How Much Do Private Lessons Cost?

There cost of private lessons varies a lot but I think on average its about as follows:

1. Purple belts - $30 per hour or 20-30 UK pounds

2. Brown belts - $45-50 per hour or around 40 UK pounds

3. Black belts - $60-100 per hour and 60 UK pounds +

Prices will vary depending on your location and currency but I think these are kind of average. Some black belts may charge at the higher end if they are located in a country/city where there is no BJJ and they are the only game in town.

There are also big names, like world class competitors that have won the worlds etc. They could charge $100-$400 but I think it depends on a lot of factors including their desire to teach you, your level of training, whether you train regularly, like once or twice a week regular privates or one-off.

Very often the factor that will also influence the price is whether the training takes place at the instructors gym or another location where he has to travel and potentially pay rent. The distance travelled therefore and his relationship with the place you train could be a factor.

At white belt level I would recommend to take privates from a purple or brown. You just dont need at this stage a black belt and especially competitor level because your focus should be on the fundamentals and defending positions and submissions. Once you have reached a good level, it is worth investing a little more to learn from the best.

If you are a spider guard fan and have the opportunity to train with the best, the best way would be to train at an academy and take private lessons with a black belt that does spider guard in competitions.
If you love leg locks then go to New York and train with the Danaher squad, take privates with those guys and you will definitely improve.

I generally think that cross training wise, prices for Judo and Wrestling could be a little cheaper

The one to one attention is valuable but it is also good to get out of your comfort zone and take some lessons from a guy who is not from your academy and who you dont train with regularly. This will develop your experience and expand your knowledge of BJJ. If you have trained for a long time at your school and you want to take privates from your academy instructor, this may be useful but it is worth taking into account that he is likely very much into the same techniques that you have been doing over the last few years. 

10 Tips to Improve Your Grappling Game

Whether you are a serious competitor or an avid UFC fan, or just training brazilia jiu jitsu for self defense, we all are looking to improve our grappling game. Here are my tips:

1. Train More :)  obvious but cannot be overlooked. If you have a friend or an extra few hours a week, why not train a little more than your partners. Hours on the mat never lie and you cant find a serious competitor that is not a mat rat or spent years on the mats.

2. Train Smart. This one cannot be overlooked. If you keep doing half guard on white belts, never pass guard or simply are a one hit wonder, you are not going to go very far. Jiu jitsu is a huge game and you have to be proficient in a variety of situations. Get out of your comfort zone, train leglocks if you suck at them... train guard passing if you are a leg lock guy... pass standing if you pass on your knees... do something you dont normally do .... take a white or blue belt and master something new that will take your game to the next level

3. Cross Train. You dont have to be a takedown wizard but you dont want to be the bjj black belt that flops on his bit and knows nothing about taking a guy down... nor do you want to be a judo guy with no ground game. Train a little bit of everything and your overall game will improve

4. Cardio. Technique conquers all they say but I think there should be a caveat and that is you need the cardio. Even if your jiu jitsu game is sick, if you cant handle the pace of your partner you will get tired and lose especially in competition. How you develop cardio is your business. Regular sparring is a fun way of doing it though:)

5. Compete. No matter what they tell you, competing is an important element of grappling and you will progress much faster when you regularly compete. It not only motivates you but you learn from your mistakes. Believe me when you lose in competition, you will remember your mistake for a long time. Get to it!

6. Privates.  It is expensive but if you can afford it or can share a private with a friend, its worth it at any level. Find a guy that you admire, respect. Put together list of questions, problems you have had with your game and figure it out. Spending an hour or two going through positions that are a problem is the ultimate way of training smart. Choking random whitebelts with the same technique you have been doing for 10 years is not going to get you very far.

7. Travel  This could sound strange or unloyal but if you want to be great you have to get out there and learn from as many people as you can. Go to Roger Gracie's Academy in London or Atos Jiu Jitsu in California. Train with the best and learn from the best as much as you can. There are now academies all around the world and in almost every city you go to. Drop an email in advance and visit, you wont regret it. It will be a fresh perspective, different training partners and you might just learn something or see something you havent seen before

8. Drill.  you have to become proficient and beyond in your technique. Hours of drilling will make your game better and accustom your body to new positions and moves. You will also wear your body out less by spending time on drilling.

9. Open mats. Open mats are often held at many academies around the world. Why not come by and roll with some tough guys from other academies. You will develop better cardio and gain access to training partners you dont know. I think too many academies have relatively low level of bjj among students so training with a tougher group of competitors could be beneficial to leave your ego at the door and learn.

10. Ask questions. I think this one is the most critical of all. You need to constantly ask your instructor questions, Questions about techniques, questions about mistakes or positions you lose. This one will really separate you from the others., After class stay and take a few minutes to try to figure out some errors you made