Jiu Jitsu as a Vehicle of Transformative Learning Theory

Austin McDaniel’s power was snatched from him in an instant.

A bully blindsided him in the locker room, throwing him to the ground and beating him into unconsciousness. 

And then kept on beating him.

Austin was already a shy boy in school, but after this he seemed permanently scarred, afraid even to inhabit his own space whenever he walked into a room with other people.

What follows here is an incredible story of transformation through the power of jiu jitsu…

But rather than focus on jiu jitsu itself, I want to bring to fore a vital concept underpinning Austin’s journey: transformative learning theory.

Formulated by Columbia professor Jack Mezirow, transformative learning theory (TLT) is a view of adult learning concerned with personal development through the mode of perspective change, not merely the acquisition of facts.

Transformation happens through four phases: 

1. Disorienting dilemma
2. Critical self-reflection
3. Exploration of New Roles
4. Reintegration with a New Perspective 

Transformation learning is a process by which students can shake up and reassess unexamined assumptions about themselves, and in that same process, discover perhaps they are capable of more. 

Jiu jitsu is the perfect vehicle for this kind of transformation, but I don’t think it is guaranteed simply by showing up to class. It’s something that must be cultivated by the instructors and the culture of the academy.

That said, TLT does not have to change the whole way you teach. Rather, it will help you understand how to structure your program in a way that reinforces and highlights positive changes jiu jitsu training makes in your students.

If, like many martial artists, it is your life’s purpose to empower others to positive change, you want to know how to integrate transformative learning theory into your jiu jitsu program structure.

I break down the story below and detail how the Gracies masterfully guide Austin through the four phases of transformation. 

Phase 1: Disorienting Dilemma

“It made me feel like I’m vulnerable,” Austin said about his attack. “I felt less confident in myself.”

Millions of people are afflicted with similar thoughts every day:

“I am worthless.”

“I am a victim.”

“I have no control.”

They come to these poor beliefs about themselves through a number of means, often through some combination of life hardship, emotional trauma, and self-fulfilling prophecies. For Austin, it was thrust upon him violently.

“I think it’ll stay with him the rest of his life,” his mother said.

The brutal attack sparked Austin and his parents to seek help. It made the shy high schooler eminently aware of his own weakness and unpreparedness, a cycle of fear that never resolves, and leads to crippling anxiety.

This was his disorienting dilemma, and it sets the stage for the next phase in transformational learning: critical reflection. That phase is catalyzed by the Gracie brothers, his future jiu jitsu instructors.

Phase 2: Critical Self-Reflection

Rener wasted no time challenging Austin’s beliefs. 

Rather than coddle him, he places him in a vulnerable position, known as full-mount in wrestling, and invites him to escape. 

Rener’s purpose here was to summon the same feeling of powerlessness Austin felt during and after his attack. This isn’t to scar him further, but to contextualize the impending epiphany, to facilitate a breakthrough.

Just when Austin was sure that his task to remove Rener from his chest was impossible, Rener taught him a signature jiu jitsu move: the trap and roll.

In an instant, Austin realized that a little know-how transformed an insurmountable problem into a manageable problem, something that can be solved with moderate effort.

This is important, but the more poignant episode comes later in the week:

While delivering assertiveness training, Rener approaches Austin, roleplaying as a bully. He goads him and invades his space. 

As instructed, Austin says, “Back off.” But his delivery lacks energy. 

“That’s pretty good,” Rener said, “But did you really believe it?”

“No.”

Rener’s use of questioning is masterful. Rather than lecture Austin about how he should be, he asks questions that prompt Austin to reflect more deeply about himself, to ask himself uncomfortable questions, and thus challenge deeply held beliefs–a negative internalized conception of himself.

A part of critical reflection is rational discourse. Austin must experience contradictions to his assumptions about himself and the world, but it’s through discussion with his guides that these things are unpacked and spotlighted such that he must confront them explicitly.

It’s in these uncomfortable sessions–what Mezirow called “spirit work”–that Austin begins to untangle the deeply-seated beliefs about his powerlessness burned into him by past trauma.

Key Concept: The Pygmalian Effect, Student Achievement, and Teacher Expectancies

At a school called Oak School in 1968, Dr. Robert Rosenthal and Dr. Lenore Jacobson did something really wild.

They randomly selected a group of elementary school students (about 20% of the student body) from various grades.

Teachers in the study were then falsely informed that these randomly selected students were “intellectual bloomers:” students who were expected to show significant academic spurts and high intellectual growth during the school year, based on a new, experimental-style test. 

In reality, the students labeled as bloomers were no different from the control group. Their selection was entirely arbitrary. The test they received was an IQ test.

At the end of the academic year, all students were given the same initial IQ test. What they found was the students who had been randomly labeled as bloomers showed significantly greater gains in their IQ scores compared to the control group students who were not labeled.

The study concluded that the teachers’ expectations about the students’ future performance caused the actual change in the students’ performance. 

Will Jiu Jitsu Coaches Choose to Empower or Disempower their Students?

This came to be known as the teacher expectancy or Pygmalion effect: higher expectations lead to higher performance, and lower expectations lead to lower performance.

Austin’s transformation works in part because Rener Gracie and his brother believed in him more than he did at first. As a jiu jitsu instructor, it’s your job to see what your students can be and push them toward that potentiality even when they can’t. 

So often I hear coaches picking at deficiencies or complaining how their students don’t listen. This is unacceptable. You are a leader, and if your students, as a group, are not progressing to your liking, there’s something wrong with your leadership, not their following.

Moreover, you will never help them achieve the results you demand from them when your posture is constant criticism. This only destroys morale over time, leading to apathy and attrition in your membership numbers. 

The cascade effect is your students believe in you less, but more poignantly, they believe in themselves less. They are confronted with their failure to please you, and so the narrative in their heads about their powerlessness is reinforced by your neuroticism.

Instead, take an approach to coaching that is less about deficits and more about building them up. Guide them to where they should explore instead of picking at what you believe they did wrong.

Phase 3: Exploration of New Roles

As Austin’s training progresses, and he develops a bond with the Gracie brothers, he regains a sense of himself that he had lost. 

But he doesn’t just regain something he had, he discovers a passion to explore new directions, to take more command, to try other things. He discovers self-worth and personal power he never knew he could possess.

Eva Torres Gracie remarks on Austin’s change in demeanor by the end of his 1st week of training: 

“I can’t believe that was the same kid that walked in on Monday to the academy. The same kid that walked in and was really shy and unsure about how to handle the situation. But by the end of the weekend there was like a fire inside.”

His parents happily echoed her assessment.

Phase 4: Reintegration into Life with a New Perspective

The Gracie family got Austin back on one more time for a 10 year check in.

Austin has a dramatically updated look: he has a flattering haircut, a chiseled jaw, and a fantastic build.

The lessons he took from the Gracies transformed every aspect of his mind and spirit, and those changes found themselves manifest also in his body. This is a clear example of what we in martial arts love to call self-esteem or self-respect.

And he’s a veteran of not just one but two branches of the military.

He speaks with conviction and assertiveness, his body language is confident, and his energy has totally changed for the better.

Austin’s new perspective on life led him into a career path he had never considered: the Marine Corps. He enjoyed it so thoroughly that he reenlisted into the Army after his initial stint.

The transformation Austin experienced through martial arts made it as if that brutal attack in high school had never happened.

In fact, he was never bullied again by anyone at any point in his life since then.

That’s the transformative power of jiu jitsu.

Conclusion

If it is your life’s purpose to empower others to positive change, you want to know how to integrate transformative learning theory (TLT) into your jiu jitsu program structure. 

TLT isn’t simply about acquiring new facts and skills but fundamentally shifting how you see things, a paradigm change.

The brutal locker room attack that left Austin McDaniel beaten into unconsciousness didn’t just physically scar him; it snatched his power, leaving a shy boy afraid to inhabit his own space. 

Deftly guided by the Gracie brothers, Austin embarks on the the four phases of transformative learning: 

1. Disorienting dilemma. After a brutal beating, Austin becomes aware of his vulnerability. 
2. Critical self-reflection. Rather than coddling him, the Gracies purposefully placed him in positions of powerlessness, only to reveal that knowledge and skill empower him to solve those problems. They help him untangle the trauma-induced narrative of powerlessness.
3. Exploration of new roles. Training in jiu jitsu and time with the Gracies sparked a “fire inside” and a passion for more things in life in Austin. 
4. Reintegration with a new perspective. Austin grows into confident assertiveness, and becomes a veteran of the Marine Corps and Army.

Austin’s journey serves as a powerful illustration of Transformative Learning Theory (TLT), a process of personal development rooted in deep and total perspective change. 

Jiu jitsu is the perfect vehicle for this process, but it doesn’t come guaranteed with mere jiu jitsu participation. Armed with the knowledge of this theory, you can structure your jiu jitsu program in a way that reinforces and highlights positive changes in your students.