone’s BJJ growth. Your time will be spent meeting the needs of your group. They’ll need you to guide them, and serve them, and you must be available.

Don’t get me wrong. Owning your own school doesn’t mean you have to be terrible at BJJ. But you’ll need to be willing to put the needs and dreams of others ahead of your own if a successful academy is what you’re after. Discipline will be your best friend if you hope to maintain a rigorous BJJ training schedule for yourself. This may mean getting up earlier to train, staying later, or even setting up private training sessions for yourself. Let’s be honest, you probably want to own a school because of your undying love of BJJ, so cutting the very thing we hold so dear out of our lives is not an option. We must become better at managing our training. Ultimately you must be ready to sacrifice your time and efforts for the sake of your students. If you don’t feel you’re ready to make these kinds of changes, consider giving the prospect of your own academy some more time.

As an academy owner you’ll be charged with ensuring that everyone receives the same wonderful experience that inspired you to consider the idea. Make sure you’re up for the task. If you can fully commit, then prepare for the most rewarding experience of your life. If not, simply give it more time.

Check out Half Guard Destruction by Gabriel Procopio! You can get it here at BJJ Fanatics.

BUY NOW