In a recent post I refferred to something Rafael Lovato Jr said in a Seminar, If I was studying a subject in College, I would not just go to the classes, go home and switch off and expect to get good test results. In order to excell, I must go to class, take notes and do my homework. The same is the case for anything, for Jiu Jitsu, I need to come to class, take notes, review my notes at home, I can watch training footage online, extra drilling time on the mats. I should treat it like it is a school subject. Luckily, Jiu Jitsu is a bit more exciting than most school subjects so this isn’t as hard as it may sound.

I have heard before that to excell in anything, there must be no disconnect, you must eat, sleep and breathe whatever it is you are learning. Jiu Jitsu World Champions in 2012 are all full time athletes, dedicating their lives to the sport. A lot of people are not in a position to make a full time commitment like this, but that doesnt mean they cannot further their training to some extent.

Where I train, we have a competiton team training 2-3x a day at least 5 days a week, the team spends hours drilling specific techniques, transitions and different situations. It is important to understand the different reactions your opponent can make against whatever technique you will be using. Otherwise you can never be fully prepared for a competition situation. Even if nobody in your gym practices the Berimbolo, its still necessary to understand how to fight it. Even if you have no interest in competing, it can still be interesting and beneficial to your training to think like this.

Lets take an example, Passing the guard: If I approach my opponents guard by stepping one foot forwards, I have to have a reaction for:

he does nothing

he holds my foot

he holds my foot and puts his foot to my hip

he puts his foot to my hips and holds my sleeve/s

he puts a DLR hook

Reverse DLR

Sits up For a Single leg

Shin on shin

The list goes on! If I just practice one pass, the x pass or a torreando pass, without understanding all the different situations and variations, then I can never be confident in my approach to passing the guard and I certainly cant expect the technique to be successful when it comes to competition.

For me, studying each position like this is the key to progression. The goal is to eventually understand each position in comprehensive detail. With practice this will become second nature, the same way the basic techniques have become second nature to anyone who has been training for a while. The more repetitions of a technique I practice in the gym, the less I will need to think about it in competition.

I would love to hear what you think about this, do you study jiu jitsu? Do you study positions like this? Let me know if you do and how it benefits you, and also let me know if you dont and why not!

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P.S Im still practicing my writing technique, I might have to put some reps in on my grammar so please bear with me!