BJJ is the most popular martial art because of its positive progress curve. If BJJ were a problematic martial art to grasp, many people would not practice it, and those who do, would not be able to progress to higher belt ranks. What sets BJJ apart is the art of ground fighting.
As opposed to BJJ, other martial arts, such as boxing, use conventional fighting techniques such as striking and blocking, while in an upright stance, BJJ incorporates submissions, chokeholds and joint holds.
For this reason, BJJ trainees have the upper hand in fight situations due to ground fighting skills. In some martial arts, a trainee cruises through training sessions by employing instincts and reacting, while in BJJ, the student must grasp the gist of the martial art to progress.
Deciding to learn BJJ is the best decision a trainee makes, but not knowing how to approach training may cause a trainee to lag.
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#5. Train Consistently
For an individual to be good at anything, they must practice it constantly, and BJJ is no exception. To progress in BJJ, an individual should train between two and five days a week. This routine is the perfect timing to ensure you do not forget the techniques taught in the previous week.
Training once a week will stunt your BJJ growth, as you will constantly require doing a recap of what you learned in the last session.
While training, you should ensure you master the basic techniques of BJJ. It is a martial art that focuses on grappling and ground fighting; therefore, everything taught in training sessions is founded on these aspects. Grasping these fundamentals of BJJ will enable a trainee to understand complex BJJ techniques.
Constantly getting out of breath during training can slow down a student’s progress. Students should do complete body exercises to decrease these cases to enhance their cardio. A student should also focus more on strength and body conditioning exercises to build resistance to last longer during spars.
While training, an individual should be keen and ready to learn. Individuals who are quick to show off the moves they already know put off the master and come off as hasty. BJJ is an endless learning martial art that requires trainees with a readiness to learn.
When the instructor does his demonstrations in the best time to ask questions in order to get a comprehensive answer. Training consistently in BJJ enables the instructor to monitor your progress and offer any help when in need.
#4. Keep training Video Records and Journals.
In other areas of life, such as education, learners are encouraged to write notes to improve the student’s ability to remember, analyze information in new forms and connect different topics.
BJJ students struggling to process information during training should keep training journals where they write what they learned in class.
Writing a journal will help the student to recall what they learned in class and have reference in the future, as they are revising their techniques.
Students can create grappling game plans during training. Game plans serve the purpose of mapping and taking inventory in terms of techniques.
A student’s game plan should contain methods they are good at in different positions. For instance, when at the top or the bottom, look at the endless possibilities of things that could go wrong and settle on the most comprehensive game plan.
A student should take videos of themselves training using a tripod or ask a friend to film them while performing BJJ techniques.
Through these video recordings, the student can see whether they are performing the drills correctly, analyze their mistakes and evaluate strengths and weaknesses. Video recordings will motivate the student to keep improving and take flawless videos for social media viewing.
#3. Set Goals and Achieve Them
Goal setting is the cornerstone of life success, and BJJ makes that very evident. Setting goals at the onset of training will be able to help you to track your progress.
Having grappling game plans can let students know which techniques they are strong at. Video recordings enable a student to see their areas of weakness.
After discovering the weaknesses, a student needs to set small goals to achieve. Moreover, focus on your weak areas. A student should set a goal of improving one technique daily to get accumulated wins every day.
Weaker students should identify the best student in class and spar with them so that they may help them to improve their weaknesses.
Additionally, training with all students in the course will help a student to develop a diverse fighting style as the students are of various shapes, sizes and heights. Different students also have other skills; thus, grappling with them can help students learn from their classmates.
Students should ask themselves what they want to achieve in BJJ training in a particular period.
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#2. Engage in Competitions and Analyze Competition Footage.
Students should engage in BJJ tournaments to push themselves harder in training and have a proper BJJ lifestyle, even if they do not want to practice BJJ professionally. BJJ tournaments are instrumental as they reward students’ strengths, highlight their weaknesses and provide information on areas you should work on from the judges.
With access to social media, students can watch study tutorials on specific techniques they want to master. Due to the martial art’s popularity, many practitioners and masters offer BJJ tutorials online.
Watching and analyzing competition footage helps students learn more about professional BJJ rules and new fighting skills. Students should also get mentors in the professional field to motivate them toward achieving their martial arts goals.
Students should also spar with people of higher belt ranks to learn versatile fighting skills and areas to improve.
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#1. Visualize Each Technique
Visualization is a good substitute for actual training when you cannot be able to go for training due to one reason or the other.
When you are on the bus or on your bed, visualize BJJ techniques step-by-step in your mind; this will help to drill the techniques into your mind.
While at home, in the evening, after a training session, start thinking about all the techniques you were taught and how to execute them earlier that day effectively. If you have engaged in sparring, try recalling how it began, proceeded, and the problems encountered.
Choose a technique you would like to work on, visualize it mentally and execute it. Create a scenario where you perform the method, stand in the correct stance and position your hands.
Professional sports persons practicing BJJ have made visualization part of a mental exercise to calm the nerves and think positive thoughts.
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Final Words
BJJ is a martial art with numerous benefits to all who practice it, but students without the right tools to succeed in it might find progressing in an uphill task.
Some ways to progress fast in BJJ include visualizing each technique, training consistently, and keeping training video records and journals. Setting goals in BJJ and achieving them, engaging in competitions, and analyzing competition footage backed with discipline and hard work help a student to move higher in the belt rank.
Practice these methods, whether you are a newbie or have been training for years, and witness yourself progress tremendously in BJJ.
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