
The search for knowledge is what makes Roney Edler an increasingly better professor. Founder of Sertão BJJ, based in the United States, the black-belt born in the northeast of Brazil has been playing an important role in teaching the Gentle Art in America. In an interview with VF Comunica, Edler made it clear that he values professionalism when teaching his Jiu-Jitsu classes. If he wants to offer the best experience for his students, it is essential that he also constantly seeks to learn. After all, as he himself says, “new things always appear and we need to seek knowledge”.
The professor, who also works on behalf of youth in the northeast of Brazil, without many resources for competitive costs, is always observing and guiding athletes under the Sertão flag here in Brazil. After all, to be together, you don’t necessarily need to be close.
Read the full interview below!
VF COMUNICA: Roney, what is the secret to being a good Jiu-Jitsu professor?
RONEY EDLER: Being open to learning every day because our sport evolves daily. New things always appear and so we need to be willing to learn and seek knowledge, whatever the area, to improve techniques, without looking at the team. Many professors sometimes stop in time because they always want to search within their environment, within their team, and do not allow themselves to learn beyond their own flag.
VF COMUNICA: What types of investments have you made to increase your skills as a sports professional?
RONEY EDLER: I’ve always liked seminars, because even from the outside, it may be the same technique, but there will always be something that will add to your Jiu-Jitsu. I always leave my academy to visit others, always looking to learn something. My biggest investment is dedicating my time to improving my Jiu-Jitsu so I can pass it on to my students. Sometimes I spend hours watching fights and analyzing to absorb them for the benefit of my Jiu-Jitsu. As for the business part, I tried to attend courses aimed at Jiu-Jitsu academies, like Fábio Gurgel’s. In the workshop I did with him, I learned a lot about methodology and how to manage an academy. That’s what I always talk about: going out and trying to be better than yesterday, that’s the biggest point. Go out and look, with an open mind to learn.
VF COMUNICA: Many professionals always say that being a champion does not define whether you will be a good professor or be successful as a team. What do you think about this?
RONEY EDLER: Good point, being a champion doesn’t exactly determine whether you’ll be a good professor and a great academy manager. I have seen in practice that a good professor is not always a great champion on the mats. We have an example that is Melqui Galvão. I don’t know what titles he has as an athlete, but he is a great professor, a trainer of champions on and off the mat.
VF COMUNICA: At your academy, how does your teaching methodology work? Do you follow a schedule of classes?
RONEY EDLER: In my academy it works as follows: the student who has never trained or if he has trained but does not have a white-belt degree, will go through the fundamental class, where we teach the basics of Jiu-Jitsu, ensuring that the student has an excellent experience on the mat. This way, he becomes more confident in training, as he will be in a class where everyone has the same level. The professor, in his role, will have more attention due to having fewer students, as each class has a limited number of practitioners so that everyone can benefit and have the same attention as the professor who is in charge of the class. In this beginners class, there are no sparrings, but certain situations so that the student understands the concept: how to pass and play guard, for example. We have an annual class schedule divided into weeks, where each week the student has contact with different techniques. Every week the student trains the same techniques, which take turns within the schedule. Upon reaching a certain period, he can take a degree and thus, in these classes, he starts to like it and moves on to advanced classes, with No Gi training and more class options that also follow an annual schedule, but divided weekly. It is from there that the student will roll with the other students, always following the same schedule, executing the same techniques, but changing weekly.
VF COMUNICA: What’s your biggest goal for this year?
RONEY EDLER: My goal this year is to make my students in Brazil fight as hard as they can to get into the rankings. With this, they facilitate the authorization of the American visa and I can bring them to the United States to fight in the biggest events. This is a difficult task, but not impossible, because instead of the federations distributing the competitions in Brazil EQUALLY, they stay in one region, leaving some athletes disadvantaged because they cannot compete in these events, because they do not have money to travel to some regions of Brazil. My mission is to gradually ensure that they are able to travel through our team’s own investments. I want to help our young people from the Northeast of Brazil reach the world.