Northwest Fighting Arts
1200 SE Morrison St. Portland, OR 97214
When practicing Jiu Jitsu there are a number of ways to break down your training to focus on different elements of the game. Breaking your practice down and training this way will help you to understand Jiu jitsu and become a solid practitioner. An efficient Jiu Jitsu training regimen will help you to take elements such as technical knowledge, endurance, development of physical and mental attributes and how to use strategy and apply them to the practice.
Technical knowledge is usually one of the first areas of focus. It teaches a basic technique or series of techniques. Once you have a technique memorized you should practice it until it is well ingrained in your muscle memory. After doing the technique thousands of times you will start to see how it is applied from different angles and similar positions. This is where training in the art of Jiu Jitsu really starts to become interesting. This leads into learning combinations and putting different techniques together. You can take a handful of techniques and finds thousands of applications and ways to combine and put them together. Combinations are essential, teaching the student how to flow and go with the opponents force instead of always butting heads and fighting force to force. If a Jiu Jitsu player is well trained and knows how to move this way they will overcome many stronger opponents.
Endurance is another key factor with your Jiu Jitsu training. I have been involved with martial arts for over 22 years and have seen thousands of sparring sessions and fights end because the athlete is out of gas. Endurance training is very important. It is always disappointing to see someone with higher technical skill loose to a lesser opponent just because he has not put in the time and effort. Some of the other physical and mental attributes such as coordination, strength, speed, balance, timing, sensitivity, concentration, determination, pain tolerance and accuracy are qualities that, to a large degree, are all given, natural abilities. These attributes are extremely important to your game development. These can be enhanced with training, though everyone has different limitations. This is why you will find many professional athletes will specialize in different elements of the game. They are limited in what they can pull off at high levels, so they focus and get sharp at the things they can do, making them competitive. It is important to work on all areas, focusing on your weaknesses as well as your strengths, to be as well rounded as possible. Developing these physical and mental strengths is more valuable than the accumulation of technical knowledge. Once you have combined these physical and mental attributes with technical knowledge you then can begin to explore the depths of strategy.
Strategy is choosing a style or set of methods that you will apply to accomplish your goals. The strategy you choose will be determined by your strengths and weaknesses and applying a style that will give you the highest possibility for a successful outcome. It will depend on your available technical skills as well as your physical and mental abilities. It is good to have a solid coach that knows you and your limits well to help you when putting together a strategy for an event. It is too easy to overlook things about your practice when you do not have that educated outside perspective.
With this information you can start your practice. First you will want to learn some basic techniques. When someone is starting Jiu Jitsu training I like them to have a clear understanding of all the basic positions that they will come up against and at least what to do from a defensive perspective. They need to know the difference between an inferior and superior position and at least one basic escape from the core superior positions.This will enable them to start playing or free rolling. After you are comfortable with escaping and know how to get to a superior position you will then start learning submissions. Again, it is important to focus on one or two from each position. Don’t get confused with trying to memorize a thousand techniques. It is better to have 5 or 10 techniques that you can pull off from a many different angles than to have a hundred techniques that you can only pull off with a cooperating partner. I used to train a national champion wrestler who would focus on five moves before a big match. He would do them ten thousand times and be able to apply them from many angles making him a successful champion. You will have more fun rolling and more success tapping your training partners if you will apply this approach.
Now that you have become efficient with some basic escapes and submissions it is time to add another variable to your Jiu Jitsu training. This would be implementing strategies to your Jiu Jitsu training. You need to have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses. This is where a good Jiu Jitsu coach will really help you move forward to the next level. Implementing strategies in your training will change depending on your area of focus. Sometimes you may focus on game development such as arm control, hip and leg control, neck control, aggressive offense, working counters, etc… These are strategic areas you can focus on in your Jiu Jitsu training to help you become a well rounded grappler. In a competition you will of course want to focus on a strategy that will help you be in your comfort zone, using your strengths to make you successful.
These are just a few ideas for you to use in your Jiu Jitsu training I hope they have offered some useful information and will enhance your practice. Remember, there are no short cuts; a hard work ethic is the key to you becoming successful. If you train like a champion you will be at the top of your game.
Read on about how to improve your BJJ Guard
