Ana Laura Cordeiro - First Woman Instructor For The GB2
GB Online is proud to introduce the NEW GB2 with Professor Ana Laura Cordeiro. Professor Ana is the first woman instructor to teach the GB2 Curriculum, and she shares some of her decades of experience both competing at the world level and teaching in the GB2.
You will remember Professor Ana from her other instructionals on GB Online: Keeping the Pressure Off: Spider & Lasso Guard, (this author´s favorite GB Online instructional series!) - 12 Ways to Help You Win with Single Leg X-Guard, and the GBF Curriculum.
GB Online recently caught up with Professor Ana Laura to talk about the new GB2.
Some of the topics Professor Ana Laura discusses are her preparation in designing the program, the significance of being the first woman GB2 instructor, the motivation that comes with upholding the legacy of great GB instructors, and the culture of women´s classes in GB.
Studying Jiu-Jitsu to create the GB2
Professor Ana Laura confesses that even though she is a World Jiu-Jitsu champion and has been teaching for many years, that she felt motivated to study and refresh her inventory of techniques to make this the best possible version of the GB2.
"I studied a lot, I made a lot of research, watched many, many hours of videos so I can get my ideas all together," says Professor Ana.
Continuing the legacy of excellence
"It's just a very selective group of people (GB Instructors) that have taught the curriculum," says Professor Ana, "If I'm not wrong, I'm the eighth person to teach."
Professor Ana recognizes the significance of following the previous GB Instructors and breaking new ground as the first female GB2 instructor, "And on top of that, I'm the first woman contributing to the curriculum of Gracie Barra."
This sense of continuing the history and standard of excellence of instruction in the GB curriculum fueled a strong motivation to share her very best in designing the curriculum contents.
"I think the bar is super high," says Professor Ana of the first two GB2 curriculums. "Professor Victor is teaching; Professor Pimpolo taught in Portuguese. This is a big responsibility, to meet the criteria."
The first woman to create a curriculum for GB2
Professor Ana derives inspiration from the honor of being chosen to teach the GB2 curriculum. This is a significant milestone in women´s Jiu-jitsu. However, she doesn't feel extra pressure because she is the first female GB2 instructor.
"It's not a pressure. I never feel it as pressure, but we know, as a woman, we always have the proof that we can do that; we can do things.
And for me, being the first one, it put for me the pressure that, hey, I have to make the best that I can. So other women have the same chance that I had," says Professor Ana Laura.
GB Online asked Professor Ana: How do you feel being the first female to be creating a curriculum for GB online?
"I think at the same time that it's an honor; it brings a lot of responsibility because I know I'm the first one, but for sure, I'm not going to be the last one," says Professor Ana.
"There is going to be many other women after me and, I'm paving the way for them." With more than 20 years of teaching Jiu-Jitsu, Professor Ana says, "I feel like I've been paving the way for a long time for other women. When I started doing Jiu-Jitsu, there was only me on the mat. Now we look on the mats and there are many other women taking classes and teaching classes."
Professor Ana has many women instructors teaching in her schools.
Professor Ana says, "So people can see that women can teach complex techniques, and it will be paving the way for other women to come after me."
Who is the curriculum designed for?
While GB2 typically caters to more advanced students, are there any elements or sections that could benefit beginners or intermediate practitioners as well?
"I've been teaching specifically the GB true curriculum for the last 14 years," says Professor Ana, "So I have a lot of experience, and I'm still teaching. So, after teaching for so many years. I am still teaching on a daily basis, I teach for competition classes."
While designing the new GB2, Professor Ana was aware that a lot of the time, people, are migrating from GB1 to GB2
"So the techniques cannot be super complex where the student won't understand anything," says Professor Ana.
Jiu-Jitsu philosophy - Making the complex simple
"But there is a way where you can show complex techniques and the way that I broke down the techniques, in a way that anybody can learn the techniques."
Click HERE to hear more from Professor Ana Laura.
Replied on Week 6 - Class A GB2 Takedowns by Henrique Machado
Sep 25 at 04:23 AM
Koshi Guruma - translated as Hip Wheel