Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Progress

   One point I try to convey to my students who train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that, after you’ve been training a little while and you start really making progress, you’re going to reach a point where you’re pretty comfortable with the basics.  When you get to this point, you will want to start exploring other techniques and strategies, and in order to do that you’ve got to step outside of your comfort zone.  This is one of the most necessary and important parts of training, to help you take that next step forward.  What happens often while you’re training and trying new techniques and new games you’ll find it’s going to be a constant process of ‘two steps forward, one step back’.  What I mean by that is, when you start learning a new Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique or a new movement you’re not familiar with or comfortable with. The technique or movement is brand new to you so you’re going to make mistakes.

   When you make mistakes, particularly in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you expose yourself, increasing the chance that you will end up in a bad position, or get caught in a submission.  And if you’re used to winning the game, dominating positions and pretty much just kicking butt, it may come as a shock when suddenly you’ve taken yourself out of that game.  When you put yourself outside of your comfort zone to explore a new technique it may feel like things really aren’t going your way.  You may feel like you’re not doing nearly as well as before.  But it’s important to remember that your success in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not going to be in a straight line.  It’s going to be zig-zag.  You’re going to move a little to the left, a little to the right.  It’s like I said, you’re going to take two steps forward, one step back.  As long as you are learning from each mistake and making a conscience effort to correct those mistakes, you will find success with your pursuit. And most importantly, stick to your fundamental techniques and continue to improve them along the way.  As long as you can maintain that path and keep moving forward, you’re going find great success in the long run.

Perhaps most important is that your attitude and your mentality are in the right place.  That’s just as important as getting the technique right.  If you view every mistake as a sign of doing poorly or getting worse, then you’re not going to have the right attitude and you’re going to look at the situation negatively. You may think things like” I’m not good at this technique; I should just give it up.”  That’s the last thing you want to do.  The most important thing you can do for your progress in martial arts is to make as many mistakes as you can, then fix those mistakes.  So when you try and do new techniques and strategies, mistakes should be a welcome guest.  You’re learning something about that technique and what not to do.  The next time you try it you’re going to do it better. You will start understanding the technique, not just how your instructor taught you how to do it, but the way it makes sense to you personally.  Then you will be able to teach it, understand it, and back it up by combining the new movements with strong fundamentals. You will now have a complete new arsenal of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques.  Just remember, progress is always going to be ‘two steps forward, one step back’.  When you’re on that back step, don’t get discouraged.  See it as a great opportunity to improve.  When you make a mistake, you should smile because you have just learned something that will help you and you will become much better than you were before.

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