Do you think a blue belt is sufficient to supervise an open mat (all levels) as a "lifeguard" for the "pool," or should a higher belt be supervising open mats?
Haha maybe I'm overthinking it- do open mats generally run themselves? The ones I've been to always had the head coach around, so I didn't know if that was standard...
Entirely accurate about the timer.
I didn’t learn to program and operate the timer until well in to purple belt. The respect I got from my peers in the gym afterwards was noticeable.
Not gonna say that’s why I got promoted to brown….but it’s an interesting coincidence at very least
well when two brown belts are rolling and drift 30 feet from when they started, they usually knock over tables like they’re out of bounds at ADCC and then the highest rank on the mat has to break it up
We've got a blue belt that handles the chill day open mat. He's a super good dude that everybody loves. I've never seen him have to handle a situation outside of getting noobs to sign the waiver and a gi to borrow. He would probably say his hardest job during that time is being the DJ
If you’re “supervising” you’re in charge of cleaning the mats after, unclogging the toilets and defending the gyms honor if a rival gang tries to dojo storm.
My head coach is at open mats but I think it's more to help individuals work on building their game, and also just so he can roll more and work on his own stuff.
He's not standing around like a lifeguard at a pool would. He's going down the waterslides and jumping off the high dive with the rest of us.
Are there unsanctioned fights to the death going on? lol “supervising” open mat means unlock the door, make sure people cleanup when done, and locking the door on the way out.
Looks like I'm in the minority here, but I think supervision means you acquire an element of legal liability if anything goes horribly wrong. So you need to be comfortable with that. Also, just my personal standards, I would want someone with at least basic first aid abilities to be present.
Neither are necessarily a function of the belt you hold tho.
As long as they are willing to enforce gym policies, particularly around legal issues such as getting waivers and stopping situations which could expose the gym to negligent liability, then they should be fine.
It's literally picking music and running a timer, maybe a fun game to warm up quick and making sure people are watching space. It's nothing special. A decent blue belt could teach a fundamentals class.
The way you frame the question is like you're expecting people to be trying to hurt each other and be entirely unwilling to listen. Like you'll need to drag them off of each other with RNCs or something and only a higher belt could command the respect to keep them under control. A blue belt who you trust otherwise knows what the class looks like, can get everyone warmed up, explain the rules, can stand in the way if groups get too close, work the timer, put on some music, and close out class. Your relative skill and seniority don't really reveal any of that.
Some of the blue belts at my gym are judo black belts and professional fighters so I'm pretty sure they can handle locking some doors and calling an ambulance in the rare chance someone is hurt really bad
I’ve been to various open mats. Typically a trusted person is there to make sure the gym is open and they lock up at the end. If newbies come through, they give them a waiver. I’ve seen all belt levels open up at the open mat.
It really just depends. I became a coach at blue belt. My coach believed I was at the level as I’ve always been a helper in the gym. Plus I Also taught kickboxing. Because I was a coach/instructor I ran open mats at times. Never had an issue.
There are gyms with similar situations where a professor or instructor trust someone that much that they deem them good/responsible enough to help coach and run classes. It’s definitely not standard but it’s not uncommon either there are so many gyms out there and there are some blue belts where professors think they are capable.
I had my first beginner class for bjj last week and my instructor was a 17 yr old blue belt with 1 strip. He has been doing it for 9 years. He was fine.
As long as the gym has a good liability waiver, and the supervisor explains to everyone they should only be doing moves they are comfortable and confident they can do safely, sure.
Was gonna ask if they were CPR/AED certified. I thought that was a law? Unless people get away with not having it because theyre "clubs" and not "gyms"?
Depends on the person and the maturity level. I have seen 35 year olds who act like they are two and are immature and seen 15 year olds who act like they are 50 year old zen masters the way they conduct themselves. As long as they are being responsible and making sure people are practicing moves they shouldn’t for their belt level, I don’t see why they couldn’t.
Like I’m only a white belt but I coach other sports and understand how to supervise. I’m sure anyone who has ever coached or been a volunteer before could run an open mat. We have two blue belts I would trust even over some of the people at purple. They are more talented but the blues are better leaders and instructors.
If you want people to show up get rolls in and go home anyone is fine. If you want to ensure that inexperienced practitioners are not getting unnecessarily hurt and having someone critique technique than a blue belt is certainly not adequate.
Even a white belt can supervise an open mat. The real requirements are, know how to handle cases of injury, be responsible enough to leave the keys with. That is really it
Idk why but this post irks me because you’re overlooking an important part of the question, especially when thinking about blue belts: there’s a huge difference between a blue belt who just got promoted yesterday from white belt and a blue belt who’s about to get promoted to purple tomorrow. That can be easily a difference of 1-3 years in experience, sometimes more considering how long some people stay as a blue belt. So if the question is about having someone experienced run open mat, then a higher degree blue belt can oversee open mats, especially if there are a lot white and blue belts. But like others have said, you don’t need someone experienced to run open mats if it doesn’t include any type of lesson
Do you have someone supervising the open mat? Sometimes, our head coach gives us the keys to train and his only instructions are:
"Don't burn the place down."
That's it. I know some white belts can be wild, but if you're at an open mat, it means you know the basics or can try things you've seen in class. If rolling in open guard feels like a royal rumble, maybe you're doing something wrong. If not, you'll be fine. Just don't murder anyone or burn the academy.
I think it would be responsible, for legal CYA if nothing else, for someone present to know first aid, CPR, concussion protocol. Now, these are not part of most blue belts' training, so maybe I am asking the wrong question.
If the blue belt is responsible, punctual, knows how to set a timer, and it’s an adult’s open mat, yeah. I guess it also depends on if you have an abnormality large number of knucklehead white belts, but in most cases, it should be fine
I would assume so, not sure what you mean by supervise. I have only been to a few open mats at other gyms. Our gym it is rare that one of our Professors is not there, if they are not there are other brown belt coaches there. Our open mats are very open and run themselves, folks come and go as they please the only thing that one would need to do after is clean the mats and lock up.
We have a blue belt that runs open mats. I don’t see the issue? Everyone attending is a member of the academy and therefore covered by their insurance. They aren’t there to coach but has helped me on occasion. All higher level belts often come down to roll and happy to roll with anyone and give advice. It’s no higher risk going to those than rolling in training in my opinion. We all know the risk of injury when we step on the mats. They are a keyholder giving up their time so people can have more time doing what they enjoy.
You are now in a position of business. It doesn’t matter what rank anyone is, if something gets out of hand you call the police, etc. Rank doesn’t come into play at all
I mean is the person supervising expected to step in to prevent injury? If so then I think it should be a higher belt. If the approach is “if you die, you die” then sure.
Why do adults need supervision? I'm a purple belt and go to open mats every week and I've never seen someone supervising or have to step in and intervene in other guys rolls.
What the hell is going on at these open mats?
Haha maybe I'm overthinking it- do open mats generally run themselves? The ones I've been to always had the head coach around, so I didn't know if that was standard...
I’ve only ever been in one gym but our open mats basically boil down to whether or not someone has a key to open and close the gym.
If you can lock the door, turn off the lights and clean the mats, you're good homie.
Had the keys to the castle since whitebelt
The most difficult part is starting the round timer
I guess in a bigger gym you'd need to be the responsible adult in the room, but that needs common sense and not a high belt
Entirely accurate about the timer. I didn’t learn to program and operate the timer until well in to purple belt. The respect I got from my peers in the gym afterwards was noticeable.
Not gonna say that’s why I got promoted to brown….but it’s an interesting coincidence at very least
Those remotes confuse the hell out of me. I guess I’ll never cut it.
Someone has to pick the music too and either bring a Bluetooth speaker or figure out how the sound system works. Big responsibility.
Music choice is critical to success.
its easy just hit the beep beep beep button like 37 times until it then works sort of but its stuck on 5:10 rounds just because...
Our open mat is Sunday and I am never there, I'm home with my family. Open up, roll, mop the floors and lock up afterwards!
well when two brown belts are rolling and drift 30 feet from when they started, they usually knock over tables like they’re out of bounds at ADCC and then the highest rank on the mat has to break it up
you know, basic stuff
At my first open mat I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to bring my gun
Its an open mat not “open Matt”
A person who doesn't train can "supervise" an open mat. You just need to trust them with a key to your gym.
And to clean up the mats afterward.
Depends entirely on the blue belt
What are the qualities you'd be looking for?
32/24/46 with a stud in they tongue and they know what to do with it.
I prefer 36, 24, 36, but only if they're 5' 3".
Someone trust to make sure things are safe and represent the gym. Has nothing to do with the colour belt.
We've got a blue belt that handles the chill day open mat. He's a super good dude that everybody loves. I've never seen him have to handle a situation outside of getting noobs to sign the waiver and a gi to borrow. He would probably say his hardest job during that time is being the DJ
a pulse, common sense, and reliability
Someone who doesn't let white belts heel hook?
Better if they teach all the white belts to heel hook
That would be ok, blue belt would likely teach it wrong
as long as they have keys to the gym and know how to clean the mats, and wipe the security camera footage if necessary (that's Sarcasm folks, s/ ).
the mat cleaning is the sarcastic part
Sounds like you know a bit about wiping video footage. Let’s chat
You don’t make it to black belt without having picked up a few tricks over the years.
If you’re “supervising” you’re in charge of cleaning the mats after, unclogging the toilets and defending the gyms honor if a rival gang tries to dojo storm.
That key holder responsibility is no joke.
Supervise?
No lifeguard at my pool. The head coach may swan in at some stage, but no one is supervising
The ones I've been to always had the head coach around, so I didn't know if that was standard... Maybe I'm overthinking it?
My head coach is at open mats but I think it's more to help individuals work on building their game, and also just so he can roll more and work on his own stuff.
He's not standing around like a lifeguard at a pool would. He's going down the waterslides and jumping off the high dive with the rest of us.
You are overthinking it.
Are there unsanctioned fights to the death going on? lol “supervising” open mat means unlock the door, make sure people cleanup when done, and locking the door on the way out.
A white belt could do it. Just need a trustworthy person to open and close up.
Looks like I'm in the minority here, but I think supervision means you acquire an element of legal liability if anything goes horribly wrong. So you need to be comfortable with that. Also, just my personal standards, I would want someone with at least basic first aid abilities to be present. Neither are necessarily a function of the belt you hold tho.
I agree with you.
Everyone know choke. No one know CPR.
You don’t need to train at all to do that.
As long as they are willing to enforce gym policies, particularly around legal issues such as getting waivers and stopping situations which could expose the gym to negligent liability, then they should be fine.
There are probably white belts that could do it, and black belts that couldn’t.
I was teaching kids and adult classes at blue belt lol
Depends on your waiver and the amount of liability you're willing to risk if you have non members. If you're in the US
You're going to need a whistle and a cattle prod
Sure, just don’t let them near the playlist
Sure. All you need to do is unlock/lock the door and make sure people aren’t doing reckless shit (jumping guard, piledriving white belts, etc)
Live feed from the open mat.
https://preview.redd.it/v1jiwtf2uu7g1.png?width=604&format=png&auto=webp&s=005ccfa2e6e601e240720a3ab07be92b55d9dd4a
Yes
A blue supervises ours, but he's definitely not a beginner level blue belt, more-so closing in on a purple.
There is typically no one supervising our open mats. A member with a key opens the door for us.
Honestly it depends more on their age, an older blue belt is far better than a 22 year old purple belt.
It's literally picking music and running a timer, maybe a fun game to warm up quick and making sure people are watching space. It's nothing special. A decent blue belt could teach a fundamentals class.
You need a key and someone to clean the mats.
The way you frame the question is like you're expecting people to be trying to hurt each other and be entirely unwilling to listen. Like you'll need to drag them off of each other with RNCs or something and only a higher belt could command the respect to keep them under control. A blue belt who you trust otherwise knows what the class looks like, can get everyone warmed up, explain the rules, can stand in the way if groups get too close, work the timer, put on some music, and close out class. Your relative skill and seniority don't really reveal any of that.
Some of the blue belts at my gym are judo black belts and professional fighters so I'm pretty sure they can handle locking some doors and calling an ambulance in the rare chance someone is hurt really bad
If your gym needs a lifeguard at open mats like this you have bigger issues.
I’ve been to various open mats. Typically a trusted person is there to make sure the gym is open and they lock up at the end. If newbies come through, they give them a waiver. I’ve seen all belt levels open up at the open mat.
It really just depends. I became a coach at blue belt. My coach believed I was at the level as I’ve always been a helper in the gym. Plus I Also taught kickboxing. Because I was a coach/instructor I ran open mats at times. Never had an issue.
There are gyms with similar situations where a professor or instructor trust someone that much that they deem them good/responsible enough to help coach and run classes. It’s definitely not standard but it’s not uncommon either there are so many gyms out there and there are some blue belts where professors think they are capable.
I had my first beginner class for bjj last week and my instructor was a 17 yr old blue belt with 1 strip. He has been doing it for 9 years. He was fine.
Supervision is more of a liability thing
As long as the gym has a good liability waiver, and the supervisor explains to everyone they should only be doing moves they are comfortable and confident they can do safely, sure.
Was gonna ask if they were CPR/AED certified. I thought that was a law? Unless people get away with not having it because theyre "clubs" and not "gyms"?
Depends on the person and the maturity level. I have seen 35 year olds who act like they are two and are immature and seen 15 year olds who act like they are 50 year old zen masters the way they conduct themselves. As long as they are being responsible and making sure people are practicing moves they shouldn’t for their belt level, I don’t see why they couldn’t.
Like I’m only a white belt but I coach other sports and understand how to supervise. I’m sure anyone who has ever coached or been a volunteer before could run an open mat. We have two blue belts I would trust even over some of the people at purple. They are more talented but the blues are better leaders and instructors.
If you want people to show up get rolls in and go home anyone is fine. If you want to ensure that inexperienced practitioners are not getting unnecessarily hurt and having someone critique technique than a blue belt is certainly not adequate.
Even a white belt can supervise an open mat. The real requirements are, know how to handle cases of injury, be responsible enough to leave the keys with. That is really it
Idk why but this post irks me because you’re overlooking an important part of the question, especially when thinking about blue belts: there’s a huge difference between a blue belt who just got promoted yesterday from white belt and a blue belt who’s about to get promoted to purple tomorrow. That can be easily a difference of 1-3 years in experience, sometimes more considering how long some people stay as a blue belt. So if the question is about having someone experienced run open mat, then a higher degree blue belt can oversee open mats, especially if there are a lot white and blue belts. But like others have said, you don’t need someone experienced to run open mats if it doesn’t include any type of lesson
Lue belt could totally handle that chill vibe but idk about big scrambles bro
Can they be trusted with gym keys? Can they clean the mats after?
If it's mostly adults, people usually supervise themselves. People come to roll and that's what they do.
I don’t expect any supervision at an open mat. Kill or be killed
Do you have someone supervising the open mat? Sometimes, our head coach gives us the keys to train and his only instructions are:
That's it. I know some white belts can be wild, but if you're at an open mat, it means you know the basics or can try things you've seen in class. If rolling in open guard feels like a royal rumble, maybe you're doing something wrong. If not, you'll be fine. Just don't murder anyone or burn the academy.
I’m a white belt. Coach has me supervise open mat and he left
No
What kind of lifeguard duties do you think you'll need to perform?
I think it would be responsible, for legal CYA if nothing else, for someone present to know first aid, CPR, concussion protocol. Now, these are not part of most blue belts' training, so maybe I am asking the wrong question.
Open mats are supervised?
I ran an open mat for awhile as a blue belt, nothing major ever happened just had to lock the door and clean the mats
If the blue belt is responsible, punctual, knows how to set a timer, and it’s an adult’s open mat, yeah. I guess it also depends on if you have an abnormality large number of knucklehead white belts, but in most cases, it should be fine
I would assume so, not sure what you mean by supervise. I have only been to a few open mats at other gyms. Our gym it is rare that one of our Professors is not there, if they are not there are other brown belt coaches there. Our open mats are very open and run themselves, folks come and go as they please the only thing that one would need to do after is clean the mats and lock up.
We have a blue belt that runs open mats. I don’t see the issue? Everyone attending is a member of the academy and therefore covered by their insurance. They aren’t there to coach but has helped me on occasion. All higher level belts often come down to roll and happy to roll with anyone and give advice. It’s no higher risk going to those than rolling in training in my opinion. We all know the risk of injury when we step on the mats. They are a keyholder giving up their time so people can have more time doing what they enjoy.
No.
If this person is mature, it’s fine.
You are now in a position of business. It doesn’t matter what rank anyone is, if something gets out of hand you call the police, etc. Rank doesn’t come into play at all
I mean is the person supervising expected to step in to prevent injury? If so then I think it should be a higher belt. If the approach is “if you die, you die” then sure.
You need keys. A first aid kit, and know the emergency numbers. That's it.
Why do adults need supervision? I'm a purple belt and go to open mats every week and I've never seen someone supervising or have to step in and intervene in other guys rolls.
Find a new gym with less psychos.